Hello Friends!

I’m Tiffany and welcome to Beauty Beyond the Threshold: The Blog!

I’m about to take you on a different type of journey. I, like millions of people, battled depression and severe anxiety. In certain ways, I still battle anxiety and the triggers that impact me today. How was I able to overcome that deep depression and keep those triggers of anxiety at bay?

I tried counseling and medications but those simply weren’t enough for me. I needed something more. Something that gave me that sense of purpose that I had been seeking for so long.

How did I do it? Well, I had to push myself out of my comfort zone.

I am often told that I look unapproachable and that I’m intimidating. This is honestly because of a combination of two things: serious RBF and being very shy.

Needless to say, I am the classic introvert. I love to be the fly on the wall instead of the center of attention. I would rather someone else to the talking for me while I hide behind them. Public speaking is terrifying to me. I had to do some thinking and ask myself a major question- what would be the most daring step outside of my comfort zone?

The answer hit me literally out of nowhere. I was taking a walk around a lake during my lunch hour and came across a large branch that covered the trail. It most likely fell after a storm. An urge grew inside of me to travel to volunteer to Puerto Rico to help in disaster response. Before I could even talk myself out of it, I applied to volunteer.

Yes, you read that right. The introverted, shy, RBF-faced girl who was scared to have a conversation with anyone knew was not only going to go volunteer in disaster response but also travel solo to get there!

As scary as that was though, it turned out to be one of the best decisions in my life. I found purpose within myself again as a result of helping others. I found confidence within myself again for trying something new that pushed my physically and mentally.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked about my book is how I picked the title, Beauty Beyond the Threshold. Well, it was a painstaking process, I’m not going to deny that! I have lists of notebook pages filled with the most mediocre, horrible book titles that nobody would ever want to read. I wanted something that would embrace the “stepping out of the comfort zone” part of my book, without using the word “zone” because I didn’t want it come across too sporty (and sports are something I am absolutely terrible at. Just ask my sister because she always seemed to get injured because of me trying any sport). That’s where the word “threshold” comes into play. I also discovered that so many great things happened once I stepped across that threshold, that there was so much “beauty” to be found.

So, on this adventure, we are going to travel to new places, see new things, and talk about some topics that may make us a little uncomfortable… but it will be fun, and we will learn new things together.

Together, let’s go discover the beauty beyond the threshold!