Valencia > Recent Status Updates

“Lies and secrets burden us and cause stress. When an individual has always lied, he has no awareness that truth telling can take away this heavy burden.” A WORD.

I still think love is a feeling. One that we often cannot choose. But to act on that feeling & allow it to be the norm is a choice. You may love or be in love with someone, but accepting those feelings & how you choose to respond is the choice you make because of the feeling.

Bars.

Idk if I’m in the headspace to read this right now but it’s our book club pick for the next three meetings!

Teagan is still so me 🥲

Finally!

Damnit! The Teagan & Valencia similarities strike again. My problem is I want her & Dominic to stop playing. If her love life is anything like mine…

Oh this last chapter… it’d be more enjoyable to read if I couldn’t relate so heavily. Teagan & I having a similar love life (for now) is scary lol

Teagan’s dad is annoying. Dominic’s mom is annoying. Did they bond over annoying parents?

I already see myself in Teagan. In more ways than one 😅

They steal from us, don’t care about our well being, underpay us & expect us to be happy at work. That’s why it’s important to prioritize your personal life over your professional one (in my opinion)

A degree doesn’t equal a job. Institutions don’t see us as people, but as products. Code switching. I never thought about how Black people from mono-ethnic countries didn’t experience racism until they got to the US. That’s a culture shock I never really thought of before.

I wish I had a similar experience in Malawi. I would’ve loved to connect more with the locals while studying abroad.

Hearing of micro aggressions in spaces that were seemingly safe beforehand… been there, done that & will probably do it again unfortunately :(

I had to audiobook this portion & probably the rest of the book. But interesting stuff. The author wrote in ch 12: “Anyone who has lived through trauma know what it means to submit ourselves to a new normal. We know we can never go back to the people we were before. Trauma transforms, and if we allow it, may become our greatest teacher.”

Made me think of Covid, grief & other things.

Reading about her dad passing reminded me that grief will show up whenever it wants to. And it also reminded me of my aunt in her last days. Full house, small, caring for others until the very end.

Reading this passage on Valentine’s Day was so sweet. Viola had the same feelings I currently have about finding love & she experienced them at the same age. Gives me hope that I will have my happy ending one day :)