Let’s be honest.
The world is… in shambles right now. I feel it, and I know you do too.
For many of us, it feels like a never ending grieving process, except, we never get to do exactly just that… grieve. Feel. Pause. Yell. Scream. Indeed, the never ending push of capitalism tells us to keep going, even when the world feels like it’s stopping.
For Black women, this can be a tale all too familiar. Save face. Keep going. Don’t let
anyone see you sweat. Don’t let anyone see you cry. Don’t let anyone see you express any emotion ever except that of being sweet, understanding, polite, strong, determined,
superwoman…invincible.
But… that’s not really feasible, is it? No, that’s not at all livable… is it? Research shows
us that lack of emotional expression can lead to adverse health conditions. By pretending to be okay, we end up being, well, not okay.
What would it mean if we showed up as ourselves? What would it mean if we, for a
moment, try not to save the world from crumbling, but rather, allow ourselves to crumble with it? This does not mean we are giving up on ourselves. On the contrary, this means we are meeting ourselves where we are.
Dear Black woman, wherever you are, however you are feeling, I encourage you to be
with your body. Hold it gently in moments of grief. Dance and sway with it in moments of joy and laughter. Keep with it in everything in between. The world places so many expectations on us.
What would it mean if the only expectation we gave our body, our emotions, ourselves was to just… be?
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