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Homecoming

Homecoming isn’t a final destination — it’s a state I returned to in moments, sometimes losing it, sometimes finding it again.
It’s where strength meets softness, where self-trust takes root, and where pride in who I’ve become rises above what I’ve endured.
These pieces are about arriving, not back to who I was, but forward into someone stronger, clearer, and wholly my own, even if I had to arrive there more than once.

Close-up of shattered ice, jagged pieces reflecting light, symbolizing brokenness and clarity

Close-up of shattered ice, jagged pieces reflecting light, symbolizing brokenness and clarity

Things He Liked To Say | A Discussion on Needs

He liked to say he couldn’t meet my needs—and he was right, but not because I was needy.

Katherine Tatsuda

Sep 71 min read

A woman smiling in a sunflower field, holding a vibrant bouquet of red, orange, and yellow sunflowers. The sky is gray but bright, and her face radiates joy and freedom.

A woman smiling in a sunflower field, holding a vibrant bouquet of red, orange, and yellow sunflowers. The sky is gray but bright, and her face radiates joy and freedom.

Fracture & Bloom | From Heartbreak & Loss Came Freedom

Living a lifetime in expectation & legacy I have never been truly free. Until now.

Katherine Tatsuda

Sep 41 min read

A close-up of a Scrabble board mid-game, maroon tiles spelling words like “TAXING,” “TEDDY,” and “COILY,” with the edge of the game box and books visible on a wooden table.

A close-up of a Scrabble board mid-game, maroon tiles spelling words like “TAXING,” “TEDDY,” and “COILY,” with the edge of the game box and books visible on a wooden table.

Dear {Name Redacted} | A Moment of Vulnerability

A letter about what I wish we could take back and where I wish we could go from here.

Katherine Tatsuda

Sep 21 min read

A smiling woman with long dark hair and glowing skin sits on a couch in a sunlit room. She wears a white tank top and delicate necklace, her arm gently crossed over her chest. She looks directly at the camera with warmth, strength, and a peaceful presence. A colorful painting and scattered books are visible in the soft-focus background

A smiling woman with long dark hair and glowing skin sits on a couch in a sunlit room. She wears a white tank top and delicate necklace, her arm gently crossed over her chest. She looks directly at the camera with warmth, strength, and a peaceful presence. A colorful painting and scattered books are visible in the soft-focus background

I Turned A Corner Today

For the first time in a long time, I felt energized by what’s possible instead of weighed down by what was.

Katherine Tatsuda

Sep 12 min read

“A splintered tree trunk broken between two strong trees, sunlight filtering through the forest. A symbol of fractured integrity and the cost of hypocrisy.

“A splintered tree trunk broken between two strong trees, sunlight filtering through the forest. A symbol of fractured integrity and the cost of hypocrisy.

I Don't Like Being Lied To | A Question of Integrity

Integrity in one part of life cannot erase hypocrisy in another.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 302 min read

Nearly $10,000 worth of diamond jewelry held in the palm of a woman's hand. Three diamond necklaces and a pair of diamond studs.

Nearly $10,000 worth of diamond jewelry held in the palm of a woman's hand. Three diamond necklaces and a pair of diamond studs.

Guilt Gifts | The Diamonds

I felt special wearing such beautiful pieces given to me by a man I loved and respected deeply. I don't wear them anymore. Sept. 4, 2025...

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 303 min read

A woman in a white eyelet dress with a golden belt and layered gold necklaces smiles into a mirror. The soft light and gold accents reflect the poem’s imagery of golden strands, radiance, and inner wholeness.

A woman in a white eyelet dress with a golden belt and layered gold necklaces smiles into a mirror. The soft light and gold accents reflect the poem’s imagery of golden strands, radiance, and inner wholeness.

Golden Strands | Profound Devastation to Soul Transformation

The future burns bright—and I am its flame.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 172 min read

A warm, lived-in room with a glowing fire, blooming plants, and soft light—a small, safe corner carved out for rest and return.

A warm, lived-in room with a glowing fire, blooming plants, and soft light—a small, safe corner carved out for rest and return.

Homecoming

Coming home to yourself isn’t always easy. But it is possible—bit by bit, light by light.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 152 min read

Two glass bowls filled with frozen fruit, whipped cream, and a cherry on top sit side by side on a kitchen counter. The setting is warm and intimate, evoking a sense of shared ritual or relationship.

Two glass bowls filled with frozen fruit, whipped cream, and a cherry on top sit side by side on a kitchen counter. The setting is warm and intimate, evoking a sense of shared ritual or relationship.

I Thought I Was Ready

But even after years of healing, I still mistook toxicity for depth, and manipulation for love, until I finally stopped gaslighting myself and believed me

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 144 min read

Holy Shit, That Was Hard

Holy Shit, That Was Hard

Holy Shit, That Was Hard

I swallowed silence instead of screaming, wrote truth instead of texting, chose no contact while my whole nervous system ached for just one drop of the poison I finally stopped calling love.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 102 min read

Katherine Tatsuda holding a bouquet of sunflowers.

Katherine Tatsuda holding a bouquet of sunflowers.

Joy and Peace Walked Beside of Me

This weekend was filled with simple things—family, sunflowers, blueberry buckets— and somewhere in the middle of it, Peace and Joy walked beside me again.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 31 min read

He Called Me Kitten

He Called Me Kitten

He Called Me Kitten

He called me Kitten, soft, sweet, and easy to control. For a while, I played the part, quiet and grateful for scraps of affection. But my voice was never gone. It was hypnotized.

Katherine Tatsuda

Aug 22 min read

Katherine Tatsuda sitting at her desk wearing a white suit.

Katherine Tatsuda sitting at her desk wearing a white suit.

After Everest

It didn’t demand my destruction. It didn’t steal my breath. It simply let me be.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 311 min read

Katherine Tatsuda on top of a mountain in Ketchikan Alaska

Katherine Tatsuda on top of a mountain in Ketchikan Alaska

He asked me "Do you feel safe?" | Emotional Safety

Safety is a fundamental human need. I didn't know I needed emotional safety until I fell in love with a man who promised it to me. When that promise dissolved into a bucket of lies, I created it inside of myself.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 313 min read

Katherine Tatsuda 14 years old in Japan

Katherine Tatsuda 14 years old in Japan

She thought something was wrong with her. She was wrong.

For a long time, I believed I was broken. At twelve, I asked to go to “Fat Camp,” thinking if I could just shrink, I’d finally be enough. I smiled through the shame, but inside was chaos. This is the story of how I stopped trying to disappear, and started creating myself instead.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 304 min read

Woman sitting in the aftermath of psychological abuse believing in herself and what is next.

Woman sitting in the aftermath of psychological abuse believing in herself and what is next.

What Was Real? | A Personal Journey Through Psychological Abuse Recovery

When the truth surfaced, it wasn’t just the relationship that ended. It was the reality I thought I was living. This is a story about the wreckage, the reckoning, and the quiet rebuilding of a self I almost lost. Breath by breath. Wave by wave. Back to what was always real.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 282 min read

Katherine Tatsuda on a boat in Belize directly after devasting life events collided and caused an internal transformation she never wanted.

Katherine Tatsuda on a boat in Belize directly after devasting life events collided and caused an internal transformation she never wanted.

The Tipping Point | When Kindness Becomes Self Betrayal

There comes a moment, quiet, sharp, unmovable, when something inside you finally says no more. For me, it wasn’t the lies I uncovered or even seeing him with someone new. It was when he asked me to be kind.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 282 min read

I sat with myself—and for the first time, I didn’t run. This photo is the after. The proof. The woman who stayed, and learned to love the one person she was never supposed to abandon: herself.

I sat with myself—and for the first time, I didn’t run. This photo is the after. The proof. The woman who stayed, and learned to love the one person she was never supposed to abandon: herself.

I Am The One Who Stayed | Self Love Mastery

I used to think strength meant pushing through, holding it in, staying silent. But real strength? It was staying when the tears came. Sitting with the girl I once was, holding her hand through the grief. Becoming the woman who could finally say: I am safe. I am loved. I am mine. This is self-love, not just a buzzword, but a sacred practice. This is mastery.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jul 261 min read

Katherine Tatsuda hiking the PCT in the North Cascades

Katherine Tatsuda hiking the PCT in the North Cascades

I Thought I Missed Him, But I Missed Me

I don’t miss him. I miss the me I almost abandoned trying to hold on to someone who never really held me.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jun 262 min read

My Heart Beats Grief, and Life.

My Heart Beats Grief, and Life.

My Heart Beats Grief, and Life.

I’ve grieved losses most people never saw. My heart still beats grief, but it also beats life. And I’m learning to feel safe again, with myself.

Katherine Tatsuda

Jun 263 min read

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