february: forgiveness
february: imagination Charlotte Friend february: imagination Charlotte Friend

february: forgiveness

Where would we be as societies, cultures, families, and business organizations if we could all tap into what our bodies need? That’s what I like to imagine most…and to me, that is forgiveness. Body work, massages, taking walks, and meditating are apologies to the body. They re-regulate our nervous systems that get shaken and traumatized just on our way to work (think about it on your next commute when someone cuts you off or yells at you on the train).

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january: forgiveness
january: endurance Charlotte Friend january: endurance Charlotte Friend

january: forgiveness

Another part of this forgiveness is the freedom you give yourself to admit when it feels like you can no longer endure. You didn’t fail because the world got too heavy. Breaking down and tapping into all of the feelings of, “this is all a bit too much right now,” can be powerful, healing, and guide you toward the next best thing you can do for you and your future self.

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december: forgiveness
december: celebration Charlotte Friend december: celebration Charlotte Friend

december: forgiveness

I tend to feel uneasy during times of celebration and often begin to worry that all of this is too good to be true or that if I believe in the praise I’m getting then I’ll become egotistical and inherently bad–it’s pretty fucked up. Which is why I need forgiveness/ self-acceptance smack-dab in the middle of my celebrations.

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november: forgiveness
november: death Charlotte Friend november: death Charlotte Friend

november: forgiveness

Without forgiveness, we might as well be wholly embalmed in our past understanding and ways of life, locked in a karmic coffin of “it’s always been this way.” But stepping up to the challenges of our day to accept the truth and the divinity of our own mortality is to live and die sustainably, for the greater good.

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october: forgiveness
october: coping Charlotte Friend october: coping Charlotte Friend

october: forgiveness

Forgiveness dulls the sharp edge (which our culture teaches should be around emotional expression) thus allowing us to actually feel what needs to be felt in order to begin the healing process. You can’t cope with emotional turmoil that you keep hidden from yourself. And our society often markets “self-care” as a convenient hiding place for our emotions, rather than creating free and liberating pastures in which to explore true healing modalities through emotional awareness.

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september: forgiveness
september: community Charlotte Friend september: community Charlotte Friend

september: forgiveness

We feel entitled to our resentments often because there is a personal wound that they’re trying so desperately to keep hidden. Our culture makes a habit out of keeping us in the entitlement rather than encouraging us to work through the emotions until we weep for our own pain that we keep enacting onto others. It is a much more heartbreaking process to traverse our wounds and take responsibility rather than doubling down on our initial defensiveness. We must allow this process to split us open, revealing all of the instances in which we have lived through examples of the harm we now unintentionally inflict on our communities.

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july forgiveness
july: process Charlotte Friend july: process Charlotte Friend

july forgiveness

It unfortunately (and also, thankfully) never ends--you get to keep exploring the world and understanding who you are and how you react. You are not fixed in your habits and patterns. The process of processing your emotions is proof that change is the only constant.

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may forgiveness
may: control Charlotte Friend may: control Charlotte Friend

may forgiveness

It’s never actually the “wrong” decision or experience, I don’t believe that exists. Especially with control. Sure, you might feel like something’s wrong, but that’s just learning what you’d rather try next time. 

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