What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
The Goddess of Rest pt.2
self-love
The Goddess of Rest
Rest is important to me after a lifetime of hustling and running on empty to be the most productive person alive. All to be loved . All to be accepted. All to be successful on somebody else’s terms.
Not anymore. Nine years ago my eyes were forced open to the system. This grind culture. White Supremacy Culture. This only getting your worth from what you do rather than who you be.
No I no longer buy into that crap.
Rest is paramount for me these days as I’ve realised I cannot fulfil all things I want to do in my pursuit of joy and purpose if I do not take my right amount of rest. If I do not stop and smell the roses and {BE}.
This summer I’m taking an extended rest and the Goddess has come visiting as a result.
The Goddess will be showing up this summer because she can. Because she’s ready. Because she has further things to teach me.
Rest is a Revolution
How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?
When I start avoiding people. Start avoiding those conversations, connections with other people. Not being able to muster the energy to just look someone in the eye, I know it is time to unplug, unwind and retreat.
When my mind becomes a jumbled mess of to-dos, guilt-tripping myself galore with feelings of not being good enough. Then I know it is time to unplug, unwind and retreat.
When I no longer receive pleasure from the things I love to do, like writing, creating, eating. {BEING}. I know then, time to step away from the tasks, the commitments, the noise, the violence and the ruin and hide.
Stop. Breathe. Lick wounds. Apply water inside and out. And come back to centre. My centre. Me, being just me.
No actions or words in attempt to prove myself. No singing and dancing routine to grab your attention. Nothing wise or in service here.
Just someone unplugging from the system unsure whether or not she wants to plug back in on someone else’s terms.
Self-Portraiture – Day 5
“He knew exactly what she meant: to get to a place where you could love anything you chose — not to need permission for desire — well now, that was freedom.”
Toni Morrison in Beloved (1987), pg. 191
Self-Portraiture – Day 4
“Remember the earth whose skin you are: / red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth / brown earth, we are earth.”
Joy Harjo
Self-Portraiture – Day 3
May our collective belonging weave a wide net of compassionate care, soft and strong
@CollectiveBelonging
enough to hold us all.
Self-Portraiture – Day 2
“My body is an argument I did not start,”
Morgan Parker
Self-Portraiture – Day 1
The weight of our darkness, stress, and anxiety can sometimes overpower us—but in our heavy moments, it’s crucial to remember that our worthiness remains intact, even when we falter.
Alex Elle
Seeing Myself
When times have been tough in the past and I’ve been way down on myself, I’ve adopted a practice which has seen me through, which has allowed me to see myself again with grace and compassion and love. Some people might call them selfies but me I call it self-portraiture.
For the next five days, I’ll be sharing images I’ve taken of myself over the last few months while in hibernation as a means of support to get me back to myself. And it’s a process, a never ending process of becoming but I’m here documenting it, allowing it to be seen because that’s part of the process also. Being seen on my one terms.
Living Wild Studios 