Should I Actually Do This?
My Loves, A Revelatory Phrase, My Visual Art, Books, Songs & Prompt for You
Last week, my first bleed since January unfolded. I took much better care of myself than I have historically. 10% micro-shift. Yes.
A wise mentor recently told me to Go limp.
Counter-intuitive.
Nothing in our mammal body wants to go limp, wants to be done to, wants to give it up and let whatever happen. It hasn’t been smart from a survival perspective, unless it’s a full freeze state, which is great as a temporary adaptive strategy, not as a way to live. Go limp especially doesn’t feel smart now when so much is viscerally at stake on the world stage and in the internal spheres for all of us. Still, I wonder—in a world tone of chronic doing and hyper vigilance (for good reason), is there space for the pause, for waiting a beat longer, for seeing where the flow goes. The same mentor said to me, “You are such a fighter,” as in I’m going to pick my head up and keep at it even if the rest of my body is down. She’s right, about some things. What if I don’t fight and don’t give up at the same time? What does that feel like? How do you relate to that?
Prompt: Draw what might happen if you were to go limp.
Going limp doesn’t have to be a collapse. It could be an allowing. Here’s a recent drawing of mine, posture in a larger holding, sparkles that could happen.
Maybe going limp can lead to a blooming that looks like this below. Only sharing with you all. Drawings from my daughters (my loves) for my upcoming birthday. Hibiscus. A very sacred flower and guide for me.
BOOKS inspiring me this last month. I haven’t completed any of them, only halfway.
Second Spring by Kate Codrington (perimenopausal women gather ‘round)
The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger (plant lovers, oh my!)
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (he might be my brother from another mother)
The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (gorgeous writing novel to sink into)
SONGS I’m grooving to in the kitchen and car (thank you S for a few of these!)
Go well, go well, go well,
Ooo limp not collapse 💫🙏🏻
The concept of "going limp" is really provocative for me. Another thing we able-bodied people might learn from disabled folks about how to actually be in reality instead of operating under delusions of infinite energy, control etc.