The fact that I exist is baffling
27 posts
Can we talk about pouring into your cup first thing in the morning?!
It doesn't matter if I'm running late, it doesn't matter if I woke up late, whether I snooze the alarm to the very last second, I have something that needs to be done- one thing I will do, is do something for me before anything(cue anybody) else.
I strive for at least 10 minutes and anything is game, morning yoga, meditation, affirmations, morning stretch- whatever it may be goes a long way into setting my day up.
This way even if the day gets away from me like they're fraught to- things come up, things take longer than you expected/planned for, you're tired at the end of the day- I got ahead of it!
so dreamy - new music to discover, always! new books to get lost in, so many books!! I have not met all the people who will love me!! ooh look a new favorite!! broadening horizons, perspective shifts!! ooh wait, floral perfumes aren't actually that bad, I just needed to find one that hit the spot!! look at all this beauty around me!!
I am a canvas and every moment a brush stroke!
i think about this very often to but to be alive is such a privilege. you can smell flowers, eat freshly baked cookies, lose yourself in the pages of a new book, listen to heartwarming music and read soul crushing poetry, meet kind and funny people, learn something new. i think the miracle is in waking up every day
Give yourself a fighting chance!
for so long I have fought myself, being an all or nothing girlie. I am a perfectionist and if I couldn't do it perfectly then guess what? it wasn't getting done and that was that.
fast-forward to now and I don't swing from one extreme to another. I have found things that help me. find ways to make whatever is holding you back work for you!
I don't let my perfectionism hold me back. if I see that I want to quit something because it's not going the way I want it to or it's not turning out exactly as I want it to- I have stopgaps in place instead of giving in to my tendencies.
if I have a goal, I will research and break it down to the nitty gritty. I will do all the due diligence. I will take it step by step. I would rather "waste my time" researching and planning, I would it takes me longer to achieve a goal thar could be achieved Ina lesser amount of time, I would rather feel like it's tedious at the beginning. but this is much better at ensuring I follow through. and taking a year to achieve a goal I could've achieved in 3 months is way better than quitting cold turkey and never finding out.
embracing my quirks gives me a fighting chance. embracing β giving in to them
so instead of quitting or procrastinating because I want whatever to turn out perfect I 'perfect away'. I give myself a fighting chance.
I'm also trying to unlearn the conditioning and trying to change my beliefs around it. in the meantime I do the best I can.
Life Hack
Find people who enjoy the things you do. Where your values align. It will save you a load of heartbreak.
have you ever been so excited about something and shared it with a loved one, a friend, family member or colleague and their reaction left you wanting? I'll be honest, their reaction sucked, it sucked all the life and excitement from you, so you learnt to keep quiet and keep things to yourself? this kills you slowly.
since I found people who appreciate the same things I do, the things I value? my life has significantly improved. the life and excitement is back. I have friends I know I can talk their ear off when it comes to fitness or yoga, I have friends who make me feel like I am in a bookclub.
find people who make it easy to be you. who encourage your full authentic expression. find different people for different things. I have friends who love me to death and till I figured out we didn't share the same interests I was miserable. I'd keep going to them and end up disappointed.
truth is think of times when someone brought up something that held no interest to you? you might not have shut them down but trust me your energy came across as detached, removed. its like this is my friend, I'll humor them, I'll listen but it just isn't the same.
then think of times when someone brought up something that interested you? how excited, how animated, how responsive you got? how long, how uninhibited, the conversation. the passion, your involvement. suddenly you're sharing your preferences, your icks, discussing any and everything?
find different people for different aspects of your life. I have a friend that I go to for education related stuff, I know that with her I'll be seen and heard and I'll come out of the interaction filled and fulfilled. I have friends I know I can vent and rant and be insane with and I won't get the urge to shrink or dim any part of me.
this occurred to me when I realized I didn't know anyone in my friend group who loves adventure and I was left wondering how I could fill the void. I answered my own question for example finding a bookclub if you like to read, joining a running club if that is something you would want to explore and so on and so forth.
this saves you from a lot of resentment when your friends can't be there for you, it also fills your life with so much juice. a full life.
a lesson I have been learning of late is that my friends don't have to be everything for me. it's okay to go to different people for different things. a community is much more sustainable and you can create your own or join an already existing one.
go live, I love you π©·
You're worthy of love.
how many times have you heard this statement? do you believe you're worthy and deserving of love? well you are.
here's the kicker- YOU ARE LOVE!
you're looking for love outside you when at your core there's love? when your essence is pure love?
you don't believe me? take a moment to think about how you love your friends? another second to think about how you love your partner? or your pet? or your family? or your plants? you didn't even have to think about it, did you? you love deeply. you're full of love.
how much of that love do you give to yourself though? you're worthy and deserving of love from others but not from yourself, hmm?
you're out here desperately loving other people and there wouldn't be anything wrong with it if you poured into yourself first. take some of that love and pour into yourself.
I'll tell you why you're so hungry, why you're starving, why you're so thirsty. you have the love but you dare not take a bite. it's strictly for everyone else but YOU.
need I go on? this is your reminder to give some of that love to yourself.
self improvement is insidious in that it could easily be "go, go, go" a vicious neverending cycle. much like perfection and the finish line that will always be moving as you approach it, always out of reach. you set goals, you achieve them, you raise the bar- when is it ever gonna be enough? you'll never be satisfied always striving, forever reaching. but happiness as we know is not a destination, it is available here and now. so is self acceptance. yes strive, yes work towards your goals but let it be from a place of self love. leave the self flagellation, the shoulds, the musts. you've gotta be enough for someone and who better than yourself! when are you gonna live and be present if you're an ongoing neverending project? self improve and still leave space for who you currently are. they deserve the kindness, the joy, the freedom you're denying them and saving for future you?
wear the clothes you wanna wear now even if you've not achieved your dream physique yet, just an example. in short do the thing you're waiting to do when you achieve whatever it is you've set your mind to.
they say not to borrow tomorrow's grief and imma say don't curtail today's joy waiting for tomorrow
why do we believe that for us to get closure, it must've all gone up in flames, bridges burned down to cinders and ash
why can't we move on
why do we wish that they'd broken our hearts better
it's like there was destruction but it wasn't enough for me to see damage
I need to see the damage
I don't know, it's just messed up
we don't want the amicable ends
we want blood, sweat and tears
we want to hear words we can't come back from and say them back
we want to scream and cry and croak
we don't want to walk out with our hearts whole
gluttons for pain, destruction
Iβm here to remind you to hydrate and smile! I hope you have a sweet sweeeet day and I hope October is treating you well βοΈ oh also, Iβm proud of you for doing your best itβs good enough
Been hydrating and this just made me cheese/smile so hard you have no idea. Didn't see this earlier but I got to it when I needed it the most. You're the sweetest β¨ and I hope your existence is as sweet and thoughtful as you are. Thank you lovely.
Words aren't everything I swear- I'll die screaming this!!
"Sorry if I hurt you" the only thing that can make this insincere is the intention behind it. I promise you there are people who've learnt the art of saying the right thing without meaning any of it. It's not a manipulative tactic because let's face it sometimes we do things and we don't anticipate the outcome. I'm acknowledging that I hurt you even though that wasn't my intention. You've gotta see that.
What's manipulative is craftly wording apologies, or requests to throw people for a loop. What's manipulative is saying, "sorry that I hurt you" when you don't mean shit, you're not apologetic, you're just saying that to get back in someone's good graces.
I'll scream that till my face is blue. It doesn't mean you shouldn't be intentional with your words, I just need you to understand that even intentionally worded apologies will do you no good and this is where I agree with Nina if they don't take accountability and understand the impact of their actions.
When I say, "sorry if I hurt you, but-" what I mean is when I did said action hurting you wasn't my intention but now I know doing that hurt you and for that I am sorry. This is where I'm coming from. I didn't just set out to hurt you. And this shouldn't excuse repeat offenders, because they knew and still went ahead and did it. This is only for those out of the blue, once in a while times.
Sorry if I hurt you, but- I was triggered//I was having a bad day//you touched a sore spot//I didn't know this was a sore spot for you// I think it's important to also see where someone is coming from. What's important for me is intention. What's important is honesty. What's important is that you see that what you did hurt me and you avoid a repeat of it if we have a conversation about it. If you don't hold space for each other to be honest, true and vulnerable what's the use? What's the use of surface level apologies and communication because this is what you should say or this is how you should say what needs to be said?
In essence words will never be able to capture all that we're trying to convey.
"You can come if you want to," that offers me grace and space. It doesn't put pressure on me like, "I want you to come" because then there's not a lot of wiggle room for me when I want to back out. For some of y'all that spells doom, that they didn't want you there and if they wanted you there they would've said something along the lines of -
That's your interpretation. That's you reading between the lines. That's your comprehension of what they said. You can either ask for clarity or jump to your own conclusions.
I'll add more common phrases I've come across as I remember them.
I've been told I lack social skills ππ
Tough love.
What comes to mind when you think of tough love? Maybe you've been lucky enough to have been tough-loved the right way. I on the other hand can't deny that it works, but at what cost? At what cost? How high is the price paid? Why can't we lovingly teach, mentor or lead?
If tough love is what I've known it to be up to this point, I want no more. I want no parts in it. All it's ever done is break my heart, shatter my spirit. For me it's been outright cruelty disguised as 'tough love', so excuse me while I get the hell away from it. It's harmed me more than it has helped me.
I needed tender, warm, soft love to bloom and flourish but they were more focused on giving me a spine of steel. They used a staff whereas I just needed a hand to hold. I see all the ways I might've turned out different. And I know, I know this might just be a life lie but you can't deny I would've turned out different. I think for the better, they thought for the worse.
All of that shit they did, that they explained away as 'tough love': 'we're only trying to help you, you'll see', 'we only want what's best for you', 'you'll appreciate this', 'we care because we love you' or 'we wouldn't do this if we didn't love you'. Tell me why 'this', why 'care', why 'love', why 'best' was abusive? Verbal, physical, emotional abuse. Tell me it wasn't manipulative?
Now anytime someone says, "tough love" to me, my breath hitches I tense up, readying myself for hurtful shit. And if I am this way, am I gonna be receptive to what they're gonna be saying or trying to get across? Is what they're referring to as tough love a guise for abuse and cruelty? Do they sound accusatory? What measures do they resort to? Do they believe that tough love is the only way there is?
And maybe, just maybe, sometimes we do need tough love. Just remember it isn't whatever that is, that leaves you questioning your existence; whatever that is, that breaks your spirit, hurts you, leaves you crying. And no, you can't tell me that someone who cares about you or your wellbeing doesn't have the capacity to not be cruel to you. Doesn't have the capacity to be firm but gentle with you, which is what tough love should be.
I've found myself going back to this recently, whenever I feel like someone is lying to me. I could run myself into the ground trying to figure out the lies or I could just let it go. Sometimes people we care about, people we trust lie to us. Sometimes it's all in our heads. We don't always believe them or have to believe them. Since I'm still learning how to operate from a healed place and not a wounded one, I hold grace for how I choose to respond.
And I think that phrase just helps me take a moment. Take a step back and assess the situation or not get too in my head about something that could really just be that, 'in my head'.
This is coming from someone who has a hard time trusting or believing people. I have such a distrustful nature, that I'm trying to work on and until I figure it out, I will not be projecting that onto unsuspecting, undeserving folks. I figure it can't be easy to always hear, "you're lying" or a version of it when you're being nothing but honest. Baring your heart out or giving an account of events or just about anything.
So I repeat the phrase to myself till I calm down. Till I don't want to pick a fight or shut down because I feel like someone is lying to me, taking me for a ride. Till I don't feel as triggered. Because I want to be better. Because the people in my life deserve better and that hinges greatly on who I am or choose to be. On how I respond to the information I receive, lies or no lies.
It's all going to hurt. Just find what's worth the suffering or what's worth the pain and discomfort.
~my gut to me
What's it trying to teach me?
One thing I refuse to do, is force anyone to see my worth. I don't do that. I do not even try to make them see it. You either see it or you don't. But I'll know, from how they treat and handle me. And will then act accordingly. I will remove myself from situations where I'm treated like I am less than.
'Teach people how to treat you' and all but some treatment is just inhumane. You don't have to teach someone to recognize your inherent worth as a human being, as a person. On top of which they can recognize your worth and treat you even better but no- people just be acting clueless or entitled or as complete a** wipes.
~SM.
A dying friendship looks like, 'hey, I have all this heavy stuff that you would help me carry and now I don't know where to put it down. I don't know how to carry any of it and I'm suffocating from the weight of it all'
Looks like, 'who am I supposed to tell about this heartbreak, you were my sounding board and now I don't know what to do'
Also all this happiness that I would share with you? It's all turning sour in me now. It was yours and until I figure out how to give it elsewhere it's no good. 'I met this guy-, tell me, tell me- you'd squeal from the other end' The chatter, the banter, the arguments, the quarrels I treasured all the moments and now there's none of that. Just a cavernous yawning.
Whenever I felt out of it you were there to hold my hand and get me through the murky waters. When I felt like crying you were just a text away, now my messages go unanswered for days. I don't even tell you when I'm crying anymore. I don't know how to exist in this new world that you're not a part of.
It's being so lost, so so lost. It's crying alone. It's carrying the hurt and pain alone. It's not knowing what to do. It's tentatively calling or sending a text and keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be 5 days till I hear from you. It's going to sleep anticipating your text. It's waking up praying that things would have gone back to a version of normal. That I would wake up to your dorky smile. It's hoping to see you in my notifications.
It's the not knowing when to stop trying. It's the brutal haemorrhage, hope is no worthy opponent to the violence, the bleeding just won't stop.
It's hoping and hoping and hoping some more. Maybe this is the one. Maybe if I send you this wholesome thing I saw that reminded me of you, you will be reminded of what we once shared. Maybe if I send you this funny meme you will remember how happy we once were. Maybe if I send you a song, oh wait we never shared the same taste in music so I can't even send you this song I know would convey just what I'm feeling, just what I hope for, you won't listen long enough to get the message behind it. Maybe if I send you a picture of us together you'll be transported into a memory.
Was it good? What we had, what we shared? Wasn't it magical? A daydream.
Only it was real. Only I lived it. Only I saw it. Only I touched it. Only I smelled it. Only I got to experience it. Only there's still pockets of it stored in my head. Only there's memories and pictures and letters and witnesses and momentos. All this reminders.
Proof I didn't dream it all up. I could wake up from this nightmare I am trapped in now if I could.
Only it's really happening. You're slipping right through my fingers, like I slipped right from your heart. All the clawing and kicking to hold on did no good. Barely left a mark. I can't reach you.
I only have this crumbs that you lay at my feet every now and then when you fancy. And it's disgusting how my whole being lights up at that. Even when I figure you're doing me a disservice.
Where did it all go wrong? I did everything I could and more. Why wasn't it enough? You only had to ask and I would have done even more.
If your emotional bandwidth allows for it, have as many friends as you possibly can. It is paramount. Typically we're told two or three friends, then from there that's acquaintances or whatever other label they're given. But I'm imploring you to have lots of friends. Genuine, best interests at heart, nurturing friends. For so long I fed into the narrative and let me tell you-- what happens when your 3 friends are busy, are caught up in there lives, have outgrown you, you've outgrown some, they're on different stages of their journey, you're at a different stage? Doesn't necessarily have to be drifting apart, breaking up, toxic typa thing.
But as is human nature, loneliness will set in, resentment, anger, jealousy, sadness and all manner of emotions. But if you had other friends who you could still meet up with, with whom you'd fulfill your need for connection, feel seen and heard, who would hold space for you, I think you would be way better.
Some things are inevitable. There's gonna be relocation, work comes into the picture, some have families to raise now and you're gonna feel lonely, you're going to feel less than, left out, at some point you're even going to feel like you're failing. It's not that they're not making time, they just can't pour that much into you as before. Imagine a friend who now has to work up to Saturday's, they only have one day off to handle their affairs. They have to fix their family, you, their hobbies, their other relationships into this tiny day. Don't forget they have to rest, maybe do laundry, run personal errands and such. You really can't begrudge them if you don't get to see them as often as you were probably used to.
What's better than discovering a new song or a new artist at the most opportune time? Like the universe granting you something to accompany you on whatever journey you're on then-- let's say you're falling in love, all giddy and you happen upon a love song or to my sad babies just finding a new song to be sad to right in the moment?!!
Our incompatibility is in no way a reflection of your worthiness.
If you could just understand that a NO, a rejection is more "we're just not compatible" more than it's a measure of your worth--
I've always wondered why we take it so poorly when someone rejects us but I'm realizing it's because most of the time we're attaching our worth to it. 'The fact that they don't wanna be with me must mean I'm unworthy, I'm not enough, I could have done more, could have done better' and a myriad more excuses of us trying to come to terms with it.
This is not to mean that we can't save some of our connections by doing better, or being better. It's just that there are times we put our whole being on the line, do the best we can but at some point we have to accept that maybe we just aren't compatible. We're not in alignment. And in no way is it a reflection of your worth.
When I'm drawn to be judgemental and snarky I take a deep breath and remember to be a lil bit compassionate. I'm not always successful and say some things I probably shouldn't but it's the grace I'd love everyone else to have in my regard. So I keep trying.
I LOVE love it when my friends keep and hold me accountable. It's seriously so π₯Ίπ₯Ί. Like you see me, you want me to flourish, you care that I'm doing this life thing right, you want the best for me?!! And they do it ooh so gently. How amazing is it? 'kay bye, imma cry ππ
You know when you watch people doing something and they make it look so effortless? And it's so zen and so aesthetically pleasing? But when you try to do the same thing, following the exact same steps it's all fireworks and bombs going off, frustration, perspiration?!! Everything is just off, nowhere near zen π€¦π€¦
You know when you ask yourself the 'hard' questions and it turns out that you don't even have an answer for yourself? When you question your beliefs and figure out that they actually have no basis? Okay watch this-
Thought: I'm not enough.
Me: What makes you say so? Where? Is there anything in particular? How? Did someone say something in regards to it?
I either come up blank or the instances that come to mind have NOTHING to do with me.
When does life start to feel heavy?
When your hobbies start to feel like chores
I just want the lightness and freedom back
Impulsively gets loads of ear piercings...
Me: excited to share something with other people
Flashes in my head: energy bitch, their energy could throw it all off
Me: bites tongue as the smile and excitement leave me
Have a friend that you genuinely love and you're always excited to tell all that's going on with/in your life? Relationships, work, new beginnings etc but you notice everytime you tell them whatever it was never works out?
βSometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when itβs all over.β
β Gloria Naylor