you don't need to heal first. you need to live first.

A Q2 invitation to stop waiting for the version of that that’s “ready” and to love on the one who’s already here.

something magic and empowering happens around late march, early april where something shifts in us. the air changes. the sunlight stays out longer. we have a bit more energy. something in our bodies quiet says, ‘okay. now, this is where we begin’. this is where we reset. this is the real new year and this is when things really blossom.

spring isn’t just a season. t’s a biological invitation. things that were dormant start moving again. so if Q1 felt abnormally heavy, slow, scattered and overwhelming, that’s winter doing exactly what winter does and this is the beginning of you finding your footing for this year. Q2 is where things turn up a bit.

for me, february and march were very interesting to me. i was starting to become obsessed with self-romance and intentionally dating myself. i had this idea that romancing myself meant buying things. buying myself weekly flowers, buying myself a new candle, buying myself more objects. i dressed this up and called it ‘investing in myself’ but then wondered why i still felt the same exact way 3 hours later. i quickly realized that buying things and having things do not create memories. experiences do.

romance, the real romance, the one that matters to me in my mid-30s when there is no one around to see it, looks like living in slo motion. taking my time with my time. slowly walking through a neighborhood i’ve never explored. going to a new workout class. making friends on the ago. speaking slowly. eating slowly. allow a minute to be a minute. it’s picking up a hobby yo have zero intention on monetizing. it’s making the dinner reservation for one, on purpose, with your phone face down on the table. romance has nothing to do with what we own and everything to do with what we’re willing to feel.

but speaking of feeling things, we have to talk about balance. there’s a small line between feeling your feelings and staying in them. i know it well. i lived it. sitting in your feelings is necessary, i would say it’s healthy. our nervous system needs time to metabolize what it’s been carrying but we have to know the difference between integration and stagnation. we can feel the difference in our body. a integration moves us and stagnation keeps us still. when nothing is moving, that’s not processing. that’s looping. and looping looks like: replaying the same conversation, journaling the same entry, talking about the same thing over and over and over again, looking for the same answer and a different one at the same time.

real movement, real romance, real growth… it feels different. she’s quieter. it’s when you notice the feeling and you let it be just that… a feeling. it’s allowing it to complete itself, through your body and not just your mind. things like EFT tapping, long walks without your phone, breath work, even sitting on your floor and letting yourself… just. be. still. the thing is we want to stop circling it and we want to actually go through it. then when we come out on the other side, we pick up where we left off. lighter. clearer. ready.

this is what Q2 is asking of you, intentional and warm forward movement.

i recently came back to NYC after 3 years of living abroad and i’m falling in love with the city all over again. living abroad teaches you a lot about yourself, about what you require to feel good, what your non-negotiables are, what you are willing to deal with, what makes you laugh, what makes your heart burst into a smile.. it teaches you very important high-mileage details about who you and who you are becoming. i’ve been vlogging it all because for me, it’s important to document that it actually feels like to return somewhere you thought you knew and realized you’re the one who changed the most. it can be a bit jarring to be a native and a tourist at the same time. it’s almost like you’re shedding skin. uncomfortable but necessary to expand.

i feel like for the first time in my life i have fresh eyes that are allowed to romanticize the details. i upload new vlogs on youtube every wednesday and saturday and if you’ve been watching, you already know: this is the season of details. of noticing. of actually showing up for your own life on camera and off it.

so here’s your Q2 invitation because we’re not waiting anymore. we’re not waiting for monday. we’re not waiting for a new year, a new month, we’re not waiting for the next big thing to arrive before we start caring about today. this quarter, what if the practice was simpler than you thought? what if it was: walking slow. or eating slow. or responding slowly. try one new thing this next month. sit with the hard feeling long enough to actually learn from it, but not so long that you make a home there. we don’t want that. make a memory instead of a purchase. pick up your camera, your journal, your running shoes, your creative materials, whatever makes you feel most alive.. and actually use it. being present and actually living.

because that’s the beautiful thing about spring. it doesn’t ask you to overhaul your life. it just asks you to tend to it. and tending it quiet, it’s personal and it’s consistent. and it is hands down the most romantic thing you can do for yourself.

what’s one thing you’re romanticizing this spring season? i want to know.

with gratitude,
Arielle