STEPPING BACK

 Alot has happened in the first six(ish) months of this year. From covid, police brutality, and quarantine has affected us in some way. We had originally had a blog post on a different topic scheduled sometime during this and we went back and forth and ultimately decided to wait. These past couple days for us have been extremely heavy. We don’t want to make this about shaming anyone but the events that have been happening that involve black women have been disheartening to say the least. The events that were shared on social media made us reflect on the certain experiences that we went through growing up which ultimately lead us to creative writing as an outlet twelve years ago. We have found ourselves limiting our time on social media and focusing on other passion projects and activities because it has been unbearable to be on social media. 

  Phrieda and I created this blog years ago because we wanted to share our perspective on different mindset topics and wellness because we didn’t see alot of women who looked like us in this space. Having a wellness practice especially as black women is needed more than ever. If you take away anything from our posts it should be that it’s important to to step back. We can’t operate at 100% all of the time and others shouldn’t expect us to. As black women people say things like we are “superheros” or “superwomen” which is destructive. It gives many people an excuse to “dump” on us which more often than not makes us neglect other things that make us happy. It’s easy to get caught up in what others are doing and think we aren’t doing enough. There is no one way to be an advocate. Doing our part can mean protesting or simply amplifying voices that are educating people through social media platforms like Twitter.  

  There is power in stepping back. This can look like limiting time on social media, watching your favorite show, spending time with family/friends, and taking up a new hobby. We can’t pour from an empty cup. To be able to show up for others we must take care of ourselves. During this time we challenge you to assess the things you consume in day to day life. We have been journaling (we use Penzu) for a couple of years and especially during this time have used it to let out any and everything that goes through our brain. It has been helpful for us to identify triggers and ways to help deal with emotions as they come up. At night we like to do guided meditations which help calm the mind down after taking in so much throughout the day. We wanted to keep this short and sweet. We would love to know what things you are doing to help keep yourself sane during this crazy time in the comments below.

Lots of love,

Jasmine and Phrieda