The summer has come and is almost gone. It's been a very trying summer for me personally. I entered another season of transition. Transitions aren't bad, but they make everything feel uncertain. Unbalanced. I have had one of the best years of my life and I was hoping to continue the party into the summer. However, the universe gave me time to slow down, reflect, and take inventory of what I've experienced to help me figure out where I'm going. In order to balance myself out in this season I've created a morning routine that includes some exercise, meditation, and journaling. I've been writing a lot of my thoughts down. Most of it just comes out as a bunch of unpublishable chatter, but it helps clear my mind.
I was hoping the summer would be filled with rooftop parties but I've spent a large majority of the time reading books, lounging on the beach, and finding quiet spots in parks around the city. I'm reminded that it is okay to take breaks. I was carrying a lot of the negative energy produced from recent news headlines: school shootings, family separations at the boarder, and the constant ineptitude of America's commander in chief. It was all a lot. Disconnecting from it for a season is becoming more and more important as I continue to figure out ways to manage my mental health. In order for me to healthy, I'm finding that I have to surround myself with beautiful things. I see the most beauty in nature. Seeing green leafy trees, yellow sun flowers, orange butterflies, crashing waterfalls, and even a good summer rain uplifts and feeds my spirit.
Creating is my other form of therapy. It's the other tool I use to get me through seasons when smiling gets hard. I was able to create a short but uplifting song that helped me deal with my feelings about existing in country that attacks blackness for sport. I'm astonished at the restraint of the black community. I'm inspired by our collective fight for joy in the midst of one of America's darkest hours. May we continue to use our creativity to strike back against the powers and principalities in high places that seek to harm us.