EP 32: From Forced Silence to Fierce Voice

What if the pain you’ve been silenced for becomes the power you rise with?On this episode of Affirm That Sh!t, I’m joined by guest host Portia Booker from Groove with Portia as we welcome Barbara D. Hayward—guide, storyteller, and the soul behind The Old Girl’s Spiritual Stuff, known to many as The Oracle. She’s lived the stories most wouldn’t dare to tell: childhood trauma, spiritual exile, forced motherhood, and the long, brutal climb back to herself. But Barbara’s not here to be pitied—she’s here to pass the torch.Together, we unpack how grief is a forced redirection, not a curse. We talk about affirmations as armor. About survival as sacred. And about what it means to reclaim your soul when the world has tried to erase it. Barbara lays it bare—from escaping a manipulative marriage to surviving hospitalizations, from secret spiritual training to publicly reclaiming her purpose in her 60s.This isn’t polished. It’s powerful. And it’s for anyone who’s felt they had to whisper their story just to survive. You’ll leave this one raw, affirmed, and ready to rise.Connect with Barbara D. Hayward: https://theoldgirlspiritualstuff.com/