I’m in an emotional relationship with self-care, clarity and freedom. My husband doesn’t mind sharing me with these other relationships because he knows that it makes me better. My life has been a series of stories based upon my life experiences. My stories run to vast extremes, some awesome and others shockingly crazy. Many of my stories are filled with pain and passion, sadness and happiness, beauty and power, love and hate and some are bitter yet sweet. Essentially they are all stories of adventures and exploration of who I really am. These life experiences have taught me that I needed to place an infinite focus on caring for myself. This is why I am okay with cheating for the betterment of me.

What is self care and why is it so important to me? Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. We all prioritize self care differently. It is not uncommon for women to get so caught up in our day to day activities and forget ourselves. There are a few things I don't compromise and self care happens to be one. I personally lose myself in the deliberate efforts of doing at least one thing I love daily. This is important to my mental and emotional well being. One of the things I love is to travel. It is the one thing in the world that makes my heart skip a beat. Whether I am simply searching for my next adventure or speaking about the world with a total stranger, I find that I am in a place of sheer joy. Another one of my self care favorites is relaxation. Once a week this is a focus of mine. This usually comes by way of a facial, pedicure, foot massage or reading a good book.

Clarity gives me a good sense of self. I am able to see things for who they are. I can see how in the past I kept myself stuck in negative situations with negative people. I know that my time and worth is better served in the universe being disconnected from things that don’t serve me.

Freedom allows me to be free to trust my thoughts and feel comfort in knowing that I am no longer a slave to negative feelings and emotions. I am free to be authentically who I am. You know that wonderful feeling you feel when you’ve accomplished a goal or you’ve indulged in your favorite dessert. That is what freedom feels like to me. It feels exhilarating to the soul.

xoxo Monique Chantel Johnson