Let's Slow Down a Moment
Is two weeks in too late to say Happy New Year? It’s my first post of the year so I wanted to acknowledge it…Anyway, it’s 2026 y’all, we made it! Through the chaos, the horror, and the disappointment that was the 2025 political climate. Even in the midst of all that was, and all that is continuing to go on, we are here. Surviving the heaviness. Carrying the weight. Leaning in on community. Resisting as much as we can. Creating our own meaning out of this experience we call life. Figuring it out as we go. Is it just me or does it already feel like it’s been a lot? I can’t help but think about how important self-trust is while navigating everything.
When I started this blog at the end of December 2024, I had no idea what was to come; I just anticipated that times would be troubling. I remembered how I’d felt during Trump’s first presidency, and how I struggled, like many other people. One of the things that helped me get through that time, and that had a significant lasting impact on me, was reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming. In it, our Forever First Lady talked about how keeping journals throughout her life, and especially during her time in the White House, is what allowed her to write the memoir. Her journals became an archive of her lived experiences. It made me begin to think of journaling as a way of remembering, and how remembering allows us to know ourselves. I’ve been journaling more consistently ever since.
The times we are in now definitely need to be archived, by people who will tell the truth as they see it. Studying history reveals that the things we are experiencing now are not new, though some have evolved. I frequently find myself wondering how the people who lived through this before made it through. What did my ancestors do? How did people think and feel? That was a big part of my motivation for starting this blog. I’ve been writing and journaling for a long time, but I had been letting my self-doubt get in the way of sharing my voice publicly. But what good is it to know truth and not share it? There are some truths that, like history, are collective. As I reflected on the transformation I experienced in 2024, I realized that the only way to overcome my fear was to just do it. I needed to trust myself. So I did.
Now, here we are an entire year later, and as I’ve continued to write these posts sharing my insights and reflections as I work on myself, I’ve gained additional clarity about what I want this platform to grow into. In 2025, 28 of you decided to join me on this journey by subscribing, and I couldn’t be more grateful. My goal is for this to become a community of sorts, and it wouldn’t be that without any of you. You all make me feel like my words matter beyond just what they mean to me. You all are the witnesses of my self-trust in action. If you’ll allow me, I’ll be yours too. Sometimes the internet feels like a void we’re all just screaming into, but this little corner is a safe space made even better because we are co-creating it, together.
But if I’m being 100% transparent, I’ve been holding back a bit. While my healing journey has truly been a primary area of focus for me, I’m also extremely passionate about Black culture, social justice, and education. People who know me well have accused me of being militant, a title I feel honored to embrace. But it’s one that also must be earned. I did incorporate those themes somewhat in my 2025 content, but not nearly as much as would accurately reflect the time I spend thinking about them. I plan to change that in 2026.
Another new thing you can expect to start seeing is book reviews. I’ve always been an avid reader, since I was a child. Reading is what made me want to become a writer. I finished reading 33 books in 2025, and started several others that are still in progress. Reading shapes so much of who I am; it only makes sense to incorporate it into my blog, too. I’ll also be incorporating more music, and more of the interesting stuff I find browsing these social media and internet streets. I’ll even share some of my favorite things from 2025 here. I hope that sharing helps to give you deeper insight into the way I think about things.
The new year season is always a reflective time for me, though I reject the idea that this is also the season of implementation. Our traditional orientation with time is something that we are socialized into, and I don’t think most people ever think about it too deeply. But I remember learning in one of my classes that different cultures have different practices when it comes to time. For example, in the Western world, we tend to operate with a synchronous time orientation, meaning that we follow linear, structured schedules, and we are very conscious of the way time passes. Capitalism sets the tone in our culture; time is money (and punctuality is actually another one of the characteristics of white supremacy culture, but we won’t get into that today).
But there are other cultures that operate within an asynchronous time orientation, which is very different. The way it was explained to me was through the context of global business, but basically, it seems like time is more fluid. Meetings are still scheduled for specific times, but being late or going past isn’t necessarily a disruption or seen as disrespectful (situationally). My understanding is that these cultures are more centered around people and relationships, so schedule and structure are less of an emphasis as long as the relationships are in good standing.
Learning about this made me evaluate my own beliefs about time, especially since I am someone who frequently manages to be late for things. Time-blindness is one of my ADHD symptoms, so I at least know why it’s a struggle. It’s not something I’m proud of, and it is something that I honestly do try to be better about, but it still happens sometimes. So I find the concept of asynchronous time to be intriguing. Which is probably why when I learned about Indigenous and spiritual practices around time and calendars, it was easy for me to accept. What I learned is that 1) The current Gregorian calendar we follow is not the only way time has ever been measured, and 2) There are some cultures that honor spring as the “new year” season, as it’s more aligned with cycles in nature.
What that means to me is that time is pretty much made up, so we are free to do what we want with it. I’m not the only one with this belief – Mariah Carey shares it, too. So what does that look like in practice? What could it mean to trust your body’s sense of timing? For me, it means looking for opportunities to choose. So while I observe the marking of the passage of time at the start of a new year, I will choose to follow the nature cycle, and I will treat spring as my season of renewal. Winter is still a time of rest and growth, and I will honor it as such.
However, as I stated earlier, I still like to reflect during this time of year too. Honestly, when don’t I like to reflect? 2025 was such an interesting year, to say the least. Personally, it was one of my best years yet. I got to do a lot of what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. That doesn’t mean there weren’t low points, though. But even those moments came with lessons and growth. The themes from 2024 of voice and choice continued to make appearances throughout the year, too.
I realized last year that healing isn’t a one-time thing. Just when you think you’ve healed from something, here comes that same trigger, a test to see if you’ve truly learned. Same lesson, different font. I’m proud to say that last year, indeed, I made a different choice in many of those moments. And I saw how, in some cases, it made room for more of what I wanted. It felt like a gold star from the universe.
There were many of those micro moments of affirmation – from God, the Creator, the universe…whatever resonates for you. I felt them most in the moments when I chose to trust myself, when I chose radical honesty, and as I grew more confident in being who I am, fully. I felt it in the moments when I learned what it means to integrate. I felt it in the moments I honored my dreams. It’s how I know I’m moving in alignment. It’s how I know I’m being guided.
I am excited for what 2026 has in store for me based on what I’ve been dreaming about and feeling called towards. I don’t know the how yet, but 2025 made me a little more comfortable existing in a space of uncertainty. I am pursuing my passions out loud this year. That includes writing, my business, and learning. I am hopeful that sharing more of myself helps others as well. The whole reason this blog exists is so that people don’t feel alone in how they experience, interpret, and question the world, especially in these times. Life is a lot to shoulder on your own, but they say many hands make light work. Consider this an extension of my hand to yours, for me to help you carry it, even if only for a moment.
As we continue on together this year, this is what I wish for you: May your 2026 be filled with all that you dream of. May your movements be aligned. May your truth bring you peace.
And so it was.
Love and light always,
Domi