Yea, I took the week off again on Friday. I actually had a lot of thoughts in answer to our prompt of the week (I have two words for you: thunder thighs), but I just didn’t have the time or space to be able to put them together into something coherent for you. And as much as I like to be in touch, I’m always going to honor the best way I’m able to show up physically and mentally before forcing myself to do something I’m not feeling ready for.
But I hope you were able to embark on some powerful self-discovery with that prompt. It’s continued to inform my own journaling over the weekend, as I found myself being critical of my own writings and opinions while doing my morning pages both yesterday and today. The awareness of that voice is key, but working to understand whose voice that is, and why it persists, is how we can silence it for good.
Which brings us to this week’s question.
What behaviors/beliefs of others, past or present, am I allowing to dictate my worth?
This week’s question again comes from a writer I’ve borrowed from and referenced here in the past, Yasmine Cheyenne. As you consider how to explore it, let’s look at some entry points:
Why did you take this person’s words so seriously, and why do you continue to give it such weight?
How do these words/actions have an impact on you that reverberates outside their intended target/area of reference?
Flash back to that moment. How did you feel when this happened? How did you react? How would you react if you were back there today?
Write a letter to the person(s) who did/said this from the person you are today.
Based in Southern California, Power Blossoms is an abolitionist organization bringing together queer and trans people on both sides of prison walls in the fight against hierarchies and State oppression.
Through our letter-writingprogram, we refuse the boundaries forcibly erected between us and open up lines of contact that guide the rest of our work. This contact includes care packages to stave off the conditions of constant emergency designed to subdue defiance,legal supportin the service of autonomy and self-advocacy, and reentry support that prioritizes mutual aid in order to grow the capacity of our own communities.
Not sure how they ended up on my radar last week, but I fell hard for their work and shared it with friends across SoCal who would be interested in participating. The cost of participating in the work is just a few minutes of your time, so I encourage and implore you to take a peek at how you can support. Sending a birthday card to someone incarcerated by our criminal injustice system is as easy as filling out a form! While I do not have a directory of organizations doing this nationwide, do consider research one in your local community as well.
-
For more prompts like these delivered to your inbox every week, subscribe below!
