image source : blacklove.com [The You Retreat]
I started with an idea for tweets after I watched the last conversation on Sisterhood. You can find the first post here. Let's continue the conversation through these words and in the comments. I hope you leave this post feeling uplifted.
Reminder : This is a safe space and all comments are welcome.
Mickey Guyton x Estelle
#YouRetreat #CreatingYourOwnPath @mickeyguyton @estelledarlings
There will be times when you may be the first. A first deviation from the norm. A first in your family, career, achievements, industry, or whatever it may be.
It may be hard on some days, and you will lose yourself. You will question if it is worth it, if the process is worth the discomfort and the tears. You will question if you are worth it. If you are worth fighting for, does this even matter anymore?
You will question how long it will take to get through. How long before somebody believes in me too? How long must I wait? You've got to work through it, so you can walk through it and come out on the side of the why. Why you?
Why you were chosen.
Why you are needed.
Why you needed the process.
Why the tears were important.
Why the discomfort was important.
As the first, you may be placed in a box or several boxes. These are a collective of molds designed to keep you fearful OR doubtful long enough to stop living, dreaming, and turning possibilities into reality. The first box is often the one that tells you how it has always been.
If you move past that one, you may encounter a box that asks that you stay within the lines. Or a box that says don't imagine anything beyond here. They are all limitations that ask you to assume the answer will be No when Yes is a possibility.
Your job is to break it without apology and educate others as you overcome everything - they said would overwhelm you. Create a new box with opportunities for expansion and creativity. Stand in your box confidently, defend it, promote it, and give grace to those who misunderstand it.
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" Highlighting us, is a form of protecting us." - Estelle.
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Highlighting our sisters' gifts, talents, and work creates community. That community provides the support that we need to keep on going. The support we need to continue the great work assigned to each of us in the paths - that we must grow on, build, create, and redefine. Highlighting gives us the confidence to own our narratives and change them when the messaging has been incorrect.
Being the first can be exhausting if you are forced into a cycle of fighting and defending yourself. Working harder than the rest to achieve what you want to make those visions a reality. Doing the work and learning the systems so you can open doors for others behind you.
After exhaustion, it is vital to rest and gradually find peace. Peace will have different definitions, manifestations, and values as you move through the seasons of your life.
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Angela Rye x Devi Brown
#YouRetreat #SisterhoodIsQueen @angelarye @devibrown
Sisterhood is the betrayal I refuse to partake in, the safe spaces I choose to create for you, and the moments you can share with me & keep as your own.
Seasons can change the demands of sisterhood & what we each need as individuals. These changes can also mean that we must grow with our sisters as they go through seasons, situations, or grieving. A willingness to grow with our sisters helps us understand what they need and how we can provide that. We gain clarity on what they need and how we can help them navigate to and through that.
In Sisterhood, we speak love and freely elevate our sisters. I will use every opportunity to list the things I love about you until you get tired. I choose to speak highly of you in rooms that haven't seen the depth of your being like I have. I will remind the world to be patient with you because there is a beauty to you - that it cannot afford to miss.
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We have to have friends who are willing to coach us where we're deficient or where we have blind spots. That is so important, because the mirror isn't always exact. - Angela Rye
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Sisterhood is the beauty of different schedules which flow in directions that don't match - somehow, we make beauty in the busyness, the mess, and finally sit together. We make those differences work.
What makes sisterhood work? When we individually show up for ourselves. When you care for you, nurture you, check in with you, grow you, and know you. Then you can do these things for your sisters. When we have poured into ourselves and created a system for continually filling ourselves - our sisters will benefit from that time and time again.
Sisterhood is not transactions and reactive 'reciprocity'. Sisterhood is natural cycles of reciprocity that come with seasons and attend to different needs.
Reciprocity = we have our hearts open to each others. I know when I need you you're there and vice versa. - Devi Brown
- Sisterhood is unapologetic in its truth. It is honest in what it can and cannot give. And what it will and will not accept. It is a daily practice that pours into the individuals to enrich the collective. -
- This is the final post in the Sisterhood series, but you can read the first post here -
