Yeah, I know it sounds a little crazy, but go with me here. Imagine you're a tree, any kind, your choice.

Imagine your roots go down deep and wide into the soil, taking what nutrients you need. The strong wood of your trunk and branches support you in the strongest of storms, reaching up into the sky towards the sunlight. Your leaves emerge every spring to magically create life from sunlight and air. You exhale what other organisms need to thrive.

Your roots are self-love. No one would accuse a tree of being greedy or needy by taking the nutrients it needs to thrive. Because it's a live tree, it deserves to be granted what it needs. So you deserve to take care of yourself, and love yourself as if your life depended on it, because it does.

Your trunk and branches are gratitude. Without the strength of gratitude, you'd blow over in the first testing storm. Gratitude makes you resilient to temporary hardships, such as what we're facing now during a pandemic.

Your leaves are your creative expression. You inhale what's around you, and create magic and life out of thin air. Creativity is how you get what's inside of you to the outside. And how you process what comes inside from the outside.

Without all three parts, the tree would die. No roots, no water, no nutrients? Dead tree. No structure to keep the tree upright and the nutrients flowing? Dead tree. No leaves? Dead tree.

Without all three parts of you, self-love, gratitude, and creativity you may not die, but you won't thrive as you should.

Take a moment and consider how you treat yourself, how you interact with the world, and how you express yourself. If it's not self-love, gratitude and creativity, you're missing some amazing clarity and vitality.

If you need help with any of these three things, please let me know. I'm glad to be of service to you. I have enough good juju to share.

Thanks for reading!
​—Cami

Give yourself an hour and listen to this, right up to the end of Liz Gilbert's wisdom. Take notes, then give yourself time and permission to absorb it. If you're feeling really generous and loving toward yourself, implement the practice of self-love like Liz does.

https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_it_s_ok_to_feel_overwhelmed_here_s_what_to_do_next/discussion

(Last year, I had the distinct pleasure of hugging Liz. She was flying past, out of the hotel, suitcase wheeling behind her, when I called out "Liz!!" She stopped and said she was in a hurry, to which I replied, "That's ok, I just wanted to say thanks and give you a hug." Which I did.)

Thanks for reading!
​—Cami