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.
Every Monday, at Smudge HQ, before I dive into my work week, I light some Palo Santo, a yummy candle, and I pull a card from one of our *shamelessly plugs* many decks. Lately I’ve been reaching for the I AM EVERYTHING Affirmation deck created by Tarisha Clark. She just knows how to speak to me.
This week, I didn’t pull by chance. I wanted to sift through the deck to find one that I needed to hear. You know you can do that, right? There’s no rules to this! So I shuffled and browsed until I conveniently landed on the affirmation “I am love.”
You know how sometimes you just hear or see a message and it just rings true? That’s exactly how I felt when I saw this message from The Universe. See, I’ve been thinking about love a lot recently. Yes, I’m happily engaged (gay rights!) and yes, I have plenty of friends (I’ve literally never not been popular) but I’ve been thinking about what it means to REALLY love. Not just the fluffy/romanticized/tequila-induced/conversations-til-4-am kinda love. Like, REAL love. The kind that sometimes hurts. The kind that requires honesty and forgiveness. The kind that makes you cry so hard at brunch that the waiter offers you free shit. And the kind that I eventually, with the help of my new therapist, gurus, and Team of Light, hope to one day have in ABUNDANCE. Good goddess, I never thought that I’d sit here at the young and vibrant age of 32, writing like this. I guess I’m a Carrie? Ugh.
*In SJP’s voice*
And so, as I sit here at my office desk, looking out the window at midsize SUVs passing by, I couldn’t help but wonder. Am I ready to work for this type of love? I think the answer is “fuck yes.” How about you?
Let’s check in with the other five senses:
Sight: I’ve been on a walking meditation kick lately. I live in San Francisco’s Castro District and there’s so many hills I can climb, it almost feels lazy not to. Something about being up high and seeing the horizon feels both breathtaking and grounding at the same time.
Sound: Up by Cardi B has been replaying in my head for good reason. It’s short, a banger, and she’s just IT. I also recently watched this IGTV video where she had 5 lacefronts sewn in for a photoshoot. 5. Now if that’s not self-care, I don’t know what is.
Smell: I bought this as a Valentine’s Day gift to myself. This Aesop scent called Rozu is life-changing. Who knew I needed Damascus Rose in my life? Go buy this immediately. You’re welcome.
Taste: Do I think that I’m better than everyone else because I don’t drink coffee anymore? Honestly, a little bit. But when I whisk my Sunlife Organics Matcha into my frothy oat milk in the morning, my body is a damn temple. And you can’t convince me otherwise.
Touch: At the end of the day, I lay with my puppy Frankie and give him all of the pets he wants and more. I wish we could bottle this feeling up and sell it on the Smudge website because let me tell you, it is better than any sleep-aid if not equivalent to high-dose CBD.
