on nurturing the self + becoming your own source of care ♡
today, i’m reflecting on what it means to nurture ourselves — especially when we didn’t grow up seeing that reflected back to us. there’s a question i recently wrote in my journal: who would i even be if i didn’t nurture myself?
i come back to this question often. because the truth is: some people in our lives simply didn’t have the capacity to nurture. maybe they were too busy surviving. maybe they never received nurturing themselves. maybe they just didn’t know how. while that truth used to sting, i’ve grown into a deeper compassion — not just for them, but for the younger versions of me who needed more than what was given. i longed for deeper connection, for cozy conversations, for guidance, for someone who could see me and say, “this is how you care for yourself.”
instead, i had to become that someone. i had to choose to be the one who breaks the cycle and reconnect with my blueprint — one that hasn’t been unveiled in my ancestral lineage. i had to choose to stop living in the pain of abandonment and to root myself in a more intentional love. and let’s be clear — this choice isn’t glamorous. it’s not a quick fix. it’s the kind of soul-work that requires you to pull up the weeds of unworthiness and begin again. it’s slow. tender. repetitive. and sacred. the moment you stop waiting to be rescued — the moment you become the one who answers the call — you take back the power you were unknowingly handing away.
no one is coming. and that’s not said with bitterness. it’s said with a sacred reverence. because you? you are already here. you’ve always been the one. we don’t often talk about how heavy it can be to walk a new blueprint — to say, “this ends with me.” to redefine care when no one taught you how. but that very decision is what evolves and expands your soul. to nurture, by definition, means “to care for and encourage the growth or development of.” so the real question becomes: how will you tend to yourself? you are worthy of slow mornings, intentional communion, and being known — by yourself and others. your inner child is still listening. your future self is still unfolding. and the garden within you? it’s already blooming.
reflections to sit with:
how can you care for a part of yourself more intentionally today?
what did this passage awaken in you?
where have you been outsourcing care that you could begin reclaiming?
how might you become the safe place you’ve always longed for?
