F*ck Being Strong. Be Brave.

Transcript

Dear Mama, I want to sit with you for a minute — not to cheer you on or hand you a list of things to try. Just to be honest with you, the way I wish someone had been honest with me. A Word for the Week: BRAVE ""Depression is not weakness. Feeling things with your whole heart is not weakness, and there are times when a Bible verse and cliche saying just aren't enough. There are times when you have to come face to face with your pain and say… 'I'm scared…but I ain't running.'"" — from Word Practice Pack · Volume 1 Somewhere along the way, we were taught that a good mother holds it together. That she manages. That she keeps the hard stuff quiet so no one else has to carry it. And most of us — without even realizing it — got really, really good at that. We learned to smile through the exhaustion. To say "I'm fine" when we are anything but. To wait until everyone else was asleep before we let ourselves feel anything. We called it strength. Other people called it strength too. They still do. But here's what the word BRAVE asks us to sit with: what if all that silence hasn't been protecting you? What if what looks like strength from the outside is actually just loneliness with better posture? Bravery in motherhood doesn't look like endurance. It doesn't look like how much you can hold without asking for help, or how long you can go without breaking down. Sometimes bravery looks like telling one true thing to one safe person. Sometimes it looks like putting down the performance — just for a moment — and letting yourself be exactly as tired, or scared, or unsure as you actually are. You don't have to explain it. You don't have to make it comfortable for anyone else. You just have to stop running from it. A Moment of Practice Find a quiet moment — even just two minutes. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Inhale slowly and say to yourself: "I am here." Exhale and say: "I'm not running." Repeat for as long as you need. You don't have to feel anything in particular. You don't have to arrive anywhere. Just stay. Words to Carry Fck being strong. Be brave. With love, Kenya from one mama to another My Postpartum Pal