Empowerment Shorts
Last weekend, with my hands submerged in a 5-gallon bucket of indigo dye, I was reminded of three things I deeply value and need more of in my life right now—novelty, learning, and connection. As much as I’d like to label this blue bucket moment as something truly revelatory—a moment when I finally had the words for something I’d been churning over for months—it wasn’t. I’d known about this gap in my life for weeks (ergh… okay…maybe a little longer). It just took me a bit to swap my shame pants for empowerment shorts and do something about it. So really, it was in that bucket of dye that I was reminded of the importance of these things, and almost a week later, my fingernails are still dyed blue as a reminder.
Getting a dose of novelty, learning, and connection provided me with the energetic fuel that in turn prevented a rocky start to the week from deteriorating into an absolute spiral. But, more importantly, it also reminded me that even when we are running in a deficit, the smallest shifts pay massive dividends. Why? Because they bring us closer to who we are and how we want to be in this world. I want to be curious, kind, helpful, present, and grounded. Novelty, learning, and connection are the arenas in which I get to be that version of myself and strengthen those muscles.
I’m tempted to weave together a beautiful narrative showing how massaging fabric in a mysterious 5-gallon bucket for 3 minutes at a time made me feel more connected to myself than I had in months, because it did, but there’s something calling me to really make these connections explicit and clear—to map them out neatly, for myself, but also for anyone who might be reading this. In doing that, I hope that next time I swap out the shame pants for the empowerment shorts one second faster and that I stop telling myself I don’t really need the things I’m drawn toward.
Where’s the parking lot? Oh, I missed it. I wonder if I should just turn down this road? (Novelty—curiosity)
Where are you from? What’s your name? (Novelty, Connection, Learning—curiosity, kindness, presence)
Wait, you want me to do math? I had no clue Shibori could be this precise. (Novelty, Learning—curiosity, presence)
You just have to loop that thread around 8 times. (Novelty, Learning, Connection—kindness, helpfulness, presence)
OW. I just stabbed myself again. (Novelty, Learning—presence, groundedness)
THIS IS A RAW INDIGO LEAF? Who was the first person that smashed this up? (Novelty, Learning, Connection—curiosity, presence)
Wow. There is so much ritual involved here. (Novelty, Learning, Connection—curiosity, presence)
Could I get really good at this and monetize it? (Novelty, Learning—curiosity)
I need to stand here for 3 minutes with my hands in this bucket and do nothing. Okay, that’s easy enough. (Novelty, Learning, Connection—curiosity, presence, groundedness)
Holy shit. Why does 3 minutes feel so long? I have to do this at least 3 more times? (Novelty, Learning, Connection—curiosity, presence, grounded)
Wow. It’s wild how much my body is trying to get me to rush right now. There is no rush. (Novelty, Learning—curiosity, presence)
I wonder how they met. (Connection—curiosity)
Yeah, you just kinda rinse it out until the water runs clean. (Novelty, Connection, Learning—kindness, helpfulness)
Wow, humans are so cute, look at us ohh-ing and aww-ing over each other's art. (Novelty, Connection, Learning—presence, grounded)
Hey—I did a Shibori workshop on Sunday. I’m hooked. Let’s do it together. (Novelty, Learning, Connection—kindness, presence)
What are you being called toward right now? What do you need more of in your life? How might meeting those needs help you be more of who you want to be?
Need more YOU time? Come to a workshop:
Writing as Medicine 6/23 9:00AM EST
Creative Calm: Art for Overthinking 6/30 10:00AM EST
Poetry as Medicine 6/7 9:00AM EST