Homecoming: Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self

by Thema Bryant-Davis

When insecurity and fear are the driving forces behind our actions, or when we have bought into capitalistic notions of self-worth, we can easily fill our days with activity while remaining disconnected from ourselves.

You can breathe. You can choose sacred stillness. You can rest. You can stop being controlled by the push of toxic culture and internal unhealed wounds.

You can interrupt the constant rushing and the hustle and bustle of busywork—purposeless, frantic efforts to prove you are worthy.

Black people have been told from the inception of their forced arrival in the United States that their worth was based on their ability to labor and produce for other people’s edification and consumption, all while denying their very humanity.

Black and Indigenous people and other people of color learn to strive to be twice as good, to work twice as hard, and to prove to others that they are worthy of respect, humanity, and a livable wage.

busyness has not brought healing or relief, only distraction and superficial accolades. You desire something much deeper and more fulfilling than a new job title and more liberating than the temporary favor of public opinion.

Busyness can also show up as perfectionism.

To come home to yourself is to choose the radical act of stillness. I sometimes refer to this as settling your spirit.

This is getting to a place of inner peace that silences the anxiety that constantly demands your attention.

To settle my spirit is to, at my core, turn off the comparison and competition and remind myself I am enough, just as I am.