Beloved reader,
Every day presents a new opportunity for self-negotiation. How will I respond to this or that potentially spirit-detonating news on my timeline? Will I react with kindness and a sense of humour, or will I start rage-sweating?
I choose the former.
This is because resentment swallows up the finite spaces we've carved out for ourselves in our minds; the spaces where the most sensitive, supple parts of ourselves reside.
Don't get it twisted, reader. As Jill Scott sang, struggle gon' happen. In this increasingly fragile techno-ecosystem that we now inhabit, struggle has become as natural — and literal — as breathing; every intake of toxic air possessing the potential to annihilate us and our loved ones.
So how do we survive this dangerous moment whilst protecting our respective communities as well as our own individual sanity?
I don't have a grand solution, but a manageable starting point for me has always been by trying to honour the small, scared animal within.
How does one do this, you ask?
Only you know your most intimate desires and fears, dear reader, but I've found that Lilliputian, self-nurturing acts have bolstered my mood immensely: rising with the sun in the morning: exercising for thirty minutes a day; a short siesta after a light lunch; spritzing myself with my favourite scents in order to feel finer than a feather; soaking my feet in warm water infused with rose oil; checking up on my chosen family; eating healthy, hearty meals; drinking gallons of water, and going for short strolls around South London.
We all know what our bodies need. Whether we choose to acknowledge those needs is entirely up to us.
May you find unfettered joy, beautiful reader. May you continue to invite carefree energy into your carefully curated life. May you always know how to move with kindness and peace and passion.
May you always be free.
With love,
Diriye
Image by DIRIYE OSMAN and STEVE BRIGHT.
Song to activate the soul: 'Rose Water' by HAITUS KAIYOTE.