Connect with Emily

*Content note/Trigger Warning: I talk candidly about domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, foster care, alcoholism, trauma brain, mental breakdowns, and bereavement after premature birth, suicidal ideation and self harm, eating disorders. No topic is off the table when it comes to deep diving into trauma brain and its effects on our lives. *

Please take care of yourself as you read—pause, breathe, drink water, step outside for air if you need. This space is faith-friendly and trauma-informed. It is not a substitute for medical or mental health care.

Hi there, I am Emily Braveheart.

Some days I’m steady, productive, sharp, and poised to take on (and maybe even take over) the world. Some days I’m duct-taping my nervous system together with pure willpower, a middle finger in the air, and a prayer filled with complaints and curse words.

Both are real. Both are me.

Freaked Out & FLAWLESS was born in that paradox—out of trauma brain, out of the long crawl back after collapse, out of the humbling realization that life with PTSD will probably always run a little hot – and heavy. And still, there are FLAWLESS moments. Clear. Strong. Soft. Steady. Moments where the horrors of the past and PTSD don’t get the final say.

“No mud, no lotus.” — Thích Nhất Hạnh

My story, without the filter (Freaked Out)

I’m a survivor. Domestic Violence, childhood sexual abuse. Foster care. A first marriage that hid a sexual predator, another relationship that spiraled into domestic violence. Premature babies – and their deaths. In that second hell, I became an alcoholic. Not cute. Not glamorous. Survival.

I broke down—more than once. I’ve grieved babies born too soon. I’ve known the kind of darkness that makes you wonder if the light remembers your name. I have entertained ending it all, more than once.

When people hear parts of my story they will tell me I’m strong. I have been asked, how did you get through all that? The truth is: I don’t always feel strong. I feel… determined. Because the alternative is to end the story early, and I refuse to hand trauma the pen. Even if the hope is that tomorrow will crack my face into a smile – there is hope, for tomorrow.

Survival is necessary, there is no… not getting through it. There is just, another day you woke up. Another “thing” you have to do, because it is expected of you. Not because you want to, and often – not even because you choose to. The old saying is true “Life goes on.” and, it does. Here is the thing about trauma brain.

Trauma brain will have you stumbling through the fog, aimlessly, by the seat of your pants, shields up, tongue sparking venom, leading with your heart – all with the confidence of a 16 year old boy about to lose his virginity. 

The thing about trauma is.. at some point in your life – all you have is you, and all you can count on is.. you.

So.. you live life by your gut now.

You say the things.. even if it’s offensive or out of turn. Someone needs to say it, damnit. Might as well be me. 

You walk away from bad situations tossing the lit match behind you. Bye, bitch – I burned the bridge on purpose.

You scan the room, you read people, you watch their body language, you have a plan.. and a backup, and another backup. And if all else fails, you have your two feet to take you to the next destination. And, that gassed up truck is ready to hit the road, Jack. 

Just you, the clothes on your back – kids if you have them.. and the road.
I always have my packing plan, my getaway plan, and a quick to go mindset.


Turns out – that is no way to live life. Plowing through, just making it all happen by the grit of your teeth and the tear stains on your cheeks.

Since 2016, I’ve been working my ass off to defy the statistics—therapy, somatic work, faith deconstruction and reconstruction, nervous system science, mindset, community, honesty.

I fall. I get back up. Again. Again. Again.

One of my life mottos came from Tony Horton:

“Do your best, forget the rest.”

I added on: You are only a failure if you don’t try… 
and then one day, I was teaching my kids this mantra on the way to school.. and I added – “again”. I realized I did not want them to try once, and quit. 

Do you best, forget the rest. You are only a failure if you don’t try – again.

Always get back up.
Learn, adapt, apply. 

PIVOT!!! -IYKYK-

Why FLAWLESS?

Because the world is noisy. We are doom-scrolling, under-slept, over-worked, under-paid. Processed-food is poison, the world is falling apart and we are arguing about tattoos and political ideologies.. all while our nervous systems are on fire! To me, the entire world runs on a complete delusion, and somehow I am the one who is crazy?!

Meanwhile we each carry supercomputers in our skulls and treat them like dial-up. We are—quite literally—animated meat sacks running on electricity and wonder. And we’ve forgotten how to drive.

My mission: freedom from trauma brain, healing that sticks, and a life that feels like yours. We regulate first, reframe the story, and rise—one doable next step at a time.

FLAWLESS, defined

F L A W L E S S = Flow • Living Awareness • Wondrously Learn • Emotional & Spiritual Sustainment

This is the heartbeat of everything here. Our cadence: Flow → Living Awareness → Wondrously Learn → Emotional & Spiritual Sustainment.

God, outside the walls

My faith is a big part of this. Before I knew what it was called, or before it was trendy – I left church-as-performance and had a complete faith breakdown. Somehow, all of this was my fault. Somehow, my sin brought these traumas upon me. Somehow, I needed to atone for sin – and the unknown – to rectify with God, to live life.

On this journey, I met God. Profoundly.

In the air between gut wrenching sobs, pine needles, in my kids’ giggles, in the rain, in the mud between my toes, in me, in science, in pain, in recovery, in my own breath. My life experience had me questioning everything the pastor said, and everything I had ever been taught about God. When I asked questions, I was met with doctrine not scripture. Not the full scripture, anyway. And, if I pushed the issue – I received “church discipline.”

Religion has twisted the message; I went looking for the Source. I found it in everything—light and darkness, order and mystery. The truth is plain and complicated. And yes, I believe science keeps stumbling into Scripture like, “oh… that was here the whole time.”

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — John 1:5

Now, I hold the wild opinion that religion itself is the seat of the devil in our world. Religion is not to be confused with God, Source, or whatever label you may have for the divine. Religion is a set of man made rules, to make sense of God. God – is just… bigger than all of that. To a degree that words can simply not justify. My mission is truth, and religion steps all over the truth. 

The best lies are covered in half truths. The only way to find the truth? Go to the source. I believe that we are all connected through Christ consciousness, and that religion has lied to us.

Why? Mostly, for control, money, power, greed.. the usual. More deeply than that? I see all this as an intergalactic war. God created us – meaning we are here on a terra-formed and genetically seeded planet, by otherworldly beings. Now we are the product, a “Truman Show” if you will. A rebellion movement, dissent, a coux… war broke out, covenants and treaties were made.. etc. And, here we are today, folks! 

This spiritual journey has shaped my entire way of thinking, of living life, and of being human. Faith is necessary, but I don’t want to live in delusion – or under man made ideology that doesn’t even hold up to.. the Bible.

Join me on the deep dive of spiritual study at the Misfit Soul Sanctuary

How this works (in real life)

Two doors. Same destination—your steady, sovereign self.

Under both doors, you’ll find Regulate. Reframe. Rise. Somatic resets to quiet the alarms. Mindset rewires to change the story. Spirit-aligned wisdom so faith becomes fuel, not a cage. We move forward in do-ables, not dramas.

What I believe about you (and me)

Strength isn’t a costume; it’s a language the nervous system learns to survive. If you’re reading this, you’re already speaking it.

You are not broken. You are adapting. And adaptation can be unlearned, relearned, refined.

We already are the “AI” we keep trying to build—only wilder, kinder, more human. Our brains are biological supercomputers; our bodies are symphonies of electricity and chemistry. When we learn to conduct that orchestra with reverence and skill… life changes.

House rules & care notes

If you’re in immediate crisis in the U.S., call or text 988 for support. You are not alone.

The invitation

Exhale. Get clear. Take one next step.

Choose a door. Or sit here and breathe with me for a minute. Both count.

Let’s build a life where the freaked-out parts feel safe, and the flawless parts have room to shine. Where breakdowns become breakthroughs. Where hope isn’t naive—it’s practiced.

I’m glad you’re here. Join me on the deep dive, the wild ride, and the reclamation of life after-trauma.

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