keep living!
West Indian Day Parade, Brooklyn, New York. 1947.
Zoom fatigue. Information overload. Despair. Fear. Exhaustion. Sweat. Nausea. Grief.
If you’re feeling any of these things, I want you to know I am right there with you. I didn’t have time to finish this week’s post, and instead of beating myself up over it, I am tryyyyying to embrace my humanity. My imperfections. My need for rest and a reset.
I hope you can rest and reset this weekend, too. I hope that wherever you are, you give yourself a minute, an hour, a day, to just be. To not try to fight your body’s urges. Just be.
And if you can’t give yourself the time and space to rest, I hope you can forgive yourself for this. Try not to let your work/relationships/stress/the world overwhelm you so much that you forget to breathe. Breathe in love. Breathe out fear. Breathe in love. Breathe out fear.
I hope that you dance this weekend. Or move your body in some capacity, if that feels okay. I hope you do something outside. Or call a friend you haven’t spoken with in a while.
I hope you eat ice cream this weekend. Or, if like me, you’re finally accepting you are lactose intolerant, I hope you treat yourself to some sorbet. With chocolate chips.
I hope you allow yourself to feel angry this weekend. I hope you don’t try to push the anger down, minimize it, or make it feel worthless. Your anger is important. It is trying to tell you something. I hope you listen.
I hope you let yourself cry this weekend, if you need to. I hope you let the tears flow, in the shower, on the floor of your bedroom, in the middle of the street. I hope you release that tension through tears, if it feels okay.
I hope you feel hopeful this weekend. To daydream, to fantasize about your future travel plans, ideas, projects, connections you hope to make when the time is right.
I hope you keep locating yourself this weekend. In every space you occupy, I hope you take the time to assess your relationship to the environment, the people, and the systems of power.
I hope you learn something new this weekend. About yourself. About a family member. About a stranger.
I hope you keep living, breathing, flourishing, moving, reexamining, renewing, rewinding, hoping, laughing, being.
We’ve got this.
I love you,
Jesse