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Did it take anyone else a little minute to get in the groove the 1st week of January? What about the 2nd week? SAME, lol! I FINALLY feel like I have some energy again, coming off a very emotionally indifferent 1st week here in the DMV. The events at the Capitol and now the preparation for the Inauguration and national guard on corners and at expressway entrances with guns quite honestly, it’s been A LOT to bear witness so close. I made the commitment to self that this week no matter what was happening around me I would stay on schedule and get my flow back, so can you all hold me accountable if you don’t see a blog next MONDAY? Thank you in advance 😊
So, besides the craziness going on in our country how are you caring for yourself? Your mental health? Physical Health? Spiritual Health? Financial? I know it’s the 1st month of the year and we are already 19 days in which means late start or not I’m sure some of you have already re-evaluated your fitness moves and taken a closer look at that bank account post holidays! I know I have! I have also leaned even deeper into my what self-care will look like for me as we continue life in semi-quarantine with limited access to friends and family. I must be honest and say even after a year of COVID and making the best of the situation with the local friends (Shout-out Same-Six, my quarantine pod) it’s still been very hard. It hit me last Friday as I sat in my Kitchen watching my cousin’s funeral virtually with 7 people in attendance in Phoenix, AZ. I watched and thought look how times have changed when hugging a loved one and being present is no longer allowed. In that moment I began to feel somewhat stuck, claustrophobic in my own skin because I realized this is where we are. I understand that the boundaries are for our good but if we are honest it does not make these moments feel any better. There is absolutely nothing greater than the ability to be FREE to GO. Free to connect with long-distanced loved ones, Free to see elderly family, FREE to take a weekend getaway or vacation or simply visit friends, just FREE. If you know me personally you know being FREE to GO is my jam and I finally had my melt down, but it did not come without a lightbulb moment. I realized that there have been times in the past where I (we) have been FREE to GO and we did not, now we can’t. It hit me that the very thing that we are sick about not having the ability to do we did not exercise our right by taking a break from our own mess, work, busyness enough even when we could. It wrecked my spirit when I thought of the opportunities to connect that even I did not take on many occasions because I was tired or because I was simply unwilling to change my schedule or my own plans to do certain things. You know the old saying you don’t really miss something until it’s gone. In some way that’s how we treated TIME, ACCESS and our internal and external RESOURCES prior to COVID! I want to challenge you this week as you are taking inventory of all those life areas that you bake in time to connect with your family and friends. Make it a routine and part of your regimen. It’s just as important and I promise it will do wonders for your mental health and your spiritual health. While today’s entry is a bunch of my thoughts in one, I do want to leave you with these few things to remember as you begin to navigate this new normal year 2 in anticipation of being FREE to GO again….
1. Establish Accountability – It is hard to stay on task when you are subconsciously afraid of the unknown, scared to plan or waiting on things to change. Having a solid Accountability partner can help you stay on task or simply be a reminder when you get into one of those moods. You know the retail therapy when your goal was to save or when you don’t feel like writing, but you know you should be… (Maybe that’s only me, but you get my grip)
2. Mind YOUR Time- Working hard in the paint is good but it does not feel good when all Appreciate it and Make TIME for yourself and others. If your kids want to play at some point in, you have is work and broken relationships or connections. Be intentional about connecting, joining those family zoom calls that you got tired of or even call that person back who left you a voicemail months ago. Plan a facetime with family, friends or people you are used to gathering with. Don’t waste all your time on social media looking and liking pictures of folks that you don’t even know when you have people in your life that you have not taken the time to know right in front of you or in your own home. Be present, Set boundaries with your business time and personal time. Long gone are the days of work work work. You are more than that and people deserve more of you!
3. FREE YOURSELF- Alexa, play Envogue ….” FREE Your MIND and the rest will FOLLOW” …. Free yourself of all the what was, what if’s and those things too far ahead that you cannot control. It’s a NEW year, A new month, A new day, treat it as such. Don’t spend too much time behind you nor too much time in the future. It will make a difference in your mental health as each day passes, surrender the day and do what makes you happy with what you have in your reach. We may not be FREE TO GO but we can Be FREE in heart and mind.
That’s all for today folks!
Love ya, mean it!
R. Rene’ xoxo-
PS. If you have not checked out NYAWCW you are missing out. Go catch that replay from last week we spoke about Accountability!! Tomorrow I have a special guest in the building from BET/TV One and she is coming to dish her black girl magic in the Film and Media space! It’s going to be good!