What if this season of exhaustion, emotional heaviness, and shifting identity isn’t you falling apart—but your soul asking you to slow down?

In this deeply reflective episode of Diamonds from Darkness, host Syrie D holds space for the quiet, often unspoken realities many Black women face during seasons of perimenopause—especially when the body, mind, and spirit begin requesting rest.

We explore how change can feel like unraveling before it feels like becoming, and why so many women, particularly Black women, carry immense emotional and mental loads in silence. From the emotional impact of perimenopause to the lifelong conditioning to “stay strong,” this episode names what so many feel but rarely say out loud.

Through the G.E.M.S. philosophy pillars, this conversation centers on:
💎 Mindfulness — noticing your fatigue, your feelings, and your limits without judgment
💎 Expression — giving yourself permission to speak your needs, release pressure, and stop performing strength
💎 Rest as resistance, recalibration, and rebuilding

This episode is a reminder that:
✨ Rest is not weakness
✨ Transition is not loss—it is becoming
✨ You are allowed to choose yourself without guilt or explanation

If you’ve been feeling the shift… if your emotions have been heavy… if your spirit has been calling for quiet—this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen in, breathe deeply, and remember: your soul is requesting rest, and you are allowed to answer. 💎

As we enter 2026, many Black women are carrying survival, burnout, and expectations we never chose.

In this episode of Diamonds from Darkness, Syrie D explores Reset, Refocus, and Rebuild through the G.E.M.S. philosophy—Growth, Expression, Mindfulness, and Strength. You’ll learn how to release survival mode, set boundaries that protect your mental health, refocus your energy toward alignment, and rebuild a life that truly supports you.

This episode includes practical tools, reflective questions, and a guided closing meditation to help you step into the year grounded and whole.

✨ You are not behind—you are becoming.
💎 You are the gem.

Grief is heavy! And too often, Black women are expected to carry it quietly and alone. In this episode of Diamonds from Darkness, I’m joined by a licensed clinical therapist, Shavon Thomas who specializes in supporting Black women through grief, loss, and emotional transitions.

Together, we explore how grief shows up in Black women’s lives, how therapy is viewed and experienced within the Black community, and the unique barriers and breakthroughs Black women face when seeking mental health support. We also discuss healthy coping strategies, emotional processing, and how therapy can be a powerful tool for healing, not a sign of weakness.

This conversation creates space to honor pain without shame, release the pressure to always “be strong,” and find strength through culturally affirming care and community support.

If you’re navigating loss, questioning therapy, or learning how to better cope with your mental health, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen in and remember—you don’t have to carry it alone.

In this deeply personal and vulnerable episode, we explore a kind of grief we rarely speak about, the grief of losing someone who is still alive.

After the passing of my father, I began witnessing a slow and heartbreaking shift in my mother, the woman who once held everything together. Grief didn’t just change her. It unraveled her. And suddenly, I found myself stepping into a role I never expected: caring for the woman who once cared for me.

This episode is for anyone who has had to carry emotional weight that was once not theirs. For the daughters who became the caretakers. For the women grieving someone whose body is present but whose spirit feels far away. For those navigating love, resentment, compassion, fatigue, and the quiet ache of longing.

✨ GEM of the Week:
Growth isn’t always upward — sometimes it’s learning to stay grounded while love gets heavy.

We’ll explore:
• The slow unraveling of a parent after loss
• How unhealed childhood wounds echo into adulthood
• What it feels like to parent your parent
• The coexistence of love and resentment
• Learning to care for someone without losing yourself

There is no neat ending here...only honesty, softness, and truth-telling. If you are carrying this too… you are not alone.

I see you.

In this deeply personal and vulnerable episode of Diamonds from Darkness, host Syrie D steps away from the polished motivation and speaks from the raw middle of her journey — inside a quiet sadness.

This isn’t the clinical breakdown of bipolar depression.
This is what it feels like.

The kind of sadness that doesn’t always look like tears — but rather stillness, silence, and the invisible weight that makes even getting out of bed feel like an act of survival.

Syrie opens up about:

• The fog-like distance of moving through life but not feeling fully present

• The guilt of wanting to show up for family while fighting an internal heaviness

• The myth that Black women must always be strong, composed, and “fine”

• Why bipolar depression is not laziness, weakness, or a lack of gratitude

• And how grace, in this season, looks small, quiet, and imperfect

This episode honors the Black woman who is tired.
Who is doing her best.

Who is surviving in a world that demands her strength, even when she is running on empty.

In this episode, host Syrie D gets real about the Strong Black Woman myth, the pressure to always be unbreakable, unbothered, and endlessly strong.

Together, we explore the cost of that cape and what it means to finally set it down. ✨

Because true strength isn’t about carrying it all — it’s about knowing when to rest, receive, and simply be. 💎

Our fathers; whether present, absent, or somewhere in between ; shape more of our mental and emotional world than we often realize. In this episode, host Syrie D explores the powerful connection between fatherhood and Black women’s mental health.

From understanding the “father wound” to learning how to heal and redefine self-worth, this conversation offers reflection, compassion, and hope. Together, we unpack how our relationships with our fathers influence love, trust, and identity and how we can reclaim peace, one truth at a time.

✨ Listen in and discover how acknowledging your fathers story can become a gateway to deeper healing and self-love.

Can you truly love again after deep pain? 💔 In this transformative episode of Diamonds from Darkness, host Syrie D dives into the heart of healing and rebuilding love after trauma — especially for Black women carrying generations of emotional wounds, strength, and resilience.

From childhood hurt and betrayal to emotional neglect and heartbreak, trauma shapes how we love — and how we let ourselves be loved. But healing is possible. 🌱

✨ In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How trauma impacts your ability to connect and trust in relationships

• Common patterns like people-pleasing, avoidance, and emotional reactivity — and how to break them

• Real-life stories of healing and rediscovering safe, steady love

• Practical steps to rebuild self-trust, set boundaries, and receive love without guilt

Featuring heartfelt stories like Monique’s and Tasha’s journeys, this episode reminds us that love after trauma may feel unfamiliar , not because it’s wrong, but because peace feels new.

💎 Affirmation: “You are not your past. You are worthy of love that feels safe, steady, and real.”

Tune in, GEMS, and learn how to choose love that heals, not hurts.