Chaser: On integrity
"Because that's how we improve the world around us, is by working within us...you may not touch a gazillion lives but you can light up your own space." - Lauryn Hill
Happy Friday fam. I hope you had a week filled with whatever lessons you needed to learn!!!! Drink your water, dance in the kitchen, and enjoy your weekend <3
What I’m reading: The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck
For the past year, I have been very intentional about cultivating self-trust. I realized there was a deep disconnect because more often than not, my values and inner desires were not matching with my external actions and my negative inner dialogue was getting unbearable. I wasn’t confident in my choices and I became indecisive. I beat myself up over “the wrong choice”, blaming myself for making the wrong choice instead of taking accountability, and I couldn’t get out of cycles reliving past mistakes.
Self-trust is different from self-confidence or self-love because it’s intertwined with actions; I trust myself to know myself. I trust the guidance of my inner voice. I trust that I have my best interest in mind and because of that, I forgive myself when it doesn’t work out. Self-trust is grounded in compassion, interdependence, and living in the Now. The Way of Integrity can teach you how to do the same.
Beck is a philosopher and life coach. With humor and wisdom, she uses Dante’s The Divine Comedy to frame the path toward integrity into small actions and exercises. A few standout lessons include how to kill your cowardice as you reach The Gates of Hell (a.k.a facing what you avoid), understanding the difference between suffering and pain, and how to work through it. That’s probably the mantra of the book - you have to go “through it”, to get “through it”. 10/10 recommend.
What I’m watching: The Women’s World Cup!!!! Watch US v. Vietnam tonight at 9 pm.
The thing that I love about professional sports is that you are watching people giving their ALL. It’s the same feeling I get when I watch a live performance, play, or concert; you are witnessing the result of tremendous hard work, passion, effort, and sometimes vulnerability. It’s the temporality of it all. When you break it down into its simplest form, you are watching someone try really, really hard. There’s no guarantee it will work out in their favor and they try anyway. How inspiring is that?
This year the World Cup is extra exciting because the US Women’s team could make history by being the first team to ever win the World Cup three times in a row. And even though they are elite athletes who have proved themselves time and time again, they have been severely underpaid. It wasn’t until 2022 that they received the same pay as the US Men’s soccer team. To provide some context, “American women received a $110,000 bonus for winning the 2019 World Cup; the U.S. men would have received $407,000 had they won in 2018.” Inequality in sports is nothing new and it’s funny because in the sociopolitical sphere, you hear the threat of trans athletes to women’s sports but in actuality, it’s the systematic underfunding. If you haven’t seen the viral France team commercial yet, watch it here.
What I’m listening to: the Common Shapes podcast
is an artist through and through. From reading their newsletter and listening to their podcast, I’ve learned actual steps to take my art more seriously and my life less seriously, the simple pleasures of small projects, and how to do art to make a living. They do not gatekeep their tools for success which is something I will always advocate for.Listening to their podcast episode about newsletters helped reinvigorate my love of newsletters which is why I’m back to writing Something to Think About weekly. I’m playing with formats and repackaging the whole thing - so I hope you will continue to read with me and share Something to Think About with friends and family.
Love ya,
Adriana <3
This was very special to read. Thank you for sharing and saying such nice things!