grounded and grown.

Here I am, a year later, reminiscing about the city that made me fall in love with colour. Initially, my plan for this solo vacay was to unwind and enjoy the culture, but in hindsight, I realise that it reintroduced me to my creativity and unleashed my need for self-expression. Walk down memory lane with me. The uber drive from the airport to the hotel was quick and soothing. With the windows rolled down, excitement washed over me. I could not wait to see what the city looked like in the daytime. Finally settling into bed a few hours later, around 2 in the morning, laying in the cool, fresh hotel sheets, I was filled with gratitude and wonder. Girl, I was over the moon! Now, I would be remiss not to mention that eating a Pastel de Nata is pretty much part of the culture and baby, did I indulge! That creamy crunch of the first bite validated the hype for real, safe to say that I am a life long fan. In the spirit of spontaneity, I decided to get some new ink. The next morning, I explored my surrounding area first. About 10 minutes into my neighbourhood walk, I stopped in front of a mini mall for a quick sip. I googled and found a tattoo shop, a 25 minute walk from where I was. Just as I was about to start walking, I turned around, only to see that I was already standing in front of a tattoo shop! At that time, I thought it was pure coincidence, but after reading The Celestine Prophecy recently, I would argue that coincidences do not exist. But we can talk about that another time. Back to the story. Being on this trip showed me how courageous I could be. I travelled further and further from my hotel with a sense of ease, knowing I was protected. The agenda was now to have no agenda, I simply wanted to enjoy every moment as I experienced it. I ended up at the LX factory, a vibrant strip of shops and restaurants. Weaving in and out of each building, growing increasingly aware of how much colour was around me. I felt like I had been walking around half-lidded prior to this trip, but Lisbon gently opened my eyes fully. Like I started seeing the world in HD technicolour, baby. The wind down after each day was straight up soul-care! Singing my heart out to Kehlani’s Folded, I realised the intensity of solitude. For real. When the song ended, things got really quiet. Compelled to face my true feelings, with no one around to interfere with my emotions. Just me and my thoughts. With this experience, a lot came up, and out. I became aware of how much I had been holding on to, the unspoken truths, the unexpressed emotions. And then it clicked. It had come back to me. The new tattoos, the freedom to explore, to gently notice, the courage to engage in newness. The need to express. Obrigada, Lisboa! – C.

I think it’s time to let go of the pressure. Or as Jill Scott says, ‘presshaaaa.’  Of getting older.  Kindly allow me to express. Apart from feeling immensely grateful for being healthy and alive, nothing compares to how good it feels to walk in your authenticity. The third decade has introduced a kind of strength that cannot be denied, sprinkled with the deliciousness of self-discovery, reaffirming your worth and not settling for anything less. There is a quiet solidarity in watching the women around me choose themselves. They are building lives rooted in truth, depth and peace of mind and that is such a joy to witness.  So here’s the thing. What if this unfolding, this clarity, this deeper sense of self-trust is not something we need to force? It is clear that our bodies are already guiding us towards this change. Thanks to the hormonal shifts and rhythms that occur in our 30s, we naturally become more emotionally regulated and quite frankly, we develop a reduced tolerance for clutter and nonsense. Confidence often comes from lived experiences and neurological maturity, alongside mindset work. As a result, we arrive at this point, where we begin to define what we want, how we want it and when we want it, unapologetically.  In all honesty, there was a point in my life when I enjoyed all the ‘things’. From trying out trending skincare products to unnecessary clothing items, carefully covered under the umbrella of ‘retail therapy’. We all have the freedom to choose, but personally, I have been leaning towards a more holistic approach to the things I consume, both topically and internally. And I must say, there is something deeply sensual about returning to the basics, like the simple act of warming up your post-shower oil between your palms and pressing into your damp skin. This intentional practice allows you the opportunity to honour yourself, literally.  And that same tenderness tends to spill into other areas of life, down to the way you spend your time. It’s true. The way you care for yourself in private will determine how you show up in the world. The woman who lingers over her skincare, unhurried and attentive, is the same woman who takes herself out to dinner, unfazed by public perception. This is where I urge you to give yourself some grace, though. One has to grow into the intimacy of being alone in public without the need to fill every silence. But the good news is, you can do this at your own pace, in your own way. A solo date as simply an extension of your self-devotion.  So take your time. With your body, your routines, the way you move through your days. Romanticise those sacred, quiet moments, handle yourself with care and trust where your body is guiding you to.  It is a privilege to age. So, keep watering yourself, keep blooming.  Love, C. 

complex simplicity, some might say.  I was sipping my vanilla chai tea while browsing on Pinterest and I saw a quote that said “I am the softest and most ruthless I have ever been”. I have never seen truer words that accurately depict the feeling of being in your 30s. I would like to assume this will ring true to our experiences as we get older, but I can only speak from the present. Lately, we have been discussing shifts that occur in our 30’s. You may recognise this era as the decade for redefining, rediscovering and restoring. Between setting boundaries to protect ourselves and preserving our femininity, we have inadvertently entered the dance of duality. Duality in womanhood alludes to desire of balance.  Balance.  In recent times, this word has been pegged as unrealistic. So I would like to offer a softer option, perhaps harmony. Harmony introduces the idea of balance without perfection. We can be ambitious and nurturing. We are allowed to be independent but also desire healthy partnership. We can show our strength and also our vulnerability. We are human after all and like Beyonce famously said “strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business”  Speaking of strength, just like duality, there is another side to this. Let’s take a second to address the strong woman complex. Part of redefining your 30s is reframing societal thought patterns and one way to do this is to release the pressure to be ‘strong’. Allowing wellness to be at the forefront of your decisions is key to avoiding stress and emotional strain. A soft strength if you will. This perspective honours the duality of womanhood in a way that preserves and protects.  Here’s the thing no one really says out loud. You can be proud of yourself and still want more. There are some days when you reminisce and think wow, I’ve come so far and other days when you tap your foot wondering okay, what’s next? It is okay for both to exist at the same time, baby. Contentment is the part of you that knows when to sit back, sip your drink and acknowledge your accomplishments. Yet, growth has you dreaming, reaching and pushing past your comfort zone. That tug you may feel is the dance of duality and the intention is to find harmony between both.  The beauty of duality is that two things can exist at once. You can reach for more while loving who you are. None of it cancels the other out, if anything it strengthens it. I am the softest and most ruthless I have ever been, and I like it.  This time, I’m not questioning it.  Love, C. 

‘Do I actually want this?’ This is a question you may ask yourself while standing in the check out line, about to purchase the latest skincare product that is trending on TikTok.  It is such a simple yet profound question and if I am being real, I do not think we ask it enough.  There is something compelling about a pause. Viktor Frankl famously said “between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” The space being a cognitive interval where we can pause and reflect before we make a decision. Now this may seem like a dramatic thought process to go through before we purchase that eucalyptus scented body lotion but what if this is the formula we need to ensure the choices we make are aligned to who we truly are?  Think about it. We are currently being inundated with so much information, opinions and strategies that promise to change our lives for the better, or help us achieve what we believe is our desired result, from glass skin to life goals. These voices have become so loud in our daily lives that sometimes it can be difficult to separate our inner thoughts from external voices. This is where the valuable skill of discernment comes into play. Practising this on a daily basis gives us the opportunity to question old narratives. Shifting our perspective from who am I supposed to be? to what feels true to me now and what am I no longer willing to perform? I have noticed that women in their 30’s name this decade as the catalyst for the shift, one that I can personally confirm to be true. Once you turn 30, the pattern you created before your frontal lobe fully developed no longer applies. And it occurs in the most subtle way on a random Wednesday afternoon, during your lunch break. All of a sudden you are hit with the wait, why am I doing this? The pillars of our identity that were initially built for the outside world which allowed us to be seen and perceived ‘correctly’ are now being questioned - dismantled even, as we welcome what aligns with our true selves. We start to question things and if we sit with it long enough, we begin to see where some of these decisions were formed. We realise that not all of our choices came from a genuine desire, and that is okay.  This new perspective has created a shift from identity being something we maintain to something we actually embody and inhabit, it becomes a way of life. We start choosing differently, regardless of how it looks to others and we do not feel the need to explain either. We become more in tune with our intuition. Take wellness for example. We are moving away from the one size fits all routine and focusing on what actually feels good to us, with an emphasis on joy.  Because that is what it is all about. There’s something magical about being in your 30s. This is the decade that gives you permission to step into your truest self, or at least begin to. To gently let go of the versions of life you thought you were supposed to want and to start defining what you actually want it to feel like.  So I ask you again, gently this time, what feels true for you now? this conversation is part of a limited series I created called, your 30s redefined. If you have a topic you would like us to discuss, please drop it in the comment section below <3 Love, C. 

Comfortable? Good. Let’s talk about joy.  Not the loud, performative kind. Or the kind that arrives after a major milestone has been achieved.  I’m talking about quiet joy. The kind you experience on an ordinary Thursday evening when you’re curled up on the sofa with some popcorn, about to watch the latest episode of Bridgeton. Just the thought of that makes me wiggle with excitement. See what I mean?  Now I must say, conversations about locking in, dating, building businesses or landing your dream job are in heavy rotation. While all these deserve an applause, I’ve been wondering … where are the conversations about the Joyful Woman? The woman who enjoys her own company and honours her current season. She is not waiting for her life to begin nor is she postponing her happiness until she reaches her imagined ideal self. She understands that it is possible to gratefully participate in her current life while building her future. She moves through life with a sense of flow.  This is the art of duality. She is both becoming and already enough. I’ll be honest, learning to move in flow has not always come naturally to me. Like many women, I’ve had moments where my mind runs ahead of my life. Moments where I’ve wondered if I'm doing enough or moving fast enough towards the woman I am meant to become.  But lately, I have been practising flow.  Showing up each day, doing the best I can and allowing the rest to unfold. With this new perspective I have realised, joy often lives in those mundane moments. Like when we realise our favourite dessert is on the menu (happy dance) or when the sun comes out on our day off work, or when we find the book we have been looking for. These glimmers serve as a reminder that there is so much to enjoy in the present. This is not a fully developed skill yet, but I am embodying the Joyful Woman, right now. And so can you.  Love, C. 

 while I was waiting for the kettle to boil …  I chose not to listen to music, or a podcast, or a ted talk. My ears were free and the house was quiet. At that moment, I was where my feet were ; present, grounded.  Of course there’s always something to do, but I chose not to speed through. Not to fit in other tasks while waiting for the kettle to boil, just to get the satisfaction of crossing them off my list later on.  I chose no urgency.   Questions for you. Do you notice yourself rushing, replying too fast or deciding too quickly? Do you notice what happens in your body when you feel the need to act immediately?  If so, you are not alone.  Urgency often disguises itself as productivity, but most of the time it is a learned response. A friend of mine once told me, mid conversation “that’s not your problem right now” and she was right. I instantly felt the shift from those simple words.  We rush because stillness can feel unsafe. We decide fast because sitting in the unknown can feel unbearable. Urgency feels tight, it says decide now or you will miss your chance.  On the other hand, intuition does not shout nor does it demand immediate action. It waits, until the body softens enough to hear it. Intuition feels spacious. I have noticed that when I act from urgency, I am responding to fear, but those sweet moments when I act from my intuition, I am responding to the truth and the truth is never in a rush.  *sips chamomile and honey tea for dramatic effect*  I am learning that intuition speaks softly. It becomes clearer when we allow ourselves to slow down, breathe and feel, instead of forcing. Practising intuition is less about finding answers quickly and more about trusting ourselves enough to pause. When you slow down to listen, your intuition will always meet you there. Steady, patient, quietly certain and ready to guide you.  Love, C.