The demands of my life and what I witness in those I commune with are heavier while also feeling delicate. This has especially rang true over the past year, where stressors are increasing rapidly for many. Rising costs, sociopolitical instability, and collective exhaustion are on constant replay each day. For me at least, it feels like a break is needed - but the urgency of the times delays the intuitive nudging to slow down. To be in a bind where the body is signaling one thing but the lived reality is demanding another is a tension that I witness others grappling with.

Black women are waymakers. If there is no opportunity available, we create it. We know how to ‘stretch money’ in hard times and ‘make a dollar out of 15 cents’ if there aren’t enough resources. While this has been a part of Black women’s brilliance and tenacity, it can be a challenge to continue these practices for the long-term, especially in the face of insurmountable obstacles.