Taking Care of Yourself
June 19th 2020 Solange, “Weary”
Taking Care of Yourself
Hey Loves! I hope you all have had a safe, blessed, and productive day. I pray that we are all taking care of ourselves and maintaining the love we have for our individual selves and each other. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we take the time to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Realize. Release. A lot of us have been consuming so much information, trauma, pain to no avail. This consumption of Black trauma, pain and suffering is what is commonly referred to as “Trauma Porn”, a seemingly never-ending news cycle of the struggles of Black life and instability. Due to always being in a constant state of terror and strife, there is no reconciliation of the events that traumatize our collective minds. We do not have the time to grieve, to heal, to even sort through the many feelings that come from inflicted trauma. And, we pay the price. We have become overridden with a numbing fever, a hot-cold sweat of pain. We are unable to fully conceptualize how we feel, let alone share that feeling with others. This aids in keeping us locked in the zip ties of pain. This combination of mental neglect lends us vulnerable to constant battering. Now more than ever, I advocate for simply taking care of yourself. Here are the many ways that you can process, connect, and release the pain that has built up over the course of the past few weeks.
Validate how you feel. There are events that are happening and words that are being said that will evoke extreme emotions out of you. Take the time to ask yourself, “What was said/done? Who said/did this? How does this make me feel? Why does this make me feel this way?” Journaling is a form of self-care that is recommended to identify how you sort through your emotions/thoughts and the actions that are guided by those thoughts. What you feel is valid and if you cannot come to terms with those emotions fully, please reach out to a trusted friend, parent or guardian, or community leader to discuss how you feel. People who love you will reaffirm and validate how you feel.
Unplug. Social Media is a cesspool of information that will leave you heavy. The over-exposure of death and violence is not good to continuously digest. Take the time to do activities that keep your mind and body active. Listening to your favorite playlist, drinking herbal tea and de-stressing, painting or coloring in your favorite childhood character coloring book, meditating and doing breathing exercising, and my favorite thing to do (SLEEP) ! Rest is your body charging from the day’s work.
Reflect. Think about your next steps. You’ve taken the time to process your emotions. Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to educate others, sign petitions, protest or make calls? Are you going to interrogate the positions of the people within your life? Are you going to transform and reshape the way you think, act, and react to certain situations and circumstances? It is important to create a game plan and rule book for how you chose to make space and act within the world. It is always important to be intentional and definitive about the things that you do, for they will be impactful to a wide array of individuals. But most importantly, to you. Ultimately, it is a priority to take care of yourself. There is only one you within this world, and it is a disservice to this world to not show up as your best self.
Hopefully, you allow yourself grace and understanding during this time. Remember that you are loved, valued, and protected. <3
