“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
-Benjamin Spock
Category: Uncategorized
“For me, success is not a public thing. It’s a private thing. It’s when you have fewer and fewer regrets.”
-Toni Morrison
“Vacation won’t make things better. Changing jobs won’t make things better. Getting the recognition you deserve won’t make things better. Drugs won’t make things better.
The only thing that will make things better is your relationship with yourself.”
-FarnamStreet
Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.
-Steve Maraboli
Here’s what I’ve been reflecting on this week. As Haruki Murakam once said, “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” I believe this is applicable to everything we read.
READ
Yes, please and thank you! Best Books Written by Black Women, ProWritingAid
Mines did after multiple prolapses. Does Your Vagina Need Physical Therapy?, Thinx
Try half-assing it. Here’s How I Took Back My Life, Sisters From AARP
Alright. Everything You Need to Know to Vacation Alone, Thrillist
I’m listening. “My Self-Care Is My Joy”—5 Black Women Share the Rituals That Help Them Show Up As Their Fullest Selves. Camille Styles
Number 5 is everything to me. The Lifestyle That Could Finally Help You Achieve Financial Freedom, The Everygirl
In case you need it. 60 Monthly Journaling Prompts to Help You Make the Most of 2023, Silk Sonder
listen
SZA’s Ruination Brought Her Everything, The New York Times Magazine
WRITE
“A Plethora of Answers.” Black Music as Nourishment and Inspiration, LitHub
What I Do: I don’t have access or a subscription to various newspapers or magazines i.e. the New York Times. So, I checked with my local library. I’ve learned I have access to the New York Times free with my library card. Always check with your local library to see what offerings are available to you.
“If you are outgrowing who you’ve been, you are right on schedule. Keep evolving.”
-Lalah Deliah
“Everybody has an inferiority complex when they step into a room… When I was young I had so many inferiority complexes. I had an inferiority complex because I didn’t go to university… because I didn’t train. Then it gets tiring. And you get bored of it…”Fuck it” is my guiding philosophy.”
-Helena Bonham Carter
Isn’t it ironic
Recently I signed up for several SELF newsletters. I am always on the lookout for new articles to share with all of you. SELF checked many boxes when it came to what I enjoy reading and sharing. When I came across the above article I had to read and post it! But when I noticed the advertisement below I was shocked! The article mentions the Kardashians at great lengths and how they, “played a major role in normalizing and popularizing Blackfishing: the cultural appropriation when people alter their appearance with makeup, cosmetic surgery, filters, and digital editing to appear Black.” And how, “With this change in culture, the Black woman goes back to being objectified, hypersexualized, and having to deal with a disdain for their bodies that they have faced for centuries.” This article is EXCELLENT! I mean a must read. The issue I have is the SKIMS advertisement immediately below the article. WHY?! SERIOUSLY?! For me it counters the entire premise of the article and begs to question SELF’s motives.
“The Kardashians are the most notable example of the aforementioned phenomenon, having been known for their curvy frames and aesthetics pulled straight from Black culture, only to exchange them for smaller and whiter models when it’s convenient or lucrative.”
Yvette Sojourner
President
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
-Nelson Mandela