LGBTQ History Month is more than a commemoration of the past. It’s a call to embody courage, compassion and truth in the present.
Each October, we honor those who have resisted exclusion, reclaimed dignity and insisted that love is stronger than fear. Dr. Paige Rawson’s The Self-Compassion Companion is one such offering, rooted in the conviction that transforming our inner lives through compassion is an act of resistance and resilience.
Belief Behind the Book is a feature that gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the beliefs—or what I call “the why”—behind books written by progressive spiritual leaders. Inspired by the Ministry from the Margins Books program, “Belief Behind the Book” shines a spotlight on why authors write the books they write, offering practical tips for readers to apply to their own belief systems.
This small book has the power to transform your life if, for no other reason, than it contains reflections and resources to help you access and activate the single most powerful force for change on earth: love. We are faced with innumerable choices each day, and the most important one is how we will begin the day.
When we choose to enter with compassion, first for ourselves and then for others, we set ourselves up for success. The Self-Compassion Companion offers thirty daily affirmations to guide you into mindful reflection and compassionate action, which can be engaged month after month and year after year.
Dr. Paige Rawson (she/they) is a writer, speaker and life coach. Paige knows firsthand the trauma inflicted by exclusivist ideologies and toxic theologies. Their experience of discrimination and dehumanization motivated them to personal healing, self-acceptance and social action, as well as the pursuit of an MDiv, MA and PhD.
Paige now focuses their energy on coaching, consulting and counseling, working with clients as they seek to cultivate self-compassion, heal from religious trauma, embrace their agency and embody their truth. Paige currently resides in Florida with their partner, kids and dog. When Paige isn’t working, she enjoys running, paddleboarding, impromptu dance parties and spending time with loved ones.
When I asked Paige why she wrote this book, her activist spirit shone forth, responding, “I wrote this book to offer a tool I believe could change our world: self-compassion. In the face of poverty, racism, xenophobia, the retrenchment of civil rights, the rise of fascism, ecocide and genocide, among other global crises, I believe that if people practice self-compassion, we can counter the fear and hatred fueling injustice and oppression. Self-compassion saved my life, which is also why I wrote this book and why I became a self-compassion coach.”
Continuing, Paige shares the primary practical takeaway for readers:
“My core teaching is the takeaway: when you encounter the critical, self-doubting voice, meet it with kindness, not cruelty, and apply The Three C’s—consciousness, curiosity, and compassion—by listening, asking what it believes and what it needs, thanking it for trying to help, and lovingly reassuring it that you can handle things. That shift can change everything.”
May Paige’s invitation to choose self-compassion remind us that liberation begins within. When we meet our own wounds with kindness, we create ripples that challenge the fear and hatred fueling injustice.
History teaches us that queer love, queer resilience and queer spirituality have always reshaped the world. The question for us today is simple: will we join in that work of transformation—starting with how we treat ourselves and extending into how we love one another?
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Award-winning author of ten books, including The Authorpreneur Handbook. Founder and CEO of Tehom Center Publishing, a nonprofit press publishing feminist and queer authors, with a commitment to elevate BIPOC writers. Rev. Dr. Yarber’s work has been featured in Forbes, HuffPo, NPR, The Advocate, Ms. Magazine, the television show Tiny House Nation, and more. She travels the world speaking, preaching, publishing, and writing, but she can always be found at www.tehomcenter.org
