What a crazy time we are living in. It feels scary and overwhelming. If we take the time to really let our thoughts come to the surface, it poses a very real existential crisis. But in the midst of all of this Coronavirus, COVID-19, self-isolating, social distancing, and quarantining, I think it is so important to find and embrace things that are both beautiful and normal.
Now maybe more than ever.
So in today’s video, I really want to focus on some of the things that I’m personally doing to stay sane during this time, to promote a sense of normalcy, a sense of hope, and to connect with the people around the world and in my community. And I want to point you to some resources outside of this channel as well. It’s also my goal to start a movement where we can connect with each other more deeply. More on that in a second.
If you’re watching this and you’re looking at my outfit, makeup, and hair and you’re thinking, “wow, she looks pretty put together“. That is because I made the concerted effort to do this for you. I’ve been wearing my husband’s firefighter sweats nonstop and that’s not a great look.
But I wanted to try a little harder for you because I believe wholeheartedly that now’s the time for us to show up for ourselves every single day because it’s going to keep us going. One of my favorite quotes is from a book called ‘The Idiot’ by Dostoyevsky. And in it, one of the characters says, “I believe that beauty will save the world“.
Beauty will save the world.
I could not agree with that more. I’ve been immersed in watching the news, yet I’ve also been as equally immersed on Instagram. And if you follow me on Instagram, then you know. We’ve been having this conversation for a minute now. What I’m seeing on Instagram is something beautiful. I’m seeing the people in my community here in Knoxville rise up and all of the people in my network who are local, people within the United States, and people from other parts of the world like France and Spain and Italy, connecting with each other.
What I’m seeing is people stepping up to the plate and putting their very best foot forward and being super creative, super funny, and super inspiring. I think it’s a wonderful thing that we all need a lot of right now.
Taking care of your inner game
One of the first resources I want to point you to is a very, very important resource and it is for your mental health.
My good friend Sarah Robinson is just an incredible human being with a gift of compassion and understanding. She gets what people are struggling with and knows how to share very practical resources and tips about how to uplift yourself. As well as how to be kind and compassionate to yourself and to others during this time.
She did a Facebook live a few days ago where she gave a ton of practical tips.
They personally helped me a lot and one of them hit me hard recently when I was walking with my dog Beau in my workout attire. I was being super hard on myself thinking, “Gosh, Bri you’re really just not trying, you know, you’re not putting the effort forward and you could do so much better”. Luckily, I caught myself in the moment and was reminded that I need to be a little kinder right now because of all that’s going on in the world.
And that was thanks to Sarah.
So I’m going to point you to her. You can find the link to that Facebook live right here.
Women’s health
The next resource I want to point you to is a very important one, if you are a young woman, you’re pregnant, thinking of becoming pregnant, or you have young children.
A dear friend, fellow mastermind member, and client of mine is Dr. Tracy Papa. Tracy is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Dallas, Texas and we have been working together on her YouTube channel because I do that behind the scenes as well. She just created a video called “Coronavirus and Pregnancy”, and if you have any fears whatsoever about how to handle this really sensitive time while you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or are looking to become pregnant, or you have really small children, then you need to check her out.
You can find that video right here.
Next week, I’m going to be doing a makeup tutorial for you guys featuring the lipstick and the other makeup items that I’m wearing. I recently got all of these new items from a female-owned and operated a small business called The Beauty Market. They focus on holistic, organic, and natural skincare. The Beauty Market just opened in 2019 and now this is happening. Next week I’ll be doing a makeup tutorial while I talk to you about how to support small businesses during this time.
We need to show up and put our best faces forward when we can.
Obviously, we can’t do that all the time, but it’s so nice to make an effort for yourself. It’s one way to put beauty into this world and make the world a better place. More beauty is always a good thing.
Listen & Watch
I’ve created an “End of The World” playlist on Spotify. These are a collection of my most favorite, most beloved songs. I’ve tried to capture the moment for us by striking that balance between lamenting, mourning and grieving, while also rejoicing. The day is going to come when we’re through this when this tidal wave has passed when the tsunami of this virus has passed and we need to still be creating art.
So, along the lines of the playlist, I want to also share an “End of The World Pandemic” watch list. I’ve been compiling a list of films and a couple of television series, that I absolutely love. These are films or shows that very meaningful for me personally, either because they harken back to a simpler time, intrigue me, inspire me, or help me escape.
- Midnight In Paris
- War & Peace Mini-Series
- The Lives of Others (Das Leden Der Anderen)
- Little Women (1994, #WinonaForever)
- Romeo + Juliet
- 12 Monkeys
- La Jetée
- Doctor Zhivago Mini-Series
- La Vie En Rose (La Môme)
- A Good Year
- Charlotte Gray
- Making The Cut Mini-Series
- The Jackal
- Lost In Translation
- Sliding Doors
- Wolf Hall Mini-Series
- Inglorious Basterds
- A Little Princess
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Fanny and Alexander
- Coco Before Chanel
- Before Sunrise
Stay At Home Style Challenge
As a result of everybody having to work from home, #WFH, I wanted to host a Stay At Home Style Challenge.
I’m going to be launching that in the next few days. It’s totally free and totally fun.
All that you need to do to sign up is to drop your email in the form below.
I myself, need to work on getting out of my PJs. I need to work on getting out of my workout clothes, and I need to work on organizing my closet and playing with the clothes that I already have. We’re going to see what combinations we can make, out of the things that we currently own. Then we’re going to think about the future, like how much do we need to get rid of.
I’d like for us to embrace the moment we’re in. We’re letting go of the things that no longer matter and the things that hold us back.
This is a great time to step out and be a little more daring with our fashion, especially because we’re going to be at home where NO ONE can see us. This is really the time when we can experiment without a lot of risk.
During the Stay At Home Style Challenge we will go through our wardrobes, edit, organize, and purge our wardrobes. We will style outfits every day or four to five days a week. These don’t have to be fancy outfits at all. But this challenge will have exercises that are designed to get you going, to get you inspired and motivated, and to get out of your PJ’s or workout gear so that you can stay #normal during these times. It is so important to keep a sense of normalcy as we’re all going through something that is absolutely not normal in any way, shape or form.
I hope that you join! I don’t know how long it’s going to go on because I have no idea how long this thing is going to go on. But let’s just start with a seven to 10-day style challenge. More details to come once you sign up.
If you want to join the conversation and check in with me daily over on Instagram, I would love to connect with you. You can direct message me there and I will message you back, I promise.
I really want to connect with you on a deeper level, and so I can’t wait to hear from you.
I’m so grateful for you, and I want you to take care of each other, and to take care of yourself. Be very safe and remain positive during this time.
Remember that beauty will save the world. I promise you it will. There is hope.
Leave a Reply