The Art of Becoming
Notes on unmasking, grounding, and honoring process over performance.
I’m in the process of writing our next article — it’s about how living life like it was in the 90s has helped me ground and recover from burnout. I am excited to share it with you soon.
This week, I’ve been taking my time. Handwriting paragraphs. Letting experiences move through me and capturing them with care, revisiting the outline to identify gaps, and generating photos from my lived experiences, not stock photos. It’s a slow unfolding — the way I used to write before the world told me to hurry.
I am remembering who I am. Somewhere between the scribbles and the stillness, it hit me: this is alignment. This is peace. This is Chelsia.
Before I started unmasking and realigning, I didn’t know how to enjoy the process of anything. I focused on the product instead of the process. I was constantly at the mercy of other people’s expectations, which eventually became my own. Lunch with a friend felt indulgent. Rest felt irresponsible. I believed I always had to be doing something. Moving. Proving.
But life isn’t meant to be rushed; it’s meant to be lived.
We are meant to become. To savor the in-between. To treat our lives as the art they are, not as output to be optimized.
As Dr. Maya Angelou said,
Ladies and gentlemen
There is a quiet power in waiting
A wisdom in stillness
A grace in trusting that life will unfold as it must
Patience is not about standing idle
But about standing firm in faith, hope, and resilience
Patience is not weakness, it is strength
I’m proud of the work I’m doing, because I’m creating… not producing. I’m choosing intimacy over urgency, presence over performance.
Why? Because my work is worth my time.
Because my life is worth being lived.
And I can’t rush that. —
Neither should you.
A Slow Day- Playlist
Music is near and dear to me. I created this playlist for you to enjoy when you are in need of a slow day. It has 33 songs from artists that have helped me find flow in the liminal space. I hope you enjoy.
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I really love these updates, I feel like they come the exact moment I need to hear them :-)
I was sitting in my office, mentally reviewing my To Do list for today when this came across my phone. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and let the music surround me and move through me. It carried me back to a weekend camping trip by the river, with nothing to do but watch the water go by and wander through the woods. Thank you. I needed this.