I promised myself that I would not have postpartum depression this time, as if that’s a thing you can promise yourself. The truth is, it’s beyond our control. No person who ever experienced a mental health challenge could control it, or we would choose not to. Your body has experienced a great shift, a great disturbance.

“Triggered” is a favorite phrase among my generation, the millennials. We have popularized therapy and and we’re aware of mental health. We know our trauma like the back of our hands, we know what sets us off, what “triggers” us.

2022 started like a bullet train departing from a station at warp speed. I had so many plans for my business, Spoken Black Girl, and I was determined to make them all happen.

Anyone familiar with the healing journey knows that it comes with a ton of tools that are supposed to bring you further along your path and help you to heal your trauma as well as get to know yourself better. I started my healing journey about 13 years ago.

My hope is that these prompts help you create a clear vision for 2023. Setting the intention is the most powerful thing you can do. What starts as an idea in your mind can blossom into your greatest dreams so take your time with these prompts.

My message to my fellow spiritual entrepreneurs is this - put yourself first. Not the customer, not the audience, not the brands, not the collabs. Put your wellbeing first. There may be others out there with similar ideas, but none of them are you, and the world needs YOU in particular. So don’t be afraid to get quiet. Get still. Cancel some plans, stop making new ones for a while.

It’s like a form of gaslighting that never really stops. Eventually, you just stop expressing your emotions with people who dismiss you. And how can trust grow in an environment like that? It can’t.