What If Discomfort Is the Door?

A reflection on pain, addiction, and what Dr. Anna Lembke reminded me about being human

Today’s conversation with Dr. Anna Lembke left a mark on me, not in a loud or dramatic way, but in that subtle, cellular kind of way that lingers. You know those rare conversations that don't just inform you, but quietly shift the way you move through your life? This was one of them.

Dr. Lembke said something I keep turning over in my mind: healing isn’t about feeling better, it’s about feeling everything. And the moment she said it, I felt my whole body pause. Because deep down, I know how often I’ve tried to outrun discomfort, through work, through distraction, through the dopamine loops we all get caught in.

But what if our pain isn’t the problem? What if our unwillingness to sit with it is?

That’s what Dr. Lembke helped me see.