By Erika Patterson
There’s something sacred about beginning again. A clean page, a fresh space, a deep breath in. But here’s what I’ve learned—this isn’t really the beginning.
This journal, this website, this offering… they’re new in form, yes. But the heart behind them has been beating for a long time. Quietly. Consistently. Purposefully. I’ve been holding space, asking hard questions, learning how to soften in the middle of the storm—for myself, and for others—for years.
And that part matters: for myself. Because there were seasons I didn’t know how. Seasons when I confused strength with silence, when I carried more than I should have, when I wore “fine” like armor. There were moments I felt fractured beneath the surface—functioning, yes, but far from whole.
I didn’t create this space from a pedestal. I created it from a place of lived experience. And you’re here now, which means, maybe, you’ve walked through some of those tender places too.
A Life That Has Held So Much
I have spent years being the one others lean on. The reliable one. The strong one. But even strong women can feel tired. And I’ve known that tiredness—not just the physical kind, but the soul-deep weariness that comes from holding everything for everyone and wondering, quietly, “Who’s holding me?”
There were moments—some recent, some long buried—where I felt invisible to myself. Like I was moving through life in service to everyone else’s needs while mine sat untouched at the back of the line. And yet, those very moments shaped me. They taught me how to listen inward. How to slow down. How to come home to myself.
This journal was born not from having all the answers, but from learning how to ask better questions. It’s a place where I can offer what I’ve learned from the messy, sacred, deeply human process of navigating grief, burnout, and quiet reinvention.
Why the Opportunity Journal
When I was in one of my most uncertain chapters—grappling with identity, relationship dynamics, career transitions—I didn’t need a checklist. I needed a lifeline. I needed someone to gently remind me that what I was feeling wasn’t failure; it was a threshold. A moment rich with possibility.
That’s what opportunity has come to mean for me.
Not just a new job or a new direction—
but a new relationship with myself.
A softer way of being.
A more honest way of living.
This journal exists to honor those in-between moments. To say, yes, this too is worthy of reflection. Yes, you’re allowed to pause here.
A Soft Invitation
So I invite you to take a breath.
To ask yourself: What am I being invited to see differently? To release? To welcome?
You don’t need to name it right away. Just notice the whisper.
Opportunity often doesn’t announce itself with a trumpet. It often begins as a flicker—an internal tug, a quiet ache, a question you can’t unask.
And it’s okay if you don’t yet have answers. We’re not rushing toward clarity here. We’re making space for it to rise naturally.
Erika Patterson Coaching 