Doré Frances, Author at Dore Frances

About Doré Frances

Doré Frances is a retired educational consultant, mental health advocate, and founder of Mental and Health Awareness—a platform dedicated to empowering individuals and families with compassionate, accessible resources. With decades of experience supporting young adults, caregivers, and behavioral health programs, Doré now focuses on community engagement and promoting meaningful change through education, storytelling, and collaboration. Known for her direct yet deeply empathetic approach, Doré brings a lifetime of lived experience to her writing, blending professional insight with personal reflections on resilience, trauma recovery, and personal growth. She is especially passionate about youth advocacy, emotional wellness, and amplifying the voices of those often unheard. When she's not writing or connecting with like-minded advocates, you can find Doré exploring the beauty of Colorado with her service dog, Aspen. Let’s build a more understanding, mentally healthy world—one story at a time.

Whispers To The Soul – The Soul’s Journey Begins with Deep Presence

The Soul’s Journey Begins with Deep Presence

“Because you are alive, everything is possible.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

Like most true gifts, it is the offering of something heartfelt between souls that stirs us awake to our deeper potential. Realizing that my writing could be shared and expanded—that, too, is a gift, one I hold with reverence. Having walked through multiple near-death experiences, I find myself tender, open, and quietly compelled to gather light—for those still lost in the shadows I once knew so well.

It has taken many years to unearth these quiet truths and shape them into something I can share. And still, with every word I write, life continues to teach […]

By Doré Frances|2026-07-30T14:58:20-06:00August 1st, 2025|Collections, Spirituality, Whispers To The Soul Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

Beneath My Silence – Introversion is the key to transforming habits

Introversion is the key to transforming habits.

Insight:
When we turn inward, we gain access to the root of our behaviors. Rather than trying to change habits at a surface level, introversion allows us to uncover the underlying patterns and gently shift them at their core.

Practice:
Ask yourself:

Why does this habit persist, even though I want to change it?

Once you identify the root, bring forth the positive qualities within you—your resilience, your clarity, your strength. This inner emergence sparks genuine transformation. When change happens from within, it doesn’t have to repeat.

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:49-06:00August 1st, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Collections, Spirituality, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

Beneath My Silence – When You Feel Like No One’s First Choice

Do you ever catch yourself thinking that you are no one’s first choice –

not the favorite, not the one someone reaches for first –

just quietly present, lingering in the background?

And in that moment, you feel the pull to retreat –

not out of anger, but out of a quiet ache, a longing to be alone where it feels safer than feeling invisible.

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:36-06:00July 30th, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

Beneath My Silence – The Hardest Lesson of Adulthood: Moving Forward While Broken

The most brutal lesson adulthood has taught me is the relentless demand to keep going – even when I feel shattered inside. It doesn’t matter if I am grieving, exhausted, or barely holding on. Life doesn’t pause for sorrow or fatigue.

It charges ahead, unmoved by heartaches.

And so, I follow –

because I have to.

Even when everything in me begs for stillness. What’s even harder, though, is realizing how unprepared we are for this truth. We grow up believing in the promise of happy endings, only to find that survival often means putting on a brave face when we are anything but okay. And maybe that’s the hardest part:

not just surviving, but doing it silently –

carrying the weight with no visible cracks. […]

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:26-06:00July 29th, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

PAUSE AND REFLECT…

Fear and the Law of Attraction

Be mindful of what you fear ~

because fear has a magnetic quality. When we focus intensely on what we don’t want to happen, we may actually be drawing it toward us. The mind is powerful.

The more we obsess over worst-case scenarios ~

accidents, health concerns, rejection, loss ~

the more we energize those possibilities.

Fear doesn’t just cloud our thoughts; it shapes our reality.

Obsessive fear can lock us into a loop of anxiety and even manifest the very outcomes we’re trying to avoid.

This doesn’t mean we ignore risks. A wise elder, for […]

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:17-06:00July 22nd, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

Beneath My Silence – From Disconnection to Awakening

From Disconnection to Awakening: A Culture in Transition

We shifted from courtesy to defense ~ from “excuse me” to “get out of my way.”

From “how can I help?” to “what’s in it for me?”

We stopped worrying about how we were perceived ~

and started caring even less about each other. They were fake. We were just being “authentic.”

The collective became the individual. Friendships turned into strategic alliances. Community fragmented into tribes. Engagement became a kind of currency. When we weren’t heard, we shouted louder ~

or silenced others to make space for our noise. Anyone outside our circle became a threat. Uniformity was applauded ~ loudly, constantly. We wore […]

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:11-06:00July 19th, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

The Girl Left Behind – There Is No Substitute For A Mother’s Love

There is no substitute for a mother’s love, and I have learned to set aside the ache of longing and the weight of what was lost to offer the kind of emotional connection I was never given.

This journey requires deep work, patience, time, and the unraveling of decades-old patterns and beliefs.

It means unlearning how I coped in the absence of love and re-learning how to be present, how to live, and trust again, even when it feels vulnerable.

There is no substitute for a mother’s love. I still can’t fully grasp the extent of its absence, but I’ve witnessed its imprint in every corner of my life.

Her loss has shaped my […]

By Doré Frances|2026-07-30T14:30:20-06:00July 16th, 2025|Collections, The Girl Left Behind Collections|0 Comments

Beneath My Silence – Survival Dressed as Grace

“You handled it so well.”

No ~ I disappeared inside myself. I lost my light, broke in places no one could see, and smiled like nothing was wrong. That wasn’t strength. That was survival dressed as grace.

By Doré Frances|2026-07-26T12:03:02-06:00July 16th, 2025|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

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