Be Gentle With Me...
in return be gentle with yourself.
Can I unsubscribe from this Black Mirror episode?
I have felt stuck.
Unmotivated.
Happy but then guilty because I felt like I wasn’t doing enough when it comes to work, life, work, and then some more…
I had to release and begin truly pouring into me.
It doesn’t mean fancy matcha and pilates (even though I love both), but leaning into the luxurious beauty of slow mornings, deep breathes, walks outside, dancing in the shower, and singing off key. Just being happy. Being still. Being present.
I am rediscovering hobbies that I let go because I’ve been “too busy”, taking time to hold myself accountable to writing my book reviews in a book journal, and just in general slowing down. I thought I had to be everything to everyone all at once and to be honest that sh*t is exhausting. I am rediscovering my joys without the pressures societal pressures, and I am not gonna lie. It has taken me to deeper places within myself that I didn’t know I was going to discover, but once I unearthed them it was hard to ignore the desires and dreams I had for myself and not acknowledge them.
So be gentle with me as I try to survive and thrive in situations that are foreign to me.
Be gentle with me as I try to listen to my body and mind, letting go of the burden to carry plates too full they begin to spill over.
Be gentle with me as I create my own sense of stability and security even when I feel like so much is out of my control.
As I ask you to be gentle with me, I’m also asking you to be gentle with yourselves. I task you all to dance in your underwear, eat the ice cream for breakfast, laugh as hard and as loud as you can, hug and cuddle those you love, and be there for yourself and others.
Find the joy and the peace within yourself and don’t allow the chaos to feed on you and your spirit.
Be gentle.
currently obsessed with.
what I’m watching.
Sweet Magnolias
Let’s Pour It Out.
I truly love this show. Yes, it is cheesy but it is the good kind. The kind that makes you believe in caring about each other and small town drama in all it provides. I truly can’t get enough of this show, plus I’m a huge Heather Headley fan. Her voice is amazing and her albums are truly chef’s kiss.
What I am Listening To
Slow Dance by Brittany Spencer
This name might sound familiar and it should! She is one of the amazing voices on Beyonce’s Blackbiird song. I’m secretly a lover girl (blame it on my water sign) and this is a song I can’t get out my head. Her voice is truly amazing. Check out the album as well!
Niccara’s Book Club
what I’m reading.
When Javi Dumped Mari
the plot.
Two best friends. One wedding to stop. Countless shenanigans.
On the eve of their college graduation, best friends Javier Báez and Marisol Campos swore never to date someone the other doesn’t approve of. Now, almost a decade later, Javi has a problem. Mari, the woman he’s secretly pined for since sophomore year, is engaged—and Javi didn’t even get the chance to vet the Pedro Pascal knockoff she plans to marry.
A successful entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, Mari is no longer seeking Javi’s dating advice or waiting for him to declare his love for her. Instead, she’s made a different pact—with herself. And to succeed, Mari’s vowing to build a future with someone else.
With his life and theater career finally on track, Javi’s ready to confess his feelings. Except Mari’s changed the script and moved on without him. Javi has just six weeks to convince Mari this marriage is a flop. If that means he needs to ruffle some feathers to help her avert a disaster, well, he’s up for the challenge. After all, isn’t that what best friends are for?
what you should be reading.
Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
I honestly don't know where to begin, but I know you need to run not walk to get this book. For the fans of House of Eve, this is definitely up your alley. Victoria does a wonderful job telling the unsung hero of the 'Midwife of the Harlem Renaissance'. As someone who believes to have a vast knowledge of Black American history, I did not know about the life of editor and author Jessie Redmon Fauset. As Victoria's author note said, she presented her editor with three choice and she picked Jessie's story, and your editor was completely right. This is currently the right moment and time to tell this important story while we are the percipience of our own renaissance with the battles we are still fighting today regarding who can and can not tell Black stories. It is amazing to see how we are still fighting the same battles and we can & will endure.
This book also details the affair between W.E.B. and Jessie, and I think the author takes great note in highlight and respecting these historic figures while also highlighting that they are human. The question I walk away with and I am sure you will too if you read this book, do we not know about Jessie due to her relationship with W.E.B. or because she was a woman and/or both. Whatever the reason, we now know of Jessie Redmon Fauset thanks to pen of Victoria Christopher Murray and it would be travesty to Jessie and the authors she ushered in like Countee Cullen, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Nella Larson, and many more if we do not uplift her story and her work.
Truly a five star read that I could not put down.
See ya in two weeks!
We must be book twins! I JUST started Harlem Rhapsody this weekend!