The OTHER word I don’t use
I previously wrote about a word which carries a ton of awful baggage for historically marginalised communities, and today I found another one.
It doesn’t often get said out loud.
But hooooo boy, do we THINK it a lot, especially if we’re doing any kind of personal growth or expansion work.
It’s the word ‘broken’.
If your movement forward ever feels sticky and painful, and even if you’re not consciously thinking it … there is a possibility that in some dark corner you’ll find the thought “I’m broken” lurking in the shadows.
It’s not fun.
And it’s counterproductive.
Because if you’re constantly either in a state of pushing away that thought (NO, fuck off, I’m fine!) or in a state of believing it (yeah, you’re right, it’s hopeless cuz I’m fundamentally borked) … the doors to joy and ease are pretty firmly closed.
What if you simply decided that right now, this minute, you’ve done enough?
What if you actually get to start with a ‘clean slate’ even if you still have a bunch of toxic BS floating around in your head?
What if you simply decided that the ONLY thing you need more of right now is radical kindness, turned inwards?
What if you decided to take a deep breath and let it be okay that you don’t yet know the next step forward?
What if you go extremely simple, and practice three kind, basic, helpful thoughts:
I love myself
I bless myself
I am my favourite thing in this room right now
Don’t just rattle them off.
Really FEEL into each one.
Do they feel weird, awkward, untrue?
Congratulations, you’re a perfectly normal, whole and healthy human with a working brain and nervous system!
It actually doesn’t matter that they feel weird. We’re not trying to convince your brain of anything.
We’re merely creating a little wiggle room, because that makes is so much easier to crack open the doorway to hope and possibility.
Practice them daily.
In fact, for best results — practice them every time you interact with water.
Every time you wash your hands, take a shower, load the laundry, fill the kettle, clean your teeth, flush the loo.
I love myself
I bless myself
I am my favourite thing in this room right now
And each time you do it, bring along a side-serving of gentle-but-radical kindness, turned inwards.
Because you’re not broken — you’re a spark of the Divine, an eternal being who came here to have a human experience, and that can never change.
