Embrace Your Softness 3

15 x 11.25 inches

Collage with Screenprint and Linoleum Elements on Cotton Rag Paper

2022

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This series is about my ongoing commitment to be soft with the people that I love and the folks in my community. As I reflected on lessons learned from a past unhealthy relationship, I noticed that I was making decisions that were based in anger and resentment. My approach was to punish. However, this behavior was not aligned with my values and it wasted my energy. 

I realized I needed to focus on myself—my own choices and my boundaries. I had made the choice to put myself in situations despite seeing red flags, and the changes needed were changes within me. With my somatics coach, I worked on establishing boundaries and becoming softer. I recognized I had gone through some tough experiences, but I didn’t want to close my heart. I wanted to let things go and stay open and soft. 

To remain soft and release what doesn’t serve me allows for me to align more with my feminine side. Being a leader and activist sometimes requires me to show up with masculine energy because our work cultures have been shaped predominantly by men. But this prioritization of masculinity is shifting, and I am feeling much more called to be in my feminine energy and to lead while being clear, having boundaries, and staying soft.