May Reflections, June Intentions ✨
Joyful June, summer reading lists and bucket lists and a lil life update
This June, I am practicing mindfulness. I am incorporating fun and play into my wellness journey because part of self-care, for me, is being in community. I am releasing beliefs and habits that no longer serve me. I am celebrating my wins. I am taking risks. I am open to the fullness of joy. I am grateful. I am affirming myself. This will be a joyful June.
Part of embracing joy this season is because I’ve had to be willing to let go of a lot. To be honest, I’ve had to let go in spite of my unwillingness too. Whether it is walking away from opportunities or relationships, I have had to trust that these necessary endings would create capacity for more. And it’s true. I am starting this month happy and healthy.
I also had to unlearn my desire for control, for things to go according to my plan, and for perfection. The truth is, I am no longer in pursuit of perfection. I cannot be. Perfection demands a clinical level of precision that makes no room for experimentation. And we must experiment. Life is about tinkering. It is constantly iterating again and again, not to achieve perfection, but to experience authenticity and wholeness.
What makes perfection seductive is the idea of a final form — that eventually you will arrive and you will be finished. Wouldn’t that be delightful?
There are parts of our lives that are waiting to be expressed and others that are yearning to be uncovered. Perfection robs us of the opportunity for discovery. Perfection whispers for us to conform and perform. A well lived life asks that you allow yourself to be re-born again and again.
I have been loosening the handcuffs of perfection over the past six years, and I say this to say it is a journey. There are times when status and accolades and how I am perceived drive me, but I know myself well enough to not get lost in the sauce. I know myself well enough to know if I am worth something tomorrow, I must be worth something today.
Since being on a mini sabbatical I have uncoupled myself and my value from production. Admittedly, the first few weeks I could not allow myself to rest and just be. But now I luxuriate in rest. I can always make more money, but I cannot make more time. And as I am in a season of transition, it has been beautiful to give this time to myself.
Through this practice of rest, I've learned to ask myself a different question entirely. If we are not in pursuit of perfection, then what are we pursuing? I cannot tell you what to pursue, but whatever it is, may it fill you up and energize you. Anything worth pursuing will be costly, but I pray it is worth the cost. Whatever is truly worth pursuing should not cost you yourself, remember that.
Three Good Things 📚📺🍝
Good reads: I’ll be reading one book to inspire and one book to escape. To inspire, I am reading Slow Burn by DawnChere Wilkersen. It’s all about what it means to wait well. It also wrestles with the question, what if what I hope for doesn't happen? To escape, my cousin Banke just recommended None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. It’s a psychological thriller, which is a bit of a departure from my usual romance novels.
Good watch: Love Island USA premieres this week, and I am genuinely so excited. Last season was epic! I also recently re-watched Nobody Wants This and it filled up my heart. I’m taking a month long break from all things romance, just because. As a woman who has a life full of love, but lacking in romance I sometimes just need a break from books and shows that lean heavily on this. Think of it as a swimmer coming up from air. Just important to remind myself of the vastness of my life and the experiences I have and can have instead of (hyper)focusing on the absence of one type of experience.
Good eats: I’ll be in Europe for the next two weeks with my first stop being in London. I usually go to my favorite places whenever I’m in London so I’ll be going to Dishoom, Four Seasons and Creperie de Hampstead. But I’m really excited to try some new* places like Akara and The Seafood Bar. *These places are new to me, not to London. If you have any other recommendations, please send them my way.
BONUS Good listen: I recently discovered Wizard Liz on TikTok this week and her content might have actually changed my life. If you need to be encouraged, her content really gave me the boost I didn’t know I needed. Her video titled Stop Doubting Yourself was so reassuring.
💚 June Affirmation 💚
I am worthy now.
Not when I achieve more.
Not when I prove more.
Right now, in this moment, I am enough.
I trust the timing.
I trust myself.
I trust that everything I long for is already making its way to me.
I am a finished masterpiece.
A Question to Consider 💡
Don’t forget to remember who you really are. There’s more than one question this week, use these as journal prompts, call your bestie and ask her these questions or create some time to reflect on this over a lovely cup of tea.
What am I still trying to perfect in order to feel “enough”? Where did that story begin?
Whose approval am I chasing—and what part of me is ready to stop running?
If I could rewrite the rules I live by, which ones would I let go of first?
None of this is True is such a fun read!