Embrace Your Power

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” -Alice Walker

This is such an interesting quote because it’s harder to embrace your power than it is to give it away. Well, for me at least. I’d rather give away my power than do it all myself. I have a few reasons: I’d rather share it. I’d rather there be peace. I’d rather be left alone in my own space to learn and write all day. It’s hard for me to make an argument against those things. Especially because I feel like having power is scary and lonely, and people leave. None of those are based on facts, but for me, they feel very real and very big.

So I face my fear of power in bite-sized pieces. Some days it’s focusing on how I can show up authentically at school; some days it’s about how I can take care of myself without shame (that was today for me), and on rare occasions, it’s showing up for myself in a big way. I want to live my life being courageous. I think this is a good way to do it.

Healthy Striving

“Healthy striving is self-focused: ‘How can I improve?’ Perfectionism is other-focused: ‘What will they think?” -Brené Brown

Healthy striving! I absolutely love that! I’m juggling a lot but even with a full plate, I still want to do well and show effort. I do want to improve at the same time, when I worry about what people think it tends to trump all else. It probably hinders me more than I realize. The work gets done, yes, but it should be getting done in a healthy way with the proper intention.

I’ll have to keep the quote around to help me stay mindful about the vibes that are motivating my efforts.

Braids

Today we started my braids, and I’m just so excited for them to be done! I have been so frustrated with my hair that I finally gave in and figured out how to do jumbo braids with some help from my mama. We haven’t finished yet, but they are looking pretty good so far. I’m very excited to have a hairstyle that I feel good about.

Rest and Relax

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.” — Etty Hillesum

Today was a meditation day for me. I got under my weighted blanket, turned out the lights, and chose a guided meditation. It had to be done for self-care or I won’t sleep tonight. The brain is so weird.

Do you ever think about how screen time can bring out our primitive nature? I wonder if over the years our offspring will finally lose the hunter-gatherer instincts that they don’t need anymore. Or more specifically, if they’d adapt to screens in a way that allows their bodies to avoid increased anxiety levels?

Well anyway, I looked at the screen way too long today.

Good Morning Sleepyhead

“True literature can exist only where it is created, not by diligent and trustworthy functionaries, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics.” – Yevgeny Zamyatin

Time to come out of hiding. There’s a story to be written. There are hearts that need a clang of discomfort and souls that need the warmth of comfort. It’s time to come out of hiding. We’re putting out fires and kindling spirits. The gifts you receive from crossing the threshold, from choosing writing as your greatest endeavor, can hardly be discussed with ease. It’s time to rise.

Math Anxiety

I cannot believe how much I love stats. Literally, I cried with tutors over math my entire life! But give me some stats problems to solve and I will not stop until I figure them out. I liked stats 10 years ago, and I still like it now. Wild. If I were to go back to my younger self and tell her that her thing is stats, psst let all the other math stuff go, she wouldn’t believe me! Not one bit. Math gives me anxiety. I have the worst math anxiety ever. It’s actually embarrassing.

So weird. I like weird though so it works.

What’s your relationship with math? Do you have an aspect of math that lights your fire?

Merry Go Round

“How do you know it’s time to take your girlfriend to a merry-go-round?”
“When you want to spin the rest of your life with her.”

When I was a kid, I used to love the merry-go-round. I liked trying to walk afterward and feeling the world around me. These days, I get excited when I see a merry-go-round because they are so rare. But at the same time, the playgrounds these kiddos have today are pretty cool.

That’s all I got for today. Do you miss riding Merry go rounds?

Read More: https://www.jokes4us.com/holidayjokes/nationalmerrygorounddayjokes.html

The Right Time

“I am in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.”

I’m on my way to 40, and it’s starting to get to me. I went down the rabbit hole of feeling like I wasted so much time (5 years) trying to have and keep a baby that I didn’t stay focused on my own dreams. Fast forward 10-ish years later, I’m basically in the spot I left off, and it is frustrating, but now I know. I know when the entire day slips by it’s because I’m mastering my craft. When I’m chatting about psychology, the conversation comes so naturally. When I find a database that has the latest articles on neuroscience and I read them in my free time. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be. And on another thought, maybe my novel is just one big Carl Jung inkblot test for those who want to play that type of game. I don’t know, but I do know, I am exactly where I’m supposed to be right now.

I hope that this blog post returns when I need this reminder.

Word After Word

“A word after a word after a word is power.” – Margaret Atwood

I’m just over here putting words after words. I’m not in it for the power over others but for the power over my own thoughts and actions. There’s a lot going on every day. It’s so easy to lose yourself in it all. Writing has been the best thing to keep me focused after all these years.

Write It Out

“Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted.” – Jules Renard

This is interesting. This must be coming from a different type of mind because I interrupt my own thoughts, words, flow, and whatever else all the time. Just now, I just interrupted myself. You would never know from reading this blog how many times I interrupt myself. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

At this point, I allow those interruptions to help me think through my own thoughts and opinions. I don’t give them all my focus, but I don’t want to be one-sided. I do want to learn and grow from my experiences.

With that being said, I think that writing is a place where you can blow off some steam. There’s no reason to hold it all in.

Do you write it out when you’re angry?