Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,

oh, oh, oh, oh,

Welcome home. I'm Dr. Tama, a minister, licensed psychologist, and sacred artists.

And this is Homecoming, a podcast to facilitate your journey home to yourself.

While I will provide weekly inspiration and mental health tips, this

podcast is not a substitute for therapy. I'm so excited you're on the journey. If you

want to request specific topics or share your progress, email me at homecoming

podcast at gmail.com. Also after you listen, be sure to like, subscribe, and share. Let's begin.

Welcome home co-journers. I am glad you're here for another week, another episode of the Homecoming Podcast for our audience members who are hard of hearing or from our deaf community, I want to note for you that the podcast is also on YouTube

and on YouTube the closed caption and the transcription is there.

And so I know some of you wrote to me about the sound.

And we are trying to make the sound as loud as possible.

And I also want to make you aware for those who are listening

on other platforms that the YouTube version of the podcast has the closed caption. All right, and we have a poetry submission this

week for those who are new. I invite you to write a poem about your homecoming journey and email it to me at homecoming

podcast at gmail dot com and today I'm reading a poem by Iana Ellis and the

poem is called Out of Hiding.

I've decided to face my fears, to feel them,

to let them surround me, consume me, envelop me, nearly smother me.

I've decided I'm not hiding anymore.

I'm out of hiding now. I'm here. I'm present. I'm facing life head on.

I've decided this deep down in my soul, and since I've made this decision, I've realized

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