Ep. 68 Reflections from My Journal: A Solo Conversation on Embodying and Stepping Forward in Who We Are
I’m so so excited about our new podcast cover art!! Ah!! It was time to be brave and time for a change - and I’m so excited that I chose to take the leap and switch things up!
Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
I’m back this week with a solo episode chatting all about our NEW cover art (!!!), and the inspirations, reflections, and understandings that came from picking my journaling practice back up after six months of creating conscious distance between myself, and my self-work. I read straight from my journal (cue the nerves! This is a whole new level of vulnerability for me), and share my reflections surrounding the connection between self-preservation and self-love.
The message - you can fully step forward in who you are, and embody it, no matter the circumstance, the environment, or situation that you might find yourself in.
You are still the essence of who you are, no matter what mountain you’re facing.
Plus, I share a fun announcement at the end of the show for what’s to come this summer for Seek The Joy! (hint: there are three e-books in our future!! eep!!)
I’m so excited about this one and can’t wait to hear what you think! Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“It is truly a courageous act to recognize and embrace that which you are - and when we recognize ourselves, we are by default asking others to recognize us too. ”
First things first - I am so excited to share with you guys our brand NEW cover art for Seek The Joy! I’ve been going back and forth for months (literally) on whether or not to make the change - and I’m just so glad I did 🤗
So much has changed since I launched Seek The Joy in October 2017 - we’ve been on an incredible journey together, and I wanted to create something new that would embody all of that. But truthfully - this shift, this change, scared the sh*t out of me - because by attaching my face and my name (finally!) to this podcast and its branding, I’m asking myself to fully embody what it is that I’ve created, and what it is that I’m sharing with the world through Seek The joy.
I’m realizing that we often create things, produce things, share things, without wanting to attach who we are to it. Isn’t that odd!? I think in some ways it allows us to share more when we remove a little more of that element of vulnerability. It’s almost as if it removes some of the fear.
But, allowing yourself to fully step forward in who you are, to fully step forward in what it is that you’ve created, to attach your name, photo, and/or voice to it - when you do this, you’re asking yourself to fully embody what it is that you’ve created. And that is one of the most beautiful gifts you can give yourself.
In reflecting on my choice to change the cover art for the podcast, I began to realize and see just how often this concept of embodiment has been showing up for me. And in many ways, it’s shown up in the ways I’ve chosen not to embody who I am.
What inspired all of these realizations and understandings? Journaling.
In this week’s new episode I read straight from my journal . . . and this is just part of what I shared. This is a whole new level of vulnerability for me! I don’t think I’ve shared my writing in this form before on the show, and I’m just so excited to step forward in my truth, and my words.
Last weekend was the first time I picked up my journal in the last 6 months. So much had shifted and changed, and I felt like I needed to create distance between who I am, and who I felt I needed to present to the world.
So, I put my journaling practice down.
“Picking up my journal was the first time in a long time that I allowed myself to feel and be present in my own expression, and my own journey. I’ve been kind of superficially riding my wave of self-exploration, of growth, of healing in the last 6 months, and I think it was definitely out of necessity.”
I put my meditation practice down.
I put my kundalini practice down.
Because I felt like I couldn’t handle it.
I felt like I couldn’t do the self-work, the inner work, when there were so many shifts and changes, beginnings and endings, all around me.
This sense of new-ness in many ways required a belief in a need for this distance, for this separation - but I’m realizing, I had it all wrong.
Seriously, all wrong.
Despite this belief in needing to disconnect, despite at times feeling like I’m in a space, in an environment, that is asking me to tune-out who I really am, I’m realizing that we always have the choice to remain rooted in who we are - in our kindness, softness, courage - in our ability to ground ourselves, and then by default ground others.
We can always make the conscious decision to TUNE IN to who we really are.
To confidently step forward in who we are.
Because, it is truly a courageous act to recognize and embrace that which you are.
And when we recognize ourselves, we are by default asking others to recognize us too.
“When you choose to continue to show up as you are, knowing who you are, embodying the essence of who you are no matter the person you’re with, no matter the environment that you’re in, no matter what that moment is asking of you – the choice to continue to be who you are is the greatest form of self-love.”
All of this really got me thinking about self-love, and its connection to self-preservation. Here’s the thing (and the quote above just says it all) - when you choose to show up as you are, and fully embrace and embody it, that’s self-love. And when we shut ourselves off from it, when we shut ourselves off from our connections, our joys, our passions and our knowingness of ourselves - yes, at times it’s a form of self-preservation, but really - it’s a way of holding ourselves back.
Mic. drop.
There’s truly so much more where all of this came from - and I can’t wait for you guys to tune in AND I can’t wait to hear what you think about our new cover art? Let me know! Send me an email sydney@seekthejoypodcast.com or send us a DM on Instagram!
Oh! And don’t forget to tune in to the end of the podcast to hear our special announcement about what’s to come this summer - think e-books and resources all on seeking your joy, and creating your own podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode make sure to share it and tag us on Instagram @seekthejoypodcast so I can see and share it with the community!
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