Thank you Parks and Rec for giving us self-care permission well before the movement picked up steam. For years now I’ve been channeling my own “Treat yo self” voice:

“Should I get a massage?”
“Treat yo self.”

“Do I really *need* that cookie?”
“Treat yo self.”

“Finish work at 12pm on a Tuesday and buzz off for the day?”
“Treat yo self.”

I don’t think I fully realized how helpful this phrase has been/is to me. I’ve jokingly and lovingly spoken it to myself for years. I’m always smiling on the inside after reciting it.

As I continue to fully embrace the realities of the up-and-down-ness and uncertainty of this entrepreneurial life, I'm inspired by the comic relief and lightness of "Treat yo self." I’m starting another mantra to also help with getting through: "Trust yo self."

“Ugh, I’m not getting the newsletter out when I wanted.”
“Trust yo self.”

“I feel like this is the way it’s supposed to be done but it doesn’t feel right to me.”
“Trust yo self.”

“This is taking much longer than I thought it would.”
“Trust yo self.”

At the end of the day the ONLY person who truly knows what I need to do for my life and my creations is me. The only person who knows what you need to for your life and your creations is YOU.

TRUST YO SELF.

<3,
Alison

Did you know that there’s a piece of artwork in the world inspired by The Big Whisper? It's this piece by artist Meg Forsyth, our Big Whisper(er) of the week. Her story and inspiration for it:

By happenstance, some years ago I encountered a palm reader that told me I have the mark of a healer—vertical lines on the Mound of Mercury—that plump little pillow of tissue below the pinky finger. Looking back on this, I have always imagined that if my life had taken a different path, I may have ended up as a surgeon. Grafting meshes, surgical enhancements, stimuli to different organs and structures of the body are deeply fascinating to me. The interventions we use on the body to improve it, heal it, or otherwise alter it have been in practice for millennia.....Continue reading here