When Respect Hits Different

So I get up this morning, start settling into my glow routine, and realize my son and his dog are still passed out. Immediately makes me wonder how late they were up last night 😂 so I crack the door and let the dog out… and of course now he’s fully invested in what I’m doing. Like sir… this is not for you, but also now you’re in the vlog 🐶 he’s sniffing everything, watching me like I’m doing something groundbreaking with this glow routine, just all up in it.

From there I head to the office. First client was a few minutes late, which honestly worked out perfectly because it gave me time to finish some behind-the-scenes stuff. Then I get a last-minute cancellation and instead of trying to fill it or forcing anything, I just went home and handled paperwork. Got everything updated, caught up on the stuff that usually sits in the background waiting for “later,” then headed back to the office, refilled all my oils and lotions, got laundry done before my next client showed up, finished that session, came home, showered… and then just sat there like… now what? 😅

Because when I don’t have a list or a plan, sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself, and that’s weird for me. My system is so used to go-go-go that calm feels unfamiliar, but today was calm, and honestly after yesterday’s full moon… I think it was earned.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. I had a client this week—older, very set in her ways, the kind that looks at me, sees the tattoos and piercings, and already decided I don’t know shit, even with a whole wall of licenses right there. I’ve seen her a few times now so I could feel it, the judgment, the hesitation, but I don’t change who I am for that, I just do my work. And by the end of this last session? Completely different energy. She starts asking me how my hands understand the body the way they do, how I know so much about the nervous system, not in a testing way, in a real way. So I told her, in Lynette language, what trauma does to the body, how it stores, how it shows up, and how everything I’ve lived through didn’t break me, it made me better at what I do, because I don’t just “know” it, I understand it. She tipped me the most she ever has and hugged me on the way out… full flip from judging me based on how I look to actually seeing me.

And I’m still sitting with that, but I’m also sitting with something else. I had someone from my past reach out, someone I cut off a while ago because we were just in completely different places in life. They had been messaging me over the past month and I didn’t respond right away, I just sat with it. Old me would’ve jumped, explained, overextended… not anymore. So when I was ready, I responded with clear boundaries, no emotion behind it, just truth, and I’m not gonna lie, using my voice like that still feels uncomfortable sometimes.

But the message I got back? I didn’t expect it.

“And I also want to say this, because it’s something I’ve always seen in you… no matter what you’ve gone through—your fiancé, your dad, everything life has thrown at you—you’ve never stopped. You kept building, you kept pushing forward, and you didn’t give up. That says a lot about who you are. I’ve always known you were going to keep going and create something meaningful out of everything you’ve walked through. That’s just who you are at your core. And I really hope you’re still working on your book or moving in that direction, because I honestly think you have the ability to help a lot of people with your story and your voice.”

Yeah… I’m still sitting with that, because it wasn’t defensive, it wasn’t angry, it wasn’t manipulative… it was respect, and that kind of response almost confuses me more than anything else, because when your old programming is used to chaos, silence, or being dismissed, you don’t always know what to do with healthy.

I even shared that message with a friend and they’ve been different with me ever since, and that messed with my head more than I expected, because this is the part no one talks about—when you start changing, using your voice, setting boundaries, knowing your worth, everything around you shifts, and sometimes you don’t know which way is up.

I’m the type of person… just be direct with me. Tell me to fuck off? Cool, I got it. Give me silence? Eventually I’ll match it, but I might not come back the same… or at all, because I’m not who I used to be anymore, and that’s the part I’m really starting to understand. I actually deserve respect, and the validation I’ve been getting lately… it’s been a lot, in the best way, but also in a way I’m still learning how to hold.

And that’s today’s weird shit. Not chaos… just growth that doesn’t always feel clear while you’re in it.

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If your nervous system needs a place to exhale, I offer trauma-informed massage, head spa treatments, and advanced skincare at 888 Spa MN—where real life and real healing meet.