The Purple Frog
There is a small frog carved from amethyst that has been with me since I was twenty-five years old. It has followed me through every version of my adult life before I understood why Maxine gave it to me.
Maxine had been part of my life since I was fourteen. She came into our lives to help my family navigate the trauma we were living through, long before any of us had language for what was actually happening. She was steady, she was safe, and she felt like home in a way nothing else did. And in 1995, she handed me the frog as a reminder that I was growing, even when I could not see it. She told me that frogs symbolized transition and the color purple symbolized healing. At the time, I had no idea how much I would come to need both.
I carried that frog through decades of trying to earn my worth, through the confusion of being misread and misunderstood, and through the ache of carrying someone else's wounds as though they were my own. Somewhere along the way, it became something else entirely. It became a marker, a witness, and a reminder that growth rarely happens all at once.
The frog quietly waited until I understood what it meant.
Looking back, I came to realize that Maxine gave me much more than a frog. She gave me something to hold onto while I found my way to myself, especially when the world had spent a long time telling me who I was supposed to be.
That is what BEcoming Seen™ is about. It begins the moment you start to see yourself clearly.