Walking Through the Fire: How My Story Became My Mission

My name is SummerLee, and if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that healing is possible — no matter how far gone you may feel.

For nearly twenty years, I lived in the deep shadows of active addiction. Hard drugs became my daily reality. Jails, institutions, and survival-mode living became the rhythm of my life. I battled not just addiction, but spiritual warfare. I survived countless situations where death felt inevitable — overdoses, a heart attack, a mild stroke, and even ongoing complications with my pancreas from years of drug use.

But the physical battles were only part of it. I survived sexual abuse, trauma, and the soul-crushing reality of selling my body just to get by. I buried people I loved. I held space for some as they took their very last breath.

Grief, shame, guilt, and pain were stitched into the fabric of my existence.

And yet — somehow — something deep inside of me refused to give up.

My journey into a new life didn’t come through anything conventional. It came through a whisper from the Earth itself — through sacred plant medicine.

It was psilocybin mushrooms that first cracked open the door, leading me headfirst into a dark night of the soul — a brutal but necessary unraveling.

From there, I was guided into deeper work with sacred medicines like peyote and ayahuasca, each one helping me peel back the layers of pain and illusion and guiding me back home to my true self.

Today, I am living proof that rebirth is real.

I am a full-time student, earning my Bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts and Sciences with a focus in Positive Psychology and Human Consciousness.

I am a Certified White Bison Wellbriety Recovery Coach, a Certified Death Doula, and a Spiritual Mentor.

I have walked alongside adults in chemical dependency recovery, and I now work in the mental health field supporting youth.

I am the author of my first published book — a living testament to the road I’ve walked and the light I have found on the other side.

But more than anything — I am a woman on a mission.

My mission is to speak up.

To liberate myself and my ancestors.

To shed light into the lives of others — especially those who are still walking through their own darkness.

I believe healing is not just about survival — it’s about remembering who we really are underneath all the wounds.

It’s about reclaiming our truth, stepping into our power, and becoming vessels of love, healing, and oneness — within ourselves, and within the world.

This is the prayer I walk now.

And if my story can help even one soul remember their own light, then every step of this journey has been worth it.