Returning to Self: A Homecoming for the Adoptee Heart
August 4, 2025
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August always feels like a turning point.
Summer starts to slow down. School supplies reappear. Our schedules begin to shift again, and there’s a quiet whisper: “Time to get back to it.”
But what if “getting back to it” includes something deeper?
What if, in the middle of returning to routines, returning to work, and returning to structure, we also took a moment to return to ourselves?
And for adoptees… what does that even mean?
When You’ve Never Fully Known Yourself
For a long time, I thought “finding myself” meant building the life I wanted, doing good things, or becoming the version of me others would finally accept. I didn’t realize I was constructing an identity based on performance, protection, and survival.
As an adoptee, it’s complicated.
When your earliest identity was interrupted, your earliest relationships disrupted — what exactly are you returning to?
We didn’t leave ourselves.
We were disconnected from parts of who we were before we even had language for it.
And that can make the idea of “returning to self” feel confusing, or even painful.
Because for many of us… we never really knew who “self” was in the first place.
So What Does It Mean to Return?
For me, returning to self has meant allowing myself to be present.
Not to the identity I created to feel safe.
Not to the version of me who had to earn love or acceptance.
But to the me I’ve been slowly remembering.
The one who is rooted, not just in story, but in truth.
The one who is not defined by what was lost, but by who I’ve become through healing.
Returning to self has looked like:
Resting without guilt
Saying “no” to things that drain me
Honoring my body and nervous system
Letting God tell me who I am, not my past, not the world, not my fear
Creating from the inside out, not from pressure
It’s not a dramatic revelation.
It’s a series of small yeses, to truth, to peace, to love, to healing.
This August, I’m Holding Space for Your Return
If you’re feeling the pull to reconnect, not just with your routines, but with your real self, I want to invite you into two things:
🎟 Virtual Workshop: “Hope & Healing: Finding Freedom in Your Story”
Saturday, September 6th, 2025
This 2-hour live Zoom session is a space to gently reconnect with your story, reflect on your identity, and find peace in the person you’re becoming.
👉 Reserve your seat here
🎯 Coaching Spots Open: 3 Discounted Sessions
To honor this season, I’m opening 3 discounted coaching spots for the first three adoptees who feel ready to go deeper.
We’ll tailor your journey to you ,and walk at a pace that feels safe, empowering, and rooted in love.
👉 Book your free intro call here
You’re not too late.
You’re not too far gone.
You’re not broken.
You’re just being called home.
To yourself.
To truth.
To the life that’s waiting on the other side of healing.
Stay Connected
If you’ve found value in this space, I invite you to subscribe to our monthly newsletter here. As a subscriber, you’ll receive exclusive updates, early access to new resources, and content designed to support your healing journey. Let’s continue this journey together toward healing and wholeness.
Courage, Love & Blessings, Always!
Amanda Medina
Life Story Coach | Adoptee | Founder of This Adoptee Life™
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Amanda Medina
I was adopted from Medellin, Colombia to Sweden in 1985. I was about a year and a half when I started my life as an adoptee, and it would take 32 years until I was ready to face what that means, what that has always meant, and what that will always mean.
About Us
This Adoptee Life is a place where adoptees can explore their story, share their experience, and express what they’ve lived through—supported by a community that understands.
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2 thoughts on “Returning to Self: A Homecoming for the Adoptee Heart”
Hey Amanda,
Ironically my 2025 intention is Homecoming…to Self and what a journey it has been thus far made up of deep dives, sitting with feelings, revelations, & pauses. I’d join your Zoom on 9/6 however I’ll be on vacation.
Hi Jane, thank you for your reply to this blog post. Yes, it is quite the journey when we as adoptees decide to go within and make room for our emotions and experience. I hope you will join a future online workshop and enjoy your travels. Much love, Amanda