Take Your Time 🌝🌝🌝
Hey there,
Every month when I start writing this newsletter, I visit my rambling iPhone notes full of ideas and inspiration.
It's a mishmash of words and phrases like noticing happiness, feeling protected, and soap thing.
Or it's memories like Drake concert...I see you baby girl.
Or it's facts like "indigenous people protect 80% of the world's biodiversity" (which is specifically for Monday's discussion with Cora Neumann who is running for senate in Montana — join us).
Or it's a reminder to bemindful of the work you are asking of others. Realize and take responsibility for the emotional and physical work we ask of women of color.
Or it's a link to re-read my favorite poems like I Have a Time Machine by Brenda Shaughnessy.
Or its a thought: take your time.
A lot of it has mentions of time. I find myself having conversations about time with people I know well and people I'm just meeting. How do we truly to give ourselves the permission – or even the forgiveness — that things take longer than it feels like they should? How do we give ourselves realistic timelines for change, for acclimation, for recovery?
It takes months to figure out a new job (six months is my working theory), and yet we stress so deeply when we don't feel like we are immediately performing. It takes years to build a relationship and yet we compare our timelines to literal strangers on the internet. Hell, it's taken me half a lifetime to figure out what is most important to me and I can still be completely derailed by people asking me what I want for the future. Recovery is not linear. When we look back at all the things we were rushing through, it’s so much easier to be easy on ourselves for the time it took. No, it didn't go exactly how you thought it would. Yes, that is okay.
In the midst of that, I am reminding myself of my dedication to noticing joy. We all think a lot about happiness. What does it mean? Do we have it? Would we even know it if we did? And what I keep coming back to is that happiness, like all things, is not a static state. It is a constantly changing place and the best that any of us can do is notice the happiness when we feel it. It's a moment in the middle of a day, which is in the middle of a week, in the middle of whatever season of your life that you are in.
But damn it feels good to feel good. So relish the shit out of it. Permission granted.
To do that, we must (getting back to the first point here), try to stop beating ourselves up over self-invented timelines. I was never 30 under 30 anything. I survived. I have many races still ahead of me (and side note: love this article). Happiness, joy, delight, whatever you want to call it, can look different any day. Give it a beat. Look around at the beauty. And know, later you'll be a lot more forgiving of this time.
Next week is Valentine's Day so let me be the first to tell you — you are loved, you are doing a great job, you deserve it all in whatever form you are looking for it. It's also Black History Month and all month we are highlighting the incredible talents of black women in wellness and community — check our schedule and instagram for more.
Go outside and check out the full moon this weekend. You know she's taking her time, always. 🌝 Thank you for reading and see you soon.
xo,
Molly
Permission Granted
I have been fully influenced by the perennial cult-favorite beauty tool that is once-again having a moment, the Revlon One-Step, which has made actually doing my hair seem feasible for pretty much the first time. If you don't take my word for it, let the internet experts sing her praises. And here's a recommendation for the paddle version from a beauty editor with natural hair.
Face Halo reusable makeup removers feel good, work like magic, and are excellent little re-usable replacements for cotton rounds. I've been remiss not to recommend them before, but when the theme is little things that bring you joy...these workhorses are a game-changer.
I've been a member of closed-loop clothing company For Days for a couple of years and the new styles like this sporty half zip (in addition to their t-shirts, which are cut perfectly) keep getting better.
For whatever reason, I find putting moisturizer on my body to be such a chore. Therefore, I don't do it. Enter: Kate McLeod Body Stone. It's cocoa butter based, so it is solid to the touch but melts when it comes in contact with your skin. Yes, its a bougie version of something you can get much cheaper, but the scents are amazing and it's a little luxury with the tagline KNOW YOUR SELF. So, I'm there.
And now for a completely different solid-state bar product: this No Tox Life Vegan Dish Washing Block is awesome. It was given to me by a member (hi Lauren!) who is launching a business to help people make sustainable swaps — so consider me swapped. And yes, we are at the point where I'm recommending dish soap. Enjoy!
This dip is v. easy to make and kills at a dinner party.
I'm last to the party (and I do think it takes a few episodes to get into it), but Schitt's Creek is a delight.
And I'm looking for someone to talk to about this season of The Dream podcast, which is all about the wellness world. So many thoughts...