“What are your core values and How do you intergrate them into your everyday practices?

have you ever wondered what your core values are? so many institutions, organizations, and even religions have a set of core values that define their purpose, outline their intention, and act as a blueprint for how they plan to achieve it. knowing this to be true, I couldn’t help but wonder: what are my core values? where do they exist in plain sight? and how do I practice them in my day-to-day experience?

I truly hope that by the end of this psot, you feel inspired to redefine your core values in a way that expresses the person you are today.

When I first began thinking about my core values, I thought of the golden rule I heard growing up in elementary school: “treat others the way you would like to be treated.” though it may be simple, this phrase carried a responsibility. in order for someone to know how to treat me, I must first show them—through my actions—how I would like to be treated.

Through many years of trial and error, people-pleasing, shrinking myself to be unseen or meek, and a plethora of other unhealthy patterns rooted in external validation, I realized something: maybe it’s time to release the idea of proving myself to others in order to feel worthy of praise. maybe it’s time to truly get to know who I am, what I represent, and what values I know to be true about myself.

Core Value #1: Cultivate Community

In my last post, I talked about rediscovering my purpose and living a more fulfilled and unapologetic life. I talked about what it means to say “HELL YES” to yourself after years of saying no, and the artist’s responsibility in embodying their purpose.

When it comes to my core values, cultivating community is VERY important to me.

I was raised by my community. a village of intelligent, powerful, generous, sweet, kind, protective, and LOVING women—cousins, friends, and family. my life has always been surrounded by love and community, and that is a value I take seriously. cultivating community is essential to my well-being. I would not be the woman I am today without the many communities I participate in and lead within my daily life.

What is your process of cultivating community?

For me, it’s simple. It can be as easy as having a conversation over a shared interest, experiencing something new together, or bluntly expressing: “hey, I think you’re cool,” “I like you,” or my personal favorite, “you and I are going to be friends / in each other’s lives, even if you don’t know it yet.” (you’d be surprised how often I’m right… lol. I really be knowing.)

Cultivating community is one of the greatest invitations I love to give and receive.

What I’ve learned over the years is that sustaining community is where the real responsibility and care comes in. To truly sustain community, it’s important to learn—and even master—the skill of accountability.

You have to ask yourself:
How do I show up for myself?
How do I show up for others?
Am I nourishing or neglectful in the way I care for myself? for others?

These questions may seem daunting, but if we want to sustain community for generations, we must sit with how accountability shows up in our daily lives—and where we are being called to step up, lead, follow, speak, and listen with accountable ears.

When I cultivate community, I openly express that I am a woman who embraces accountability. I understand the magnitude and effect I have on others. I understand the effect others have on me. Because of that awareness, I know the way I show up creates a ripple. and I take that responsibility seriously.

This leads into my next core value.

Core Value #2: Cultivate Healing

A life goal of mine is to embody a constant presence of healing.

I want to be the healer of my community. my bloodline. my generation. I want to be the doctor. the cook. the medicine woman people come to. I want to heal the world. I want to heal myself. I want to heal humanity. Because I believe part of our purpose is to heal each other by healing our relationship with ourselves.

The only way I see this being possible—for me, and hopefully for you—is by cultivating healing in our day-to-day lives. It’s time to create, design, build, and rebuild systems that invite more pathways to healing. It’s time to begin.

When was the last time you experienced something that was healing for you?

This question isn’t easy for me.It makes me sit still. slow down. inquire. get curious. It forces me to sift through my infinite files of memories and daily experiences and ask: out of all of this, what recently felt healing? To answer honestly, authentically, and multi-dimensionally (a true Sagittarian response loading in 3…2…1…): Leaving my home in the Bay for almost 40 days to backpack across Europe and figure out, “who the hell do I think I am?”

Traveling is always healing for me. It sparks adventure, inspires action, invites fun and playfulness, and calls me into presence. From July 2nd to August 6th, 2025, I transformed into a different woman. I was six months into being 30, fully crafting my “thirty, flirting, and thriving” era. And the best way I knew how at the time was to book a solo trip to visit my favorite country in Europe—Portugal—and let the city romance me.My adventures took me to Porto, Algarve, Portimão, Lisbon, and Sintra in Portugal; Madrid and Valencia in Spain; and Paris in France.

I didn’t know the full purpose of the trip when I booked it. I just knew I needed to leave home and prepare for departure and arrival.

During my sojourn, I attended a music festival with friends from the Bay. I swam and tanned topless on the beaches of Valencia. I reconnected with a dear friend and lovely artist who lives and works in Paris. I saw familiar faces from past lives of exploring Portugal. More importantly, I learned about my capacity to generate healing experiences.

Every day, I woke up with the intention to listen to my needs—no matter how extravagant or simple. I began each morning with prayer, with God and myself. From there, I invited the universe to meet me in the same capacity I was pouring into it. This practice was healing because, although I had been doing it sporadically at home, abroad I committed to it consistently. Every single day.Even when I was sick. sad. powerful. uncertain.

That routine followed me back to the Bay. Since returning, I feel closer to myself, my purpose, my community, and God. I feel safer in my capacity to exist in this world and in any environment.

And that leads me to my next core value.

Core Value #3: Cultivate Safety

To feel safe as a Black woman can sometimes feel like a paradox.

We have some of the highest mortality rates and some of the highest education rates. We are the blueprint for so much in this world, yet we are underpaid, overworked, over-exploited, and under-appreciated. For many of us—including myself—safety can feel fragile.

There’s a quote from the show Scandal, spoken by Papa Pope to Olivia: “You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have.” Dramatic? maybe. relatable? absolutely.

Many Black women understand the pressure to overachieve and bleed for our dreams while compromising safety and worth in the process.

As someone who has sometimes compromised her safety to get what she wants, I’ve had to recalibrate my nervous system to invite safety in. It hasn’t been easy. But I know that sharing this holds me accountable to cultivating deeper safety—for myself and future generations.

Why is “Safety” so pertinent to your process and purpose?

Safety, for me, feels like witnessing. acceptance. looking into someone’s eyes and feeling seen without projection or fantasy.

When it comes to my safety, I am fierce about it. I do not play about myself or the people I love.

My process now involves examining the structures I’ve built in the past and asking: are they supporting me or hindering my evolution? I’ve realized that if I want a co-curated life—with God, with community, with lovers, with family—I must evaluate the landscape I’ve created. Sometimes that process reveals where I’ve sacrificed myself for validation. Where I’ve betrayed myself. Where I still need forgiveness.

But I hold no regrets. I built myself brick by brick. And it is my responsibility to dismantle what no longer serves me, the greater good, or humanity.

As a movement and multidisciplinary artist, safety begins in my body. If I don’t feel safe in my body, I shut down. I enter what some call “hermit mode”—a time of “below the surface” reflection and solitude. I do not see hermit mode is not punishment, It is a dedicated time to review and renew.

When I am in this space, I inquire: Where was harm done? Where did I cause harm? What needs transmutation?

Sometimes this practice lasts hours. Sometimes days. Sometimes even weeks. It truly depends on how much time am I generously giving to myself to figure things out.

But there is method to the madness. Because when I return, I return clearer. Softer. Stronger. More aligned.

Safety has become a daily recalibration of fine tuning my wants and needs. Every morning I wake up with breath, I wake up with the opportunity to cultivate safety within myself and my community.

And that is leadership.

Conclusion

In defining my core values, I am defining who I am and who I represent.

I am someone who wants to be known as integral and authentic. I am allowing the veil to be thin so others can witness the complexities of their existence and still know who they are and what they are here to do. Every day, my core values show up when I show up. And even when I struggle to show up, my core values STILL SHOW UP.

This practice has deepened my faith in myself and the future. By defining who I am and what I stand for, I trust that I am slowly, patiently, and magically building an environment rooted in healthy, interpersonal, ever-evolving expansion—for the legacy I am creating for ions and ions to come.

So yeah.

I hope after reading this, you feel inspired to define who you are, what your core values are, and how you practice them in your daily life.

as always—thank you for reading.

888

ase. awoman. amen.

and so it is.