On slowing down & letting go
Hi, this is Aredvi musing on life Aredvi-style. Welcoming 2024, I am here to revive the silliness in HEAL newsletters after a year of near-complete silence.
We had quite the year; full of challenges that made us ask more than once, “is this really what we want to be doing?” But we made sure to do whatever was necessary to keep us going, including radically taking care of ourselves AKA adopting a “learn from sloths” policy.
That’s right. As far as I am concerned, we can all learn a thing or two from sloths. For example, these adorable creatures stink so bad that they have no natural predators. Now, that’s one creative way of survival.
Both Ignacio and I know the lifecycle of activists like us too well: lots of passion > lots of work > lots of praise > funding fizzles > “does anybody care?” > burn-out > retreat until passion is replenished. And retreat, we did.
Personal hygiene aside, sloths know their power is in slowing down and letting go. I know for me, it may be more convenient to lean into my hyper-productive, perfectionistic, and self-abandoning tendencies – the revered neuroses of grind culture – but I must remind myself to slow down and allow some things to fall away.
This holiday I was gifted a book called, “Sexus Animalis”, and you guessed it, it’s all about how animals fuck. I opened the book to read the intro, and it suddenly dawned on me the true reason why I love sloths so much. Excited at my revelation, I texted a partner:
-“I think the thing I love the most about sloths is that they always look like they just rubbed one out.”
-[laugh emoji] “Just like you.”
Well, that was not the response I was expecting, but thanks, I’m flattered?! Who knew years of admiring sloths was going to manifest in such a surprising way. I’ll take that as a win.
Speaking of wins, this January, we are celebrating 8 years of Ignacio and I working together and building The HEAL Project!
This past year was a tough one, but somehow on the other side of a year of heartbreak and philanthropic/non-profit betrayal, we still get to keep doing this work, healing ourselves, healing you, and healing anyone who feels ready for the call of healing.
Also, I was told to write something asking for donations, so please donate, cool? You’re the best, may the sloth be with you =)