Welcome to Wellness Weekly coming to you every Wednesday. This will be a weekly series, sort of like a Letter from the Editors that will rotate between Morgan, Lara and Luigi with the occasional guest. We’ll hold space on the Dirt to check-in on our Sixth Sense: the term we use to refer to our spirit, our intuition, our inner power. And because while we exist in the world alongside our other Five Senses, we’ll do a check-in of those, too.
February’s Theme is Self-Love which is really fitting for me since it is Black History Month. I have been weird since before it was cool. I grew up with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and often operated outside of the norm. I was diagnosed pretty young and I remember kids alerting the adults when I was off my meds because I was pretty disruptive mostly because I was so bored. I did not have the tools and the language to explain why I was crawling out of my skin. So much of what we know today about ADHD was still in the trial and error phase when I was growing up. I had a therapist that I did not connect with but he told my parents, “that’s just what kids say” so it took awhile for me to get the tools I needed. For a while I struggled with it, and then eventually I started to view it as permission to just be myself and to be different. It was actually pretty freeing to accept that I was never going to be like everyone else and not only was that okay, it was actually pretty awesome.
I’ve been bisexual for as long as I can remember. Our society does so much to try to erase bisexuality as an orientation. I’ve been told that I’m greedy, that I’m confused, that I will grow out of it or that I’m just in denial because there’s no way I can be attracted to both. It is exhausting to constantly have to justify my own feelings. It’s also exhausting to only be taught one way of life. I will be honest, I know WAY too much about dating men and not enough about navigating romantic relationships with women. I can figure it out at times because, I am one, but every trope about love that is shoved in my face by our culture is centered around monogamous heteronormative coupling/marriage. I had to learn to love myself through accepting myself and giving myself room to explore all possibilities of what my life can be because it is ultimately my life, to shape and live however is best for me. The only person I am in competition with is myself from yesterday. I believe that comparison is the death of joy and that I need to keep my focus on being the best version of myself.
I am so grateful for a job where I can show up as my whole self. Where I can speak from my truth and experiences and help others heal!
So now that we’ve talked about my 6th Sense, what’s going on with the other 5 you ask??
Sight: This week I am reading Cicely Tyson’s Just As I Am which my mother had pre-ordered and arrived just a couple of days before she died at 96. She was a beautiful spirit with a long admirable life and I am loving learning more about it. I’m so glad she got the chance to put her experiences on paper before she left us.
Sound: I’ve been listening to two songs on repeat this week. Ya I’m Crying by Big Homie is a song basically about it being okay to cry. I’m definitely a crier and I used to hate that tears spring up every time I was sad, mad, frustrated, scared, all the time. It took me a really long time to realize that there was nothing wrong with my tears. That I was not broken or damaged because of them. So yeah I love the message of this song, especially coming from a Black man. My other favorite right now is Just Like Magic by Ariana Grande because I feel like it describes so much of my life right now. We all have so much more power than we realize.
Smell: Something else to know about me is that part of my magic is literally winning. My mom thinks I need to play the lottery because I often win contests and giveaways. I recently won some incense cones from Nosebleed Incense and the Tabuk ones that they sent me smells like love with notes of Raspberry, Frankincense, Rose, Agarwood, and Thyme. I know scents and essential oils can be a bit controversial but my logic is that if all they do is lift my mood, that's enough of a shift for me.
Taste: I loveee to cook but we’ve also been doing that a lot during this season inside. It was just restaurant week here in DC so I have been taking advantage and doing some take out from local restaurants and I will say, there is definitely self love in treating yourself to a tasty dinner from a talented local chef. If you are in DC, make sure to check out La Bodega Bakery with Executive Pastry Chef Paola Velez (also one of the co-founders of Bakers Against Racism) in Compass Rose. Her baked treats are AMAZING and beautiful. Another local favorite is Cane which serves Caribbean Street Food and I haven't had a single dish there that wasn't so delicious.
Touch: This week, I’m getting back in touch with my mat. I have been neglecting my yoga practice a bit because #excuses, and today I decided it was time to stop that. Yoga keeps me grounded and connected and centered and I can feel when I’ve been away too long and it usually starts in my back. So I am listening to my body and getting back into my flow.
Looking to amplify your own power of self-love? Smudge Wellness suggests the following:
We just dropped a bunch of beautiful Selenite and Celestite to help amplify that love - Selenite Heart - Selenite Charging Plate - Smudging Trio Hexagon Selenite Bowl and if you need a little guided self-love, join us on February 14th for a 90 minute workshop and yoga flow powered by Smudge Wellness and joined by professional dancer, yoga instructor, and all-around powerhouse Shonna Chiles. You will learn how to amplify your energy by creating a space of self-love using the energy of a selenite crystal grid and a self-love themed yoga practice. The goal? To feel more connected to the most important person in your life: YOU. SPOTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE ON THE 14TH BUT DUE TO SHIPPING TIME YOUR PRODUCT WILL ARRIVE AFTER THE EVENT!
