10 THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY (LETTING GO)
10 Thoughts on a Thursday
musings, inspiration & ideas from the week
Fun story, I wrote this entire blog post and then accidentally deleted it. Yay, we love it when that happens… This round is going to be extra juicy, extra fun & slightly less inhibited. For those of you who missed last week’s post, you can read it here :) I am playing around with this new format of communication, I hope you enjoy it.
10 thoughts on a Thursday:
Have you heard of the “soft life”…? It’s this trend that’s going viral on TikTok right now. A. I think it’s hilarious and, B. there is a granular of truth inside this trend that’s worth highlighting. First, what is it? "Soft life" is a term used to describe a lifestyle or aesthetic that emphasizes comfort, coziness, and relaxation. On social media, it’s portrayed as a luxury lifestyle— have my man do everything for me— fly first class down to St. Bart’s kinda thing (which, eh, no thanks). Jokes & obscene materialism aside, I’ve reinterpreted soft life to mean something different… for me, it is about saying ‘no’ to the struggle life, saying ‘no’ to things that make you feel pressured, and slowing down to enjoy the sweetness of the moment. It is the energy of receiving help, allowing people to help you, and saying no to martyrdom. I’m trying to embody this more and more every day and it feels nice. Okay, next.
On an unrelated note; 1/2 caff coffee. Drop everything and get yourself a 1/2 caff oat milk latte. I’ve been trying to cut down on my caffeine consumption because I am really not trying to have 200+ mg of coffee every day and I just love the taste, feeling, and routine of my morning cups of coffee. Enter: 1/2 caff. I go to the store, buy both decaf and regular & make my own mixture. I did not notice a difference in energy level….until…. yesterday when we were out of decaf and my husband made us regular coffee. The level of focus, blissful intense focus, and caffeinated high (after drinking 1/2 the amount of caffeine for the past 6 months) was a feeling like no other. If you’re trying to ween off or even decrease your caffeine consumption, I recommend you give this a try. Okay, next.
This is something little but worth mentioning. I am full-on loving the energy of July mid-July. I realize this is the time of year my soul years for… It’s hot (I LOVE being hot), the days are long, the evening thunderstorms are furious and the pace of life slows down. I am very much enjoying working less, staying up later, waking up later & just letting go of some of the hustle.
Another unrelated thought (we’re going full stream of consciousness today)… I’m obsessed with thrifting! It feels really good to opt out of fast fashion and consumer culture. Reduce, reuse, recycle….I think that’s what they say. It feels like a treasure hunt and I am so here for it. Paying $7 for a gently worn summer romper? yes, please.
Okay, next: writing— creative expression— pen to paper— words…. I always loved writing. Doing it in a no-strings-attached kind way has brought me tremendous amounts of joy. I probably mentioned this in last week’s post, but it still holds true. So, thank you for reading, thank you for being here, and thank you for being a part of this community.
Something else I’ve been loving lately is CYCLE TRACKING (this one is for the ladies….) Charting the shifts in my BBT from my follicular phase to my luteal phase, monitoring my energy levels, following my mood throughout the different phases of my cycle & generally becoming more in tune and aware of how different I feel during each phase of my cycle has been nothing short of mind-blowing. I’ll just say it right now, ovulation feels like a drug. So much energy, so much excitement towards life, so much zest…. Knowing what I know now about fertility and cycle tracking makes me kinda disappointed I went through my entire 20s not knowing about this.
I heard the MOST amazing quote the other day: “What is meant for me, will be for me”. So simple, yeah? But I’m embarrassed to admit that I sometimes struggle to believe this. Translation: have faith, what you desire will come to pass. I’ve heard this message 10000x before, but hearing it in this way, from this one person landed differently. To me, this also means being happy & grateful when things don’t work out (why? Because its absence is eventually making room for something even better). Miss me with that struggle & hardship.
This is a good one. I am embarrassed to admit it… I recently had the epiphany that I am not employed by my Instagram, my phone, nor my Gmail account. The past year, I’ve felt an obligation to show up and post content every day, respond to all my messages, etc, etc. As you can imagine, the energy behind that feels very forced. Now, we’re all about quality > quantity & only sharing when it feels right & taking time to share authentically rather than out of obligation, I hope you can feel the difference because I certainly can. Okay, next…
Saying no feels freaking amazing. I used to be a yes-girl. Need something from me? Right away ma’am… Want to hang out at the last minute, I’ll be right there… Need something from me at 8 pm? Sure, I’ll get to it right away. Forget how I actually feel, saying yes & making people happy was the number one goal. Every year, this self-empowered ‘no’ feels easier and easier and is actually something that I derive pleasure from at this point. No more FOMO, now it’s all about FOJO (fear of JOINING in). My time is valuable, and so is yours.
I had this major realization the other day that I was molding my life into something I didn’t actually want. I thought to myself…if only I work harder, suffer more, and exert more effort, one day I will be free to relax & enjoy the fruits of my labor. But this is backwards. I realized that it’s about getting in touch with the feeling FIRST. I (and you) won’t be able to spread-sheet & hustle our way into living the life we want if the life we want doesn't involve spreadsheets and grinding. ‘The life’ … whatever that looks like to you must be embodied now. It’s about getting in touch with the feeling. In the smallest & simplest way, take an honest look at the areas of your life that aren’t working for you and stop convincing yourself that you need to do the hard thing in order to get from A to B. I promise you, the best way from A to B is the way that feels good to you. And if you are thinking this feels totally unreasonable, I get it, I was once there too.
That is it for today! Sending you all my love!!
XOX Dr. Jenn