Born to Be Me: Mental Health & Late Blooming | Sheena's Story
Some journeys don’t look heroic from the outside.
They don’t follow timelines, milestones, or the markers society applauds. But they are profound all the same.
In this episode of FoundHer, I sat down with Sheena Mason-White, contributor to The Embers We Carry, Volume 3, to talk about what it means to come home to yourself after decades of feeling shaped, managed, and misunderstood.
Her chapter, Born to Be Me, is not about reinvention. It’s about remembering because life doesn’t follow a script. Sheena’s story challenges one of our most deeply held assumptions: that success and fulfillment arrive on schedule.
Growing up in Glasgow, Sheena entered the psychiatric system at just 19 years old. For years, her inner world was filtered through diagnoses, medication, and external authority. Like many people navigating mental health systems, she learned early on that being “manageable” often mattered more than being understood.
Her life unfolded differently than expected. Marriage came later, at 55. She chose not to have children. From the outside, her life didn’t match the cultural blueprint of achievement or belonging. Internally, she carried questions about worth, identity, and whether she was somehow “behind.” What she eventually discovered was something far more liberating: she was never late. She was just living someone else’s expectations.
Conditioning, Control, and the Search for Belonging
A central theme of Sheena’s chapter is childhood conditioning. She speaks candidly about growing up in an environment where love felt conditional, where success was measured externally, and where safety was tied to performance. She shared how, as a child, she instinctively found ways to self-soothe and self-protect. Even small behaviours, like thumb-sucking, became quiet acts of rebellion and survival. At the time, she didn’t have language for it. She only knew she needed comfort, containment, and somewhere to belong.
As adults, many of us look back and judge our younger selves harshly. Sheena invites us to do the opposite. To see those behaviours not as flaws, but as intelligence. As evidence that we were always trying to care for ourselves the best way we knew how.
Being “Just Enough”
One of the most powerful moments in our conversation was Sheena’s realization that she is, and always has been, just enough. Not despite her sensitivity. Not despite her unconventional path. But because of it.
Through her work with Human Design, Sheena began to understand herself in a way that no diagnosis ever offered. Instead of asking what was wrong with her, she started asking who she actually was.
This shift changed everything. It allowed her to stop chasing belonging and start cultivating self-acceptance.
Healing Isn’t Linear and It Isn’t Loud
Sheena’s journey into healing and spirituality began in her twenties, introduced by a psychiatrist who saw more in her than symptoms. But embracing that side of herself wasn’t easy. There was resistance. From family. From culture. From the parts of herself that had learned survival through compliance.
She spoke openly about her relationship with medication, body image, and weight, naming how much shame still exists around mental health and the physical impacts of treatment. Her vulnerability in sharing these experiences is a reminder that healing doesn’t erase complexity. It teaches us how to hold it with compassion.
Why This Story Matters
Born to Be Me is for anyone who has ever felt out of step with the world. For those who were labeled before they were listened to. For anyone who has wondered if they missed their moment.
Sheena’s story gently insists that there is no wrong timeline for becoming yourself. There is only the courage to listen inward and the willingness to trust what you find there. Find her story in Volume 3 of The Embers We Carry launching April 11, 2026.
Learn more about the FoundHer Summit here!
“I wasn’t broken. I was just never taught how to be myself.”
About Sheena
Contributor to The Embers We Carry, Volume 3
Based in Glasgow, Scotland
Entered the psychiatric system at age 19 and spent decades navigating mental health labels, medication, and societal expectations
Found deep self-understanding later in life through Human Design, reframing her story from “what’s wrong with me?” to “who am I?”
Aspires to expand her chapter into a full-length book
Follow her at: www.sheenamasonwhite.com
