September 11, 2023

Early morning golden hour light and a tiny moment of gratitude for this wild (and full) life ✨

This 8am Spanish Steps moment was a reminder of how far I’ve come in my appreciation of solitude.

One of my biggest surprises this year has been my body requesting more alone time, more introvert time, more rest.

That’s come in different ways—both as a gentle whisper and as two loud alarm-bell ringing sicknesses that left me plastered to my couch for days, reading novels and staring aimlessly out the window.

Doing (to the best of my ability) nothing.

When I think about Rachel in 2019 (and my whole life before that too) I think about how when I got sick I’d just push through it.

When I had inflammation or tummy aches or congestion or any other clear sign to slow the f down, I’d ignore them and pile more stuff and activities and work on top of it.

Old me didn’t really know how to move through (and rest through) and process grief, exhaustion, or any type of symptom that would come up with system overload.

There’s a lot of lessons I’ve learned the hard way (and some I’ve learned in easier ways too, thanks to whatever higher power for throwing me a bone sometimes)— but the biggest one is currently this:

💥 If we don’t allow ourselves time and space to recover and process and rest, our bodies (immune system, nervous systems, all systems) will create that time and space for us and it’s generally not a gentle nudge 💥

Reminding everyone in transition season to rest and replenish your sweet bodies. And mostly? Reminding myself too.