In this heartfelt episode of Distressed to Joyful; Bailey’s Way, I open up about my personal journey of never truly feeling at home—first in my childhood house, and later even in my very first one-bedroom apartment.
I share what I’ve discovered about the deeper meaning of “home”:
- What it really feels like to be at home within yourself
- Common feelings that are not part of a true sense of home
- How I learned to cultivate that inner foundation of belonging and comfort
- The ways this inner work helped me create a shared home with my now-husband
If you’ve ever struggled with belonging, identity, or finding peace in your own space, this episode will help you reflect, heal, and start building a sense of home from the inside out.
Tune in now to More Than a Place: Understanding the Feeling of Home and explore what “home” truly means beyond four walls.
Also found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, and YouTube.
Announcements
A LOT has happened since my last podcast episode was released, which is why I’ve been on a 9-month hiatus from releasing new episodes. I sincerely apologize for doing so abruptly and unannounced. That was never my intention. Life was incredibly overwhelming these past 9 months, and I had to step back from creating new episodes to make it through that hectic season.
That said, during this episode I briefly told you about many of the reasons as to why my life was so chaotic and I also promised you that I’d share some of that with you in visual-form! Below you will find all sorts of goodies – photos, videos, links – that will give you an inside look as to why I was so busy that I stepped away from the mic for some time.
P.S. THANK YOU for continuing to tune in and support this show! My mission remains to help encourage others to seek out the healthy, happy life they deserve. I truly hope something I’ve shared has encouraged or inspired you in a meaningful way!
I FINALLY GOT MARRIED
Ta-da! Below is a photo of the wedding dress that I made for myself! It took about 90 hours to complete and I literally finished it 3 days before my wedding (lol), but it was worth all the literal blood, sweat and tears! I am so PROUD of how it turned out! Wanna see more photos of this beauty? Check out this instagram post.
As promised, here’s our Wedding Highlight video! Go ahead, press play and enjoy the magic.
A Major Milestone: Earning My First College Degree
I DID IT! I graduated from Houston Community College with an Associates Degree in Fashion Design. For the longest time, I never thought I was good enough to be a college student, so this was a huge accomplishment for me!
For my capstone project, I was required to design and make a clothing collection to walk the runway. This was single-handedly the biggest project of my life (with my wedding dress being a runner-up). I spent countless hours and many, many late nights working on this beautiful collection, named Cultural Harmony. These gowns are a fusion of both my and my husband, Monish’s, cultures – American formal wear + traditional Indian formal wear. Creating a collection from the ground up was very challenging, yet also incredibly rewarding. I am beyond proud of these beautiful garments and am so excited to begin my next collection soon!
A Bold New Look
After 5 years of growing out my hair, it was time for a new look! I cut off 17 inches and donated them to Children With Hair Loss – a wonderful nonprofit organization that makes wigs for kids with medical conditions that cause them to lose their hair. Not only did I feel great about sending my hair to benefit a child who needs it, but I also love my new look – a real win-win, if you ask me!
Starting a New Chapter in New York City
Last but not least, my husband and I moved to New York City! As a recent college grad with a degree in Fashion Design, this is the ultimate place for me to be. However, this wasn’t a whimsical decision – Monish and I have been planning this big move since October 2020. And I’m thrilled to report that everything went better than planned! As we started our transition from Houston, TX to The Big Apple, I decided to document it all on YouTube. I created an entire series dedicated to this move, and you can access that series here. In the meantime, I’ve included the very first episode below which gives you a better inside look as to how we were able to achieve this so seamlessly.
Resources
Since this episode came straight from the heart, I have very few resources to offer you this time around. As I mentioned in this episode, if you haven’t already, be sure to tune into Season, 4. Episode 3: “I HATED Being in My House While Growing Up; Here’s Why“ to learn more about my experience growing up in a household where I felt like I didn’t belong.
Remember how I talked about how it’s now our job as adults to “reparent” ourselves? Well, I’m happy to report that I found a helpful article that explains this in further detail! Check out this article titled Reparenting in Therapy on VeryWellMind.com to learn more.
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