Turning Pain Into Purpose, One Story at a Time
- Dec 1, 2025
- 3 min read
By Wendy "Raven" Johnson
The past year cracked me open in ways I never expected. After my husband left, I found myself facing a divorce at 60, suddenly the sole provider, and reentering the workforce after five years away — not by choice, but because he didn’t want me to work. I was met with polite rejections like I was “overqualified” or “not quite the right fit.” The world wasn’t sure where I belonged.
I got a contract position until I found something full-time, but the healing I needed didn’t come from that paycheck. It came from writing.
Contributing to anthologies gave me the space to get the weight out of my head and off my heart.
It turned pain into perspective, fear into forward motion. And when someone reached out to say, “I felt that too,” it reminded me that none of us are ever as alone as we think.
That’s the power of the pen. It doesn’t just help us process what we’ve been through, it transforms our experiences into something useful. Something human. Something that connects.
Writing became the one place where I didn’t have to perform or pretend. I could show up with the truth — no makeup, no filter, no need to have it all figured out. It gave me room to fall apart and come back together on the page, and somewhere in those sentences, I started to find myself again.
Every story I’ve shared has been a breadcrumb back to wholeness. Not the kind that looks perfect on the outside, but the kind that’s rooted in self-respect, clarity, and choice.
Writing with Purpose
My voice has always been the way I make sense of life. Not just for telling stories, but for helping others find their own way through theirs. When I write from my truth — even the hard, messy parts — something shifts. In me. In them.
There is something powerful about seeing your story in print. Not for the recognition, but for the release. The act of naming an experience — especially one that hurt — gives you authority over it. It becomes a part of you, not the end of you.
Writing has helped me own that — not shrink from it. It reminded me that we all have something to say, and how we say it matters.
Your voice is your power. And when you choose to use it? You give others the courage to do the same.
To the Aspiring Author
If you’re reading this and wondering if your story matters, let me say this with every ounce of certainty I’ve earned this past year: it does.
You don’t need a polished ending or a pretty bow. You just need the courage to tell the truth. Writing your story — even if it’s just for you at first — is an act of courage. And when you choose to share it? You become someone else’s lifeline too.
I know it’s vulnerable. I know it’s scary to speak what you’ve held inside for so long. But your words could be the thing that breaks someone else’s silence.
That helps them breathe again. That shows them they’re not broken — they’re just becoming.
Someone out there is waiting for the exact words you’re afraid to write. They’re not looking for perfect — they’re looking for real. Your story could be the very thing that helps them feel less alone, more understood, more ready to take their next step.
So if the words are stirring inside you… don’t wait. Don’t silence your story. Don’t talk yourself out of the impact you’re here to make.
Grab your pen.
And go make an impact.
Wendy “Raven” Johnson is the founder of Designed to Be HER™, guiding high-achieving women to dismantle identities built on performance, pressure, and proving. Through Human Design and her framework The Mirror. The Map. The Movement.™, she leads women back to the truth that identity is the strategy, frequency is the clarity, and 10X HER — not the hustle.
Connect With Raven
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