What Are You

Hello friends,

Today I wonder what you’re feeling proud of.

Are you doing well at taking care of yourself, your communities, or your family? Have you gotten some creative time in? Did you meditate or exercise? Finish a project? Take time to reflect and be quiet? Get some extra sleep? Make a hard decision? Push yourself out of your usual zone?

What is your relationship with pride? Do you struggle with the concept? Were you taught that pride was a bad thing, akin to arrogance?

For me, true pride is about knowing and claiming my place in the world. In that way, it is similar to true humility. True pride is not self-aggrandizement, just as true humility is not self-deprecation. Pride helps us return to a balanced sense of self.

We can know our worth. The more we claim our worth, the harder it is for us to be manipulated by forces outside of ourselves, or the mean voices in our heads. The less easily manipulated we are, the more autonomy we retain. The more autonomy we have, the better able we are to help the world around us.

When we acknowledge and claim our place in the world, we recognize the part we play in the interdependent dance of the cosmos.

Do you know your worth? What are you most feeling proud of today?

best wishes — Thorn

One thing I feel proud of is all the writing I’ve done over the past seven years. My Witches of Portland book By Dark, a queer celebration of Samhain and the Day of the Dead, is free or at a steep discount this month only. It’s also part of this Halloween Reads Online Book Fair!