I cried at the tangerines. Who’s pushing your grocery cart?


Hey Reader,

I used to live in Australia, but in 2017, I moved back to the U.S. …and promptly hit a mental health crisis.

I was just starting my business, not exactly financially stable, and dating someone I knew was going to end in heartbreak (or worse). And then, one day, something in me just broke. I started crying uncontrollably—for days. Weeks, even. I couldn’t stop.

And I didn’t even know why I was crying.

I was unraveling. And honestly? I didn’t know how to put myself back together.

But my friends did.

One dragged my sorry ass to the movies and sat next to me while I sobbed through most of it. Another drove me to the grocery store because I had forgotten how to shop for food. I stood in the aisle, staring at everything like I’d never seen a vegetable before, while they gently pushed the cart, patiently waiting for me to remember how life worked. I cried at the tangerines. I cried at the lettuces.

Another friend just scooped me up and took me with them for the day—dropping off their dry cleaning and getting cash at the ATM—because they knew if they didn’t, I’d just sit at home, drowning in my own sadness.

That saved me.

Not because they gave me advice. Not because they “fixed” anything. But because they showed up. No transaction, no obligation, no agenda—just love.

That’s how you know when you’re with your people.

And lately? People keep telling me that they can’t seem to ever be with their people.

They’re talking to clients, bosses, colleagues. Or they’re talking to people they pay—therapists, coaches, doctors. Or the people they know through logistics—other parents at school pick-up, folks at the gym, the barista who knows their name but not their life.

It’s all functional. Necessary. Even meaningful sometimes.

But it’s not the same as real, deep, no-strings-attached friendship.

And you know what? That matters for your magic.

Friendship—the kind that isn’t about money, transactions, or obligations—is a form of spiritual connection.

It’s where you can exhale. Where you can rest, recharge, and be seen. And that is the soil where real transformation grows.

Because when you sit with a real friend—someone who doesn’t need anything from you, someone you don’t have to impress—something shifts.

Your nervous system relaxes.
Your spirit softens.
Your whole self remembers:

"Oh yeah, I’m not just here to work, or parent, or produce. I’m here to love and be loved."

At Bruja School, we talk a lot about power—how to reclaim it, how to wield it, how to transform your reality with it.

But real power isn’t just about what you can do alone.

It’s about what happens in the places where you stop waiting to exhale.

So here’s my invitation:

Go be with your people.

Not your clients.
Not your therapist.
Not your co-workers.

The ones who love you for you.

Call a friend. Invite them over, even if your house is a mess. Walk to their place. Grab tea and sit on the couch together, with no agenda except hanging out.

This is what keeps your spirit strong.

This is what fuels your magic.

So go get that hug. Go laugh in the same room as someone.

And when you’re ready to take your magic even deeper, you know where to find me.

Courage, truth, and infinite love,

PS: If you have a friend who might enjoy Liberation Letters, invite them to join by forwarding this email. They can do so by getting one of these 2 gifts:


I don’t believe in magic, but I know that it works!

Magic is not a belief system, it’s a practice that works. Don’t believe me? Come try it out. If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing. But if it does… your dream life is about to begin!


“El poder está en la acción.”

— Maritza Schafer

4083 24th St #460861, San Francisco, CA 94146
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Maritza Schafer

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