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#WednesdayWisdom
"Sometimes the next right step is to take a pause." ~ @OctaviaRaheem
Morning Musings
There's been a lot of talk about rest lately, and for good reason. I need it. You need it. We all need it. Case in point: On Monday, I frantically emailed a PR person asking for the Zoom info for a media roundtable. The publicist kindly sent me the login and informed me said roundtable was actually scheduled for Tuesday.
A few hours later, while following up on the order for my birthday cake, I realized I put the pickup date as my birthdate (10/29/87) instead of this Saturday (10/29/22). Both my husband and my friend, Ymani, told me in so many words I needed to slow down.
And they're probably right. But my first reaction was how? When? With what time and resources?
After my birthday, it's our anniversary. After our anniversary, I have a work trip (which I'm also mildly panicking about because it's my first since Violet was born and I don't know, I'm preemptively sad about not seeing and holding her for two days?!).
After that, it's pretty much Thanksgiving and then we have another family vacation and then it's Christmas and then suddenly it's 2023. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
I feel like I (and many others, according to social media) have been saying "after this week, it'll slow down" to ourselves for the last 2.5 years. And at this point, I'm not sure who we're trying to convince: ourselves or others?
Once upon a time, I was pretty good at staying on top of ~ all the things ~. And then parenting happened (is happening?). I have more unread emails than I can care to count. My response time to texts is lagging (if I remember to respond at all. And heaven help you if I saw it on my Apple Watch first, then you might as well forget it). And the to-do list just keeps listing.
So no wonder I've been mixing up my days. No wonder my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. No wonder that pile of laundry has been sitting in the same corner of our bedroom for weeks on end.
We all need to slow down and as we ramp up for the holiday season, I encourage you to carve out some time for some true rest and relaxation--whatever that looks like for you.
If you need ideas, I suggest following Octavia Raheem and Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry for inspiration. And when you find yourself doing the most as I'm often guilty of doing, ask yourself...what would Octavia and Tricia do? Then go take a nap. Trust me, you'll be better for it.
Love,
L'Oreal
P.s.: Hello new subscribers, hi! Due to an admin error on my part, you may be receiving this newsletter a while after you initially signed up. So sorry about that. If you'd still like to hang out, great! You can catch up with previous issues here. if you'd rather not, I completely understand!
ICYMI
Last week I was browsing Twitter as I'm wont to do and saw that Christina Aguilera had created a new video for her 2002 hit, "Beautiful," in honor of World Mental Health Day and the 20th anniversary of her sophomore album, Stripped.
Now I've always considered myself more of a Britney fan, but there's no denying the hold Stripped had on me in high school. I even wrote a review on it for the school newspaper.
But "Beautiful," as someone who struggled greatly with body image and insecurities was my anthem. So naturally I had to write about it for work; however, I was not expecting to cry at my laptop upon rewatching the original version. Let's just say it brought back a lot of memories.
I also wrote about the link between hair straighteners, such as relaxers, and uterine cancer, which is especially timely given the recent social media conversation about Black women returning to relaxers. Check them out and let me know what you think.
Links I Love
1. Angela Bassett is a Vibe (Essence)
2. How to Care for Natural Hair on Vacation (Condé Nast Traveler)
3. The Cool-Mom Myth (The Cut)
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Special thank you to Cecilia and two anonymous peeps for buying last week's coffee (which I clearly needed).
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