This season is a time of rest, going inward, and taking account of our year and time and lives.

Like most people, I can get caught in the hustle then tell myself to refuse the hustle because #restisresistance, but oftentimes we can fall back into those patterns when life presents itself.

I know this time can be emotional for many people (myself included), due to previous years being separated or spent alone in my own hustle and grind.

Breakdowns give clarity. And as I’ve experienced over and over again, they can give us fuel to really breakthrough and transform our lives.

“Love is a form of you,” I read from a handwritten page taped up to the cages of the reservoir, signed by a 5th grader.

“You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself,” Ethan Hawke once said in Boyhood.

Have the humility to take blame and not take yourself so seriously.

“Give us a piece of you. Story and food is heart. That’s what it’s really all about,” Chef Kristen Kish encouraged on an episode of Easy Bake.

One of the things I’ve struggled the most with this year is maintaining my light, my joy, my inspiration and fuel. When I get caught in the grind and “hustle and flow” of life, I surrender myself to it. When I see no other options presented me, I throw myself into the work and life in front of me. And as uncomfortable as it is to get rid of your old life and old routines when you want more for yourself, the hardest part is learning how to build a new life for yourself, given all the self-growth, identity, self-talk and self-care you’ve incorporated from the past 29 years of your life.

“That’s how you know you’re healing,” a YungPueblo once said.

How do I re-align with my purpose? I ask myself.

How do I continue to light that fire? over and over again, when you crave and seek community, guidance, love and support for navigating and uplifting your joys in order to fully live out your life.

It’s an endless journey. But we should allow these times to let us get real with our true selves, hearts and desires. It’s in being thrown under that we throw ourselves to what really matters to us, in the end.

Follow what your heart leans towards.

May we take this time to rest, give thanks for the sun, the flowers, the people who fill us up, the music that fills our souls, and may we forever be inspired once again.

Inspiration is the fuel that lights us all.

🍁🍂🤍

With love and honesty,

Rachel