Butterflies and Fireflies

Aside from wondering where I've been, I'm sure the title of this blog post is throwing you off as well LOL.I know its weird. Bare with me.This summer, I took a much needed hiatus from creating to work on myself-- I mean really work on me.  Compared to other summers (especially last summer), Summer 2018 wasn't as bad as I slightly anticipated it to be. My summers are always humbling and while I of course had my normal bout of the broke-ass-millennial blues, these last three months were filled with laughter, love, and lots of twerking of course.Around the last two weeks of July, a shift happened. Some may say it's because all the planets went into retrograde but even if you aren't into astrology, you can't deny that the latter half of this summer (may have) shifted something inside you, too.Ironically, it was the falling out with a lover of mine that helped me start this process of becoming my best self. A process that in the past, that I either avoided or simply put off time and time again. I decided that before I would point the fingers at anyone else, I would first start putting a mirror on my own self.I'm not sure why the hell I would do that, because boyyyyyy did I learn some shit about myself that I didn't like!I've always been naturally self-reflective, but the past six weeks have been mind-boggling. I learned that not only do I possess toxic tendencies but I also have unresolved trauma just like everyone else.

Shocking right?!

I spent all of August going through lots of learning and unlearning a bunch of different shit. This process was similar to the transformation process that a caterpillar goes through to become a beautiful butterfly.While it seems effortless, I'm here to say that transforming yourself is hard. It's hard secluding yourself for days and weeks at a time. It's hard having difficult convos with the ones you love. It's hard creating, sticking to, and maintaining boundaries. It's hard to call yourself out on your own shit.

But I did it. And I'm still doing it.

In July, I was finally able to write about a traumatic situation that happened last year. Not publicly on this blog, but within the pages of my journal, which was a difficult task. But on the anniversary of the situation, I wrote. I talked about it with loved ones. I was able to acknowledge my feelings about it and for once, I didn't suppress my emotions. This is HUGE for me!From then, I decided that August was a month of becoming better: I was focused on releasing, resetting, unlearning shit, speaking up, taking accountability for my own part in shit, being intentional, healing, expanding my mind, getting out my comfort zone, getting out my own way, resting, and finding ways to develop better habits.Aside from journaling in my mental health journal (a journal I made strictly for the things I think, revelations about my healing process, etc) I also have been reading two books: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Universe Has Your Back. I got these from my local library but y'all can find them on Amazon or whatever.None of this happened overnight and a lot of this is still a work in progress. But for once, I'm genuinely proud of myself for the changes I've been making. I never felt this way about myself before. It's like I'm rooting for myself even when shit isn't going my way. I FEEL like a different person and to be honest y'all..... it's such a great feeling.Of course though, my life is merely just a rollercoaster ride lol. It's been moments where I've felt totally stuck and confused, it's been moments where I've known exactly what to do and when to do it.September is finally here and I'm most excited that I have inspiration to write again. Not only that, I'm excited about the things I've decided to focus on. While continuing the work that started six weeks ago, I recently tweeted that September is also about:It is so important for me to not only pray on these things but also put the work behind it.Things ain't perfect but they don't have to be when you are truly doing the work.I am allowing myself to transform into the butterfly that I know I am, while maintaining hope like the fireflies of the world symbolize.

If that's not something worth celebrating, then I don't know what is.

XOXOXO,

Kia