This episode is a check-in on the weight so many of us are carrying right now, and a few honest, simple ways I'm taking care of myself in the middle of it.

If you're in a dark or helpless place, please don't sit in it alone. Check out the mental health resources shared in the accompanying blog post in the community section of girllisten2this.wordpress.com.

I published an episode earlier this year that I liked, but something about it never sat right with me. When I finally sat with it again, I realized what I'd actually been feeling wasn't survivor's guilt. It was fear.

In this episode, I talk about what it means to trust the clarity you've already earned, even when you were raised in a tradition that taught you not to trust yourself at all. And I talk about why constantly watching yourself for signs of backsliding might be its own kind of bondage.

Read the show notes 📝 and continue the conversation 🎙️ at girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community.

This week's episode is about how a favorite gospel song's meaning shifted for me, what it cost me to believe the old version, and what I found when I let the song mean something new. It touches on faith, worth, and the kind of victim mentality that can outlast the belief system that planted it.

🎙️Continue the conversation at https://girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community.

This week's episode is about what happens when someone rescinds your seat at their table, even after you've shown up for them in good faith. If you're the type of person who examines every interaction looking for the thing you did wrong, I hope this one gives you something to sit with.

🎙️ Continue the conversation at GirlListen2This.wordpress.com.

This one is about what authenticity actually costs, especially for Black women, since church and society keep telling us to "come as we are" and then punish us the moment we do. It's about the difference between someone withdrawing because you did something wrong and someone withdrawing because you finally stopped letting them have you on their terms. And it's about learning to hold grief for what you lost right alongside knowing you'd make the same choice again.

🎙️Continue the conversation and share your thoughts at girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community.

Have you ever had a vision for your life that the people around you didn't believe in? Or perhaps so much time has passed or your circumstances have changed without substantial progress that you figured you needed to let that vision go? I'm here to tell you your calling is real, and you don't need someone else's permission to walk in it.

💻 Continue the conversation at the associated blog post (girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community).

There is a difference between contentment and complacency, and for a long time I did not know it. This episode picks up where we left off last week. We explore what contentment is, why it differs from complacency, and how white supremacy led to this confusion for many Black women.

📝 Read the show notes and references mentioned in this episode at the accompanying blog post: girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community.

What does it cost us to live on high alert all the time? There is a very real cost to our physical and mental health, so it behooves us to learn how to allow ourselves to breathe during those moments when things are good.

🧐 Links to studies referenced in this episode can be found at the accompanying blog post. Continue the conversation there!

Sometimes, due to unhealthy family dynamics, the process of becoming your own person gets delayed. Sometimes by years. Sometimes by decades. In this episode we talk about why that sometimes is and what the process of becoming your own person may look like.

🎙️ Continue the conversation at ⁠⁠girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community⁠⁠.

When people talk about body image, they usually mean things like wanting to lose a few pounds or not liking their skin, but what I'm sitting with goes far deeper than that. I want to talk about it this episode, because I have a feeling a number of you are feeling the same way.

🎙️ Continue the conversation at girllisten2this.wordpress.com/community.