Amelia, here. I can't believe it's already late July! I've been very busy this month doing a whole lot of … nothing. Yeah, you read that right. *to the tune of Aretha Franklin's Respect* N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Find out what it means to me. N-O-T-H-I-N-G … Okay, enough of that.
You'd think doing nothing would be easy. But honestly, it feels a lot more like this cartoon I cut out of the paper a few weeks ago. (Yeah, I've become a grandma that gets a physical newspaper and cuts out clippings for all her friends). But anyway—
Doing nothing is not a natural state of being for me. As weird as it is to say, I like to work. I thrive in the go-go-go. I'm the Queen of being a Busy Bee. But also, all of that often leaves me exhausted, and sometimes I just need a long break.
So after I left my job in June, I decided that I was going on a summer sabbatical. Since then, every day I wake up and ask myself what I want to do that day. Sometimes my inner child answers “go get a Coke Icee," other times my emo teenager grumbles “stay in bed and watch sad movies," and occasionally my inner capricorn sea goat chimes in with “get out of bed and clean the house!"
Whatever voice emerges, in the spirit of my sabbatical I just say yes and do whatever they / I want. And so far, it's been a pretty fun experiment. Lots of naps and milkshakes over here lately! 🥤
That said, this process has also lead me to some internal reckonings. Specifically, it helped me uncover an underlying fear that's been lingering in my psyche for decades—that if I let myself do whatever I want, I'll become a lazy, good-for-nothing bum that everybody judges and abandons.
WOW. Let's just sit with that one for a minute. Lazy? Good-for-nothing? Bum? Who's gonna be abandoned?? For taking a few days, weeks, or months off?? Geez, Amelia. Way to be hard on yourself.
Joking tone aside—that fear of becoming worthless and unworthy if I rest didn't come from nowhere. Our capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal society has been convincing me that my value is determined by my productivity since I was born. And no matter how many grow slow stickers I make, the voice of that very powerful and very destructive conditioning still sneaks up on me sometimes. That message runs deep, and it really rears its head any time I try to rest.
So in the spirit of kicking that voice to the curb, I've officially labeled this season of my life #SLOTHGIRLSUMMER.
Yep, that's right. As an homage to Megan Thee Stallion and my second-favorite of the seven deadly sins, I'm becoming a sloth! For a season at least. I even made a poster to celebrate.
This summer, I'm leaning into my slothness, and working on replacing that capitalist inner voice with a new affirmation—
When I rest, I receive. Rest makes me worthy.
Let me repeat that.
How does reading that make you feel?
It makes me feel release, and relieved.
Hopefully it makes you feel like the sacred, inherently worthy, always deserving of rest, beautiful human being you are. If not, maybe trying resting for a while.
In the spirit of being more sloth-like, I've been doing that N-O-T-H-I-N-G that I talked about at the beginning of this letter. That means that I haven't been creating much to share with you here lately. Instead, I've been reading and supporting a lot of things my friends are creating. And I want to share them with you!
Here are some support opportunities, courses, songs, links, and sweets that I think are worthy of your sacred attention—
My internet friend Mare's #FreedomFund, which is a beautiful opportunity for mutual aid and support that will give them access to freedoms and opportunities for rest and joy. The gofundme page itself is a powerful manifesto for abundance, and I highly encourage you to click here and support.
My beloved teacher Mary Grace Allerdice's new course Interstellar Purpose. As she puts it, the course will support you in “moving from lost + burned out to authentic resonance + dynamic destiny in 4 weeks." YES PLEASE.
Lavender lattes you get to make for yourself at home from Copper Cow. The lovely L'Oreal Thompson Payton introduced me to them. Here's my referral link to get yourself some sweetness.
After all this talk about doing nothing, I want to share a secret with you beloved readers who made it to the end of this note. The secret is—I have been doing a little something during my time of doing nothing. In fact, doing nothing has given me space to receive new ideas and some much-needed clarity about what I want to do next.
So…drumroll please… 🥁
This fall I'll be launching a new business called Softer Sounds. It's a feminist podcast studio for entrepreneurs and creatives. I'll write you a whole email about it when it's a little more real. For now, you can find out a tiny bit more on Instagram or sign up to receive email updates about it at this link.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my loves. I'm headed to my backyard inflatable pool for a whole lot more resting. l'll be back in your inbox when #slothgirlsummer comes to a close.
P.S. I've got some extra Grow Slow stickers and Sloth Girl Summer posters. If you'd like one, just reply to this email with your mailing address, and I'll drop a little #slothgirlsummer care package in the mail for you. 💌
