¹   What makes you feel safe?

¹   Consistency. 

²   What does self-care look like to you?

²   Self-care for me is setting boundaries and sticking by my word. It is a practice of checking in with myself, questioning whether the choices I make and the environments I find myself in elevate my worthiness and serve me positively. Self-care is the practice of being gentle, kind, and accepting of the parts of myself that are sometimes difficult to love. Self-care is prayer.

³   Is there anything you currently collect and why?

³   I notice that whenever I travel or when I find myself in museum shops I am drawn to journals. I have a collection of several unused journals—all unique and different, some fancy, some simple. I’ve never given much thought as to why I am so drawn to them or what compels me to buy them, especially given that I have yet to completely fill up an entire journal. I wish I had some lofty romantic reason why I collect them, but I think the truth might be as simple as the odd satisfaction I feel from the unused, untouched bound sheets of paper.

⁴   What are your simplest pleasures?

⁴   My morning coffee (and admittedly, my afternoon coffee). Fresh flowers. Laundered bed sheets. Gardens. Picking up the phone to call someone I love only to find that my loved one is calling me at the same time. Afternoon naps. The sunrise. The phrase, “this reminded me of you...”

⁵   What are you most thankful for?

⁵   There isn’t enough room on the page to list all that I’m thankful for, but I’ll name a few. I’m thankful for the mornings, and that I wake up in a warm bed. I’m thankful for the nutritious food I eat, for my education. I am thankful for my parents; their love is unlike any other. I am thankful for the deep, loving friendship that me and my sister have—I like to think our bond is unmatched. I’m thankful for my boyfriend—he lifts me up when I don’t have the strength to.