“Every home, no matter how small, can have a breathing room. We may have a room for everything else […] but most of us don’t have a room for our own breathing and peace of mind.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you feel like you’ve been buried. Perhaps you’ve been planted. Bloom.” -Christine Caine
At some point in our lives, we have all experienced some form of rejection. Some of us even have a strong fear of rejection and try to avoid it when at all possible. This is because we usually interpret rejection to mean that something is inherently wrong with us. If the person we’re attracted to doesn’t feel the same way towards us, we feel rejected. We wonder what’s wrong with us. We wonder why we weren’t good enough. If you don’t get the job or promotion you were vying for, again you may feel rejected. You may feel like you weren’t smart enough or good enough. But is that really the case? Continue reading
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“Food is not just calories, it is information. It talks to your DNA and tells it what to do. The most powerful tool to change your health, environment, and entire world is your fork.” – Dr. Mark Hyman
A few weeks ago I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and I saw a post by @plantbasedvibes asking people what was the inspiration behind their health and wellness journey. One of the responses that really stood out to me was from @paijawn. Her response was “I took graduate level health disparities courses and learned more about food deserts and swamps and the [government’s] planned lack of access to healthy food options within black communities. I started eating healthier as an act of rebellion.” She said an act of rebellion y’all. I have always tried to be conscious of what I am eating Continue reading
“Why should I stay at the bottom of a well, when a strong rope is in my hand?” -Rumi
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Sometimes in life we find ourselves in some pretty shitty situations that we just really don’t want to be in. We start feeling discouraged, depressed, and (even worse) stuck! We may not even realize how we ended up in a certain predicament but now that we’re in it we may not see any way out and we feel hopeless. Over time we get so used to our current situation that we forget that we can actually choose something different. So often we place the power that we have over our lives in the hands of other people. We have to constantly remind ourselves that, even in sucky situations, we still have power (and usually it’s a whole lot more than we actually realize). So what is this power and how can you start using it? Continue reading
It’s not lost on me that people find my skin tone and hair texture “pretty”. I get compliments on them all the time. I think we are well aware of the notion (particularly within the black community) that lighter skin and soft curly hair is an immediate ticket to an easier life and an automatic assumption of beauty and eliteness. Being that I fall (somewhat) in this category and I am on the receiving end of plenty of compliments surrounding my hair and skin tone, I know how prevalent these opinions are. I was just a little girl when I realized such a ridiculous hierarchy even existed. I am a middle child with two sisters who both have darker skin tones and tighter curl patterns than I do. Although my dad freely expressed his adoration for the darkest skin tones and the kinkiest hair types, I quickly realized that most people in the world around me did not share his views on this. Continue reading
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The funny thing about knowledge is that once you know something you can’t really unknow it. So you now have a piece of knowledge and no one can take it from you. That alone (to me) is why reading is so important and so powerful. I look at books now and I get excited because I know that the information in that book can be knowledge in my head once I read the book. I haven’t always felt like this though. I’m almost ashamed to Continue reading
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The holiday season is upon us once again. Around this time of year people either get really excited and start cooking, caroling, and decorating their pretty little hearts out or they start complaining about all the people bouncing around fa la la la la’ing all chipper and giddy. But for others it goes much deeper than that. Some people have an intense dread for the holidays due to strained or lost relationships, anniversary dates of a traumatic event, financial stressors, or some other negative experience that coincides with the holiday season. Combine this with the fact that the holidays occur in the cold and rainy winter months and it’s no wonder depression and suicide rates soar during this time of year. So, with that being said, what can you do now to overcome the dreaded holiday blues? Below are five easy things that you can do now to beat the holiday blues… Continue reading
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How many sexual assault survivors do you know? I am sad to say that I have far too many friends and family members who have experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault at some point in their life. Male and female. Adults and children. The fact of the matter is one is too many. But unfortunately, based on the statistics, it’s likely that you or someone you know has experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault as well.
These past few years have been filled with media coverage of high-profile sexual assault cases involving people such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Catholic priests, as well as the recent allegations made by Dr. Christine Ford against the now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. These events and powerful movements such as the #MeToo movement Continue reading
Life gets really hectic at times. Some days it takes all I have to just get through the day. On days like this, the last thing I have time for is anything related to self-care (unless you include a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks as self-care). Anyway, I know how important self-care is and I know I definitely can’t afford to skimp on it. So I have been trying to incorporate some form of self-care into my daily (or at least almost daily) routine to ensure that I’m staying healthy, grounded, and keeping myself as a priority. When most people think of self-care they usually think of a vacation to a beautiful island, going to the gym/eating healthy, or a nice spa day. But there are other ways to incorporate self-care into your routine that you may have never actually thought of. Here is a list of 5 simple ways that you can incorporate self-care into your daily routine and the best part is they won’t cost you a dime!
Concrete Roses 