You can be Battered and Bruised and still be Beautiful
It’s estimated that approximately 20% of produce gets thrown out for cosmetic reasons. Why?
The nutrients remain intact, the juices run just the same. The feeling of biting into its juicy flesh still invokes the feeling of satiation.
Why?
Because it doesn't ‘look’ right.
You think the emotional scars make you less worthy, less capable, less beautiful.
What if you honored the scars instead?
What if we appreciated the journey of a blemished strawberry?
Doused in poison...
Exposed to the harsh conditions of the sun...
Enduring fluctuating climatic conditions...
Growing in dirt...
The scars on that blemished strawberry only make it more beautiful.
It is a WARRIOR.
Not afraid to show the world the ugliness it endured. Not afraid to show the world that it triumphed anyway...
And that it still made it to your plate.
Battered, bruised, and still beautiful
Dear beautiful, brilliant Black Empath and Earth Intuitive,
You can be battered and bruised and still be beautiful.
You’ve been carrying around this heaviness in your chest that you can’t quite put your finger on. Decades of oozing, tiny little cuts across your heart…
We carry the vibrational echo of words that say, “You’re too sensitive, what’s wrong with you?
We stifle tears beneath ill-constructed armor, wondering constantly if the pressures of life will shatter us entirely. The world screams, “Just take it,” ignore the unhoused people strewn on the street, ignore the words of others that sting like a viper, ignore the violence of our society.
We carry the heaviness of the world, often having trouble sticking to one fight.
But have you ever considered the beauty of being a Black empath? Have you ever considered that the way others perceive your nature is short-sighted?
If deep compassion is a weakness, why is it more difficult to refrain from retaliation when someone does or says something cruel to you?
If being harsh is the way to get ahead, why has your intentional decision to lead with love gotten you further than anyone that you know?
If demeaning others means that you can feel better about yourself, why are you the person that people confide in?
If actively wanting and choosing to create the world that you want to see makes you a softy, why do we see this capitalistic world on fire right now?
They told you that your inherent nature wasn’t valuable. And, you triumphed anyway.
Harriet Tubman went back to save other enslaved individuals, when she could have just saved herself. She faced significant danger and was considered the most wanted women in the South, with a $40,000 bounty on her head. She was advised by some to stay in the North and enjoy her own freedom rather than returning to Maryland, a decision she executed approximately 13 times, to rescue 70 other human beings. After reaching Philadelphia, she stated ‘I was a stranger in a strange land…but I was free, and they should be free.’
Toni Morrison actively chose to write in a literary style that only Black folk could understand, noticing the dearth of tools geared towards Black healing and liberation from the ‘white gaze.’ An interviewer once asked Morrison ‘You don’t think you’d ever change and write books that incorporate white lives?’ In a separate encounter, Toni Morrison stated ‘If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
Empathy is not a quality to demean, but a characteristic to unapologetically celebrate. Yet, these qualities are often not celebrated in a world built on dominance, hyper-independence, external validation, and violence. This often leads to internalizing a feeling of unworthiness, culminating in a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes every comment, every action against our inherent nature feel like a confirmation. We begin to wonder whether we should be more aggressive, unempathetic, less capitalistic.
But, you cannot be tossed away like a blemished strawberry, Black Empath. Although, your scars make you feel like nothing, they are not meant to make you vanish. Your scars are meant to show you your strength.
It takes strength to walk in the vibration of kindness. It takes strength to help others. It takes strength to challenge societal norms. It takes considerable strength to do all of these things, while others’ reject the essence of who you are.
Do not toss your nature away, embrace your journey. All of it. The empathy, the scars, the blemishes, and the pain.
It is in valuing the journey and seeing the beauty in it that makes you indispensable. It’s choosing to show up anyway at the end of the supply chain, packaged up and ready to eat with the other strawberries that matters. It’s showing others that you recognize your phytonutrients and blemishes, and still decide to love all of you.
Because…You can be battered and bruised and still be beautiful.
The tree that inspired ‘You can be battered and bruised and still be beautiful.’
“You Belong Here” Earthing Ritual (2–3 minutes)
Touch the Earth
Place your bare feet on the ground & rest your hand over your heart.
Whisper: “I can find beauty in the words meant to harm me.”Call Your Breath Back
Inhale slowly for 4, exhale for 6. Do this three times.
Imagine your breath pulling your energy back from everywhere it’s been.Name Your Lineage
Softly say: “I come from strength borne from deep compassion, love, and treasured feelings”Release What Isn’t Yours
Gently shake out your hands or roll your shoulders.
Say: “What is not mine, I release with no guilt.”Root Into Belonging
Visualize roots growing from your feet into the earth.
Say: “I belong here. Not by permission, but by existence.”
The Struggle of Being an Empath in an Unjust World
Dear Beautiful, Brilliant, Black Empath and Highly Sensitive Soul,
“The plants don't turn into poison just because we've mistreated them for centuries. Water does not refuse to flow just because we've contaminated her with microplastics & PFAS. The air does not withhold her breath, even as we fill her expanse with toxic substances.” - Midiri Reciprocity
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You carry the light codes of the universe.
You ooze melodies of the heart.
You burst the confines of oppressive forces and replace them with light-filled collaboration, community, and deep healing joy.
I know they don't carry the pain of your enslaved ancestors. I know they haven't read the history books. I know the things they whisper and the unconscious bias they possess keep your brilliance small and your unique soulful expression limited.
But, your heart must not shatter from the disregard, misconception, & denigration cast on your being.
You are meant to pollinate the Earth with your brilliance, connect with the mycelium network of oppressed souls that howl 'no more', uplift the beauty of your community, and meet the rose buds with the patience of the sun.
Your soul aches because you're living in an evolved reality. You don't feel scarcity, so you ooze love. You revile competition, so you model collaboration. You don't see kindness as a weakness, but a conscious choice to be kind 'in spite of', with a bone-stirring knowing that kindness is often the harder choice, possessing wisdom that others have yet to materialize.
Your soul aches because you don't understand why others don't have this natural understanding, inclination, or proclivity.
And...this tireless internal fight rooted in actively choosing to embody a world riddled with abundance, love, compassion, and soul-led connection vs. the reality of living in a world rotting with avarice, decadence, unfettered capitalism, and incessant 'isms' chips away at your empathic container, allowing for resentment, anger, and impatience to take root.
But honey...
The plants don't turn into poison just because we've mistreated them for centuries. Water does not refuse to flow just because we've contaminated her with microplastics & PFAS. The air does not withhold her breath, even as we fill her expanse with chemicals.
The Earth keeps giving despite harm — and you can too, without breaking. Forgiveness protects your empathic spirit.
You're holding onto pain that is meant for the cosmos, not the confines of your vessel.
You must learn to forgive the world for where it is right now even though you understand how behind it is in the embodiment of love.
Mother Earth holds out hope that we will learn to do better, one generation at a time.
Can you?
CAST the shade of your beautiful brilliance. Be the person the world needs to see as a true leader and model. A model for compassion and patience for others’ journeys while exhibiting earth-shattering empathy. Meet people where they are, and trust Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s quote 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice'
Earth-based Practice for Forgiveness
Wake up at 6 AM
Put on your running shoes
Head to the nearest body of water, preferably a nearby ocean
Turn on a playlist that makes you feel ultra-emotional
Run, Run, Run
When the sun is in the sky, stop and gaze at the water. Watch the birds await their morning feast. Feel the power of the water.
Feel what comes through…and empty your bones. Everything you feel is valid. Every tear is watering the garden of your heart.
Ask yourself, ‘Can you truly forgive the world?’ How would you move differently if you forgave the world?