Today is my golden birthday (meaning I turn 23 on the 23rd) and on my birthdays, I like to spend time alone to introspect about my wins, losses, strengths, weaknesses and just life in general. So I thought of having this first post as a reflection of my life lately. This past year has been quite the interesting one. From finishing school, to starting a small business and all the things in between I feel grateful and full of happiness. My biggest flex though, has been learning. I’ve learnt so much about Wendy and I love the relationship we’re currently having.
One of the things that has brought me closer to myself is therapy. I can’t explain how much I wish I started therapy earlier -especially as a Psych Major. I’ve been going for therapy on and off for about a year now and I now want to commit to having therapy sessions every week or two consistently. I haven’t had a session since August and your girl had really been going through it unknowingly until I had a catch-up call with my Aunty Planning, Nyachomba, (who has a mindful planning workshop that I swear by and would make a wonderful life coach btw) and it felt so good to talk about how my life had been, my issues and having an unbiased opinion on all these things. Honestly, I wish we could all afford therapy because its effects are life changing! I’ve learnt so much about myself -good, bad and grey, and have had so much personal growth that I can proudly say I’m in love with the Wendy I’m becoming.
This past year, I’ve also learnt so much about love languages and more specifically, self-love languages as well as self-care practices. Self-love and acceptance is one of the most important ingredients for mental & emotional wellness, confidence, our relationships with self and others, etc. One thing is for sure in this self-love journey, it involves a lot of work; work which is guided by these self-love languages. I realized my self-love languages are quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and words of affirmation. One of my recent favorite ways of practicing self-loving has been journaling. You can read all about self-love languages on my Instagram ‘Thursday Talk’ highlight. Also, in case you’re wondering what yours are, you can take a self-love language test here.
Let’s not forget about skincare. I can’t say I’m any good at it or that I have my shit figured out but I’m trying and learning a lot about my skin and how to take care of it. A lot of what I’ve figured out is actually through trial and error. I’ve made a good number of mistakes like thinking I have normal to dry skin, using coconut oil as a moisturizer, failing to use SPF (‘cause of the memory of turning blue in Coast ‘cause of sunscreen) and using a scrub as an exfoliator. Some of these things may work for you as skin care is actually very different for different people. What works for you may not work for me even though we have the same skin type. I’m quite tired of this trial and error business though, so I plan on going to a dermatologist soon to get an accurate skin type test and know for sure what products to use and what to avoid.
Everything I’ve touched on so far sounds like a beautifully positive learning curve but one thing that’s definitely kicked my ass, is starting and managing my business. I’ve been quite entrepreneurial especially during my uni years but I never really cared for business theory or financial knowledge. Learning both of these while running my business has been hectic but rewarding also. I’ve had to learn how to keep my books, figure out what a freaking sales strategy is, learn a thing or two about marketing. Not to mention the numerous mental breakdowns I’ve had that made me learn to restock before my supplies run out and to trust myself & the process, and to also be patient with my baby.
22 has really been great to me overall. I’ve had so much self-improvement, I’ve chosen myself and shown myself love, I’ve made amazing friendships and connections. I’ve also had very mind opening experiences and some seriously crazy leaps of faith. I’m really looking forward to this next chapter of my book. Happy Birthday Wendy!
Let me know in the comments below what your birthday practices are, what you’ve learnt about yourself and what you love about this current version of yourself. Until the next blog post, I love you and I wish you nothing but the best in all your endeavours.