Janet Louise Stephenson
I'm really just another girl next door. You might find me throwing frisbee at the park, chaperoning a class field trip to the museum, folding the bazillionth load of laundry, or sitting in quiet meditation exploring the universe within.
Born on a highway in the middle of the night, my early childhood years were spent being passed around from family to family wondering what I needed to do for someone to keep me. When I was four years old, a Mormon family adopted me and I grew up trying to be perfect so there was no reason for my new family to give me up.
By the time I turned 30, the realization that I didn't recognize the life I was living shattered my illusion. It was a facade, built to please everyone around me. I didn't know the REAL me - and neither did anyone else! I've spent the last 7 years learning to recognize the person staring back at me when I look in the mirror.
My soul searching has brought me a belief that each one of us has a source of infinite wisdom within us and I am committed to help others on their journey of Self-Discovery. I offer assistance via my blog and personal coaching practice at Butterfly Maiden Intuitive Services.
As an author, I write from a place of authenticity and transparency with the intention of helping my readers to connect with me as well as feel safe in exploring their own lives.
“There are times in every person’s life when they feel lonely, isolated, like maybe they don’t belong. For adoptees, this is often exacerbated by the circumstances. Because you were given up, you have a built-in scapegoat; you can blame everything that you feel on the fact that you were adopted. But, I want you to know that this is a fallacy. Finding your biological parents will not fill in the void that you feel. You will get answers to your questions, but no one can fill in the missing pieces except for you. Before you go on a search, take the time to get to know yourself very well. Heal the hurts you’ve experienced. Acknowledge the past and how it has affected you. Become a whole person who is seeking roots, not a damaged person who is seeking fulfillment.”
“Listening to Eddy describe his relationship with our mom seemed to indicate that what I feared would be my reality. He never talked poorly about our mother, but he was as honest and sincere as he could be. In a way, he was almost defensive of her to us – trying to help us understand what life had been like for her, so that we could comprehend the choices that she had made.”
“I originally feared she might be dead, which felt like a sealed book that I would never be able to read. To have a birth mother die before getting any closure or answers seemed like it would be a cruel twist of fate.”
“I understood that it was time to quit postponing the embracing of my own potential. There was nothing more I needed to do to be worthy enough – and any other excuse I could muster to explain why I couldn’t step up right away – was simply that… an excuse.”