The Soft Power Journal

Tag: Burnout Recovery

  • When Rest Is the Bravest Thing You Can Do

    When Rest Is the Bravest Thing You Can Do

    When Rest Is the Bravest Thing You Can Do

    They told us to be strong. To hustle. To rise above.

    They didn’t teach us how to rest.

    And when they did, rest was framed as a reward—not a right. Something you earned only after you broke your back for it. Only after your energy was wrung dry and your nervous system had nothing left to give.

    But what happens when your body whispers enough long before the world agrees?

    This year taught me how brave rest really is.

    It’s brave to pause when everyone else keeps going.

    It’s brave to say no without explanation.

    It’s brave to soften, especially when you’ve been taught that softness is weakness.

    I used to feel guilty for slowing down. I’d internalized the belief that burnout was a badge of honor. That pushing through made me powerful. But all it ever did was make me resentful, tired, disconnected—from myself, from others, from my purpose.

    And if I’m honest, that guilt didn’t come from nowhere. It came from generations before me who didn’t have the luxury to slow down. Women who carried the weight of entire families, entire systems, without ever being asked how they were doing.

    So when I rest now, I don’t just rest for me. I rest for them, too.

    Because rest is resistance.

    Rest is reclamation.

    Rest is remembering that I am not a machine, I am a woman.

    And this isn’t about choosing between purpose or peace. It’s about realizing that you need peace to walk in your purpose. That clarity doesn’t come from overdrive—it comes from stillness.

    So if you’re in a season where your body is asking you to slow down… listen.

    That is the work.

    You are still worthy even when you’re not producing.

    You are still powerful even when you pause.

    You are still you, even when you rest.

    And sometimes, rest is the bravest thing you can do.

    📌 Let this be your permission slip.

    If this resonated, explore more reflections and resources throughout The Soft Power Journal. This space was created for women like you—women who are learning to reclaim softness, regulate their nervous systems, and rewrite their stories without shame.

    You don’t have to do it alone.

    You just have to start where you are.

  • Reclaiming Your Radiance: How to Return to Yourself After Emotional Burnout

    Reclaiming Your Radiance: How to Return to Yourself After Emotional Burnout

    There was a season in my life where I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. Not in the poetic, I’ve-evolved kind of way. I mean I literally couldn’t find the light in my eyes. I was showing up for everyone—my kids, my job, my relationship, the expectations—and somehow, I forgot how to show up for me.

    Some mornings, I would wake up and stare at the ceiling, knowing I had things to do… but feeling like I was underwater. I knew how to function, but I didn’t know how to feel. I’d smile at people and check off tasks, but inside, I felt numb. Drained. Hollow. Burnt out in ways that no amount of sleep or self-care Sundays could fix.

    This wasn’t laziness. It wasn’t weakness. It was emotional burnout. And it was eating away at my radiance.

    What Burnout Really Steals From You

    Burnout doesn’t just drain your energy—it steals your sense of self.

    You stop laughing like you used to. You stop dancing in the kitchen. You forget what it’s like to be soft because you’ve had to be so strong. You start settling—not because you want less, but because you’re too tired to fight for more.

    And no one really talks about how lonely that place is.

    Because you don’t look “broken.” You’re functioning. You’re surviving.

    But inside, you feel like a stranger to yourself.

    The Moment I Knew I Had to Come Home to Myself

    There was a night—I remember it vividly—I sat in the parking lot of a gas station crying into the steering wheel. I had just left a conversation where I made myself small again. I kept my peace at the cost of my truth. And I thought… when did I become okay with that?

    I wasn’t okay. I just didn’t know how to stop pretending.

    That night, I whispered out loud: “I want to come back to me.”

    And I meant it.

    The Feminine Way Back: Not a Hustle, But a Return

    Reclaiming your radiance doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from being more honest.

    You don’t have to light a hundred candles, meditate for 45 minutes, or book a solo trip to Bali to find yourself again. Sometimes, coming home to yourself looks like:

    • Saying no without overexplaining.

    • Wearing something soft and beautiful just because it makes you feel like you.

    • Turning off your phone for an hour and letting your body rest.

    • Letting yourself cry without needing a reason.

    • Laughing—really laughing—at something ridiculous.

    • Admitting that you’ve been hurting.

    • Letting someone show up for you for once.

    Soft Power Isn’t Loud—It’s Liberating

    They told us we had to be strong. That we had to push through. That softness was weakness.

    But I’m learning that there is nothing more powerful than a woman who reclaims her softness after being hardened by life. Nothing more radiant than a woman who glows again after going dim. Nothing more magnetic than a woman who’s not trying to prove anything—but has returned to her truth.

    And the truth is: your radiance was never gone.

    It was just buried beneath the burnout.

    You’re still in there. And you’re worth coming back to.

    A Soft Invitation to You

    If you’re reading this and it feels familiar—if you’re tired of being tired, tired of being everything for everyone but nothing for yourself—I want you to ask yourself gently:

    What would it look like for me to come home to myself this week?

    Not all at once. Not perfectly.

    Just one tiny moment where you choose you again.

    Because the world needs your light.

    But more than that, you need your light.

    And it’s never too late to turn it back on.