Hi Elpha fam,

It is storming here in Nairobi, Kenya. It's been a super rainy two weeks and my aura is clensed and my soul nourished! I don't know if it's just me... but chilly mornings, grey skies, layered dressing for the cold and playing in the rain really sparks my creativity and inspires me. I have been making the most of and been super grateful for this season that we are in.

As I sip on my blue lotus steeped tea before I have my quality recharge time, I thought I'd fill you all in and give some updates from my last post which you can read here (sadly no fit pics today :( )

Today officially marks the end of three weeks at my not-so-new job as a brand and marketing intern at a Fintech company. My first week was great, my second week was... challenging. Truth be told, I had some things going on in my personal life that took a serious toll on my mental and overall well-being. I was low, unmotivated, heartbroken and just emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted. Showing up for work was quite honestly difficult, but I never missed a day. This made me realise 2 things:

1. A lot of companies in Kenya have little to no accomodation of personnel with mental health struggles. I am aware that abrod there's things such as "mental health day" and what not, but that isn't so popular here.
2. I have a problem being openly vulnerable and expressing that I am going through a difficult time (blocked throat chakra). This stems from a lot of things in my upbrining, and is something that I am actively working on.

Despite all of this, I was keen on self-regulating while at work. When I'm not in a good headspace, I tend to be easily triggered and highly overstimulated i.e. sensory overload. I took some 7 - 8 minutes multiple times in the day just to breathe consciously and regulate my thoughts. "I am safe, I am accepted and loved as I am, I allow my feelings to be, but acknowledge that they will pass as all things do, I am aware that my thoughts are what I choose them to be, I am capable, I can't give 100% right now, but I can give a good 60% and that's okay" these are words I'd scribble on my notepad to ground myself and remind myself that I have good days, and I embrace them fully, hence I can accept and make it through the bad days too, they are a part of life. A bad day doesn't make a bad life!

A highlight of week 2 was winning two movie vouchers at work for being a culture champion, went on a movie date with my boo and had some really nice quality time.

That was my week two, and I made it through :) I am grateful ❤❤

Week 3 started off so much better. I spent the weekend with the girlies, so my cup was full, and I had a lot to give. I had a mental and spiritual reset so I was ready to tackle whatever life had to throw at me. I led the team meeting on Monday, started a team synergy tracker and introduced accountability check ins on Fridays just to make sure everyone on the team is achieving their OKRs and getting the support they need.

The company also featured on a sustainability docu-series and this was BIG for marketing and socials, I had to make the most of that content! For this, our co-founders were interviewed and we also went around the city with the docu-series crew to interview some key partners and stakeholders so that they could share how we empower them to do what they do. This was such a great experience, being the youngest in the company, at first I felt so small being around such big fish - CEOs, CTOs, executive directors... but I snapped out of that thought process so fast! Big fish started out little too, and the fact that I am surrounded by them means that there's so many places to draw inspiration, to find mentorship, to learn from, I am truly fortunate and abundantly blessed. 🤲🏽

Now I'm just rambling. What's the key take away from all this?

Bad days are a part of life, you won't always be at 100. Love yourself, encourage yourself, uplift yourself even when you're at 50, or at 20.

We put so much pressure on ourselves, and we receive so much pressure from our employers to always deliver and do a good job... but give yourself some grace. Getting out of bed and showing up even when you don't want to is a good job, trying your best when all you want to do is give up is a good job.

You are a person of great value, and you deserve to be appreciated in every phase, every stage, every circumstance in your life.

Thanks for reading!

May ease, grace and rest be abundant in your life this weekend. 🌻