Sandra Laratta

Remember her

I know what it feels like to be stuck.

A practice for women

@sandralaratta

01

On paper

For a long time, my life looked pretty good on paper.

I was capable. I was successful. I was taking care of people. I was doing what I thought I was supposed to do.

But underneath it, I was constantly looking outside of myself for answers.

Through relationships, family, work, success, recognition and other people's approval. I didn't realize it at the time, but somewhere along the way, I had gotten very far away from myself.

As a little girl, I was creative, fearless and incredibly sensitive. I would stand outside under the stars and make up songs. I trusted what moved me.

Then life happened. I started learning who I thought I needed to be to be accepted, successful and loved. I learned to be tougher. I hid my sensitivity. I tried to fit myself into roles that never really fit me.

A woman turned away from the camera in a prairie field, backlit by a low sun.
Supplied by Sandra.
02

The roles

I've watched so many incredible women become buried underneath the roles they've carried.

I've lived it myself. And it has made me ask a question I keep coming back to. Why do we wait? Why should it take a crisis, illness, divorce, bankruptcy, breakdown or some other enormous life event before we give ourselves permission to ask what we actually want?

  1. Wife
  2. Mother
  3. Daughter
  4. Caregiver
  5. Professional
  6. Peacekeeper
  7. Responsible one
  8. Strong one

Sometimes those roles become so loud that we can barely hear the woman underneath them.

A few years ago, I was lying on the basement floor of a house I thought would be my forever home.

How the hell did I get here, and how am I going to get myself out?

04

It was small

Transformation isn't always one massive breakthrough. Sometimes it's incredibly subtle.

It's five minutes.

One realization.

One boundary.

A prairie field and treeline under a low sun.
The gravel road. Supplied by Sandra.

One different response.

One honest admission about what you actually want.

One tiny thing that makes you feel alive again.

And then you do it again tomorrow.

05

The questions

  1. What gives me joy?
  2. What makes me feel free?
  3. What makes me curious?
  4. What makes me feel beautiful?
  5. What makes me feel alive?
  6. What have I stopped doing that once felt completely natural to me?

Then you give that part of yourself a little room again.

06

What this is

I want to make the starting point simpler for another woman.

To help her see the patterns that may be keeping her stuck. To recognize the parts of herself that became quieter along the way. To reconnect with what feels genuinely hers. And then to practice showing up for that woman again.

An instant-film photograph of a woman looking out over a field at sunset.
Supplied by Sandra.

  1. Take the Survival Role Assessment

    Free. Fifteen open-ended questions. About seven to ten minutes.

  2. Sandra reads what you wrote

    Not a score and not a diagnosis. She reads it herself and draws out the patterns and the roles she sees in it.

  3. The Mirror Session

    Seventy-five minutes with Sandra, on what she found. $197 CAD. You leave seeing something you could not see, because you were too close to your own life.

Remember her

Being stuck is not a life sentence. You can start small. You can hear yourself again. Start here: Take the Survival Role Assessment. Free, fifteen questions, about ten minutes.

Already taken it? Book your Mirror Session. Seventy-five minutes with Sandra, $197 CAD.

Sandra

Sandra Laratta.
Sandra Laratta.

Remember Her

Sandra Laratta

@sandralaratta