Hey Reader!

The way I no longer have the stamina for chaos. 😩

I turned 40 and something in me shifted. Having been the person who has ALWAYS figured it out, whatever "it" is, no matter what was happening around me, my ability to tolerate foolishness nose-dived the moment the clock struck midnight on my birthday.

NO THANK YOU. Opt me out. Unsubscribe me. I'm just a babygirl now. 🫣

And yet. AND YET. The world keeps worlding, doesn't it? So let me tell you what's been sitting heavy on my spirit this week. 👇🏾

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RANT

Melt the ice and get us out the dystopia. 🧊

May the people who participate in this fascist nightmare never find peace. I said what I said. 🗣️

I remember the ways people told us we were overreacting. Being alarmist about the dangers of this second term. I remember the people who said a Kamala presidency would be the same as his. I remember the people who used Gaza as a single issue to sit out the vote or vote third party.

Now journalists are being arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice arrested BLACK journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for reporting on a protest that broke out in a church. Meanwhile, the ICE agents who shot somebody TEN TIMES in broad daylight as they laid on the ground? Administrative leave. 😡

Don Lemon has access to lawyers and support. Many of the local reporters and citizens recording these atrocities don't. They're out there documenting the truth with nothing but their phones and their courage.

So to all them people who did not vote, or voted third party, or voted for this hellion: I hope you feel depths of shame. 🗣️

We are watching cruelty become policy in real time. We are watching families torn apart. We are watching people who look like us, who pray like us, who dream like us, being treated as disposable. And some of y'all's favorite politicians are signing off on it with a smile.

Meanwhile, people are still being killed and disappeared off the streets.

Keith Porter. Renée Good. Alex Pretti. Rest in peace. 🙏🏾 And so many others whose names we may never even know.

These are not numbers. These are not statistics for somebody's political talking point. These are human beings with families who loved them, with dreams they never got to finish, with futures that were stolen.

What I refuse to do is let my heart freeze over. I refuse to become so desensitized that another name becomes just another headline I scroll past while drinking my morning tea.

Because the moment we stop feeling is the moment they win. The moment we shrug and say "that's just how it is" is the moment we become complicit in the ice that's forming around this nation's conscience.

So melt the ice. Stay soft where it matters. Stay furious where it counts.

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REFLECTION

Resistance is part of the mission. Stand anyway.

Wednesday night, I was on a call with my Book Academy Mastermind, and God dropped something in my spirit that I had to share with them.

When you are on a mission, big or small, especially one that can change something and make some impact, resistance is part of the mission.

It's part of the hero's journey. It is REQUIRED.

Whether you're building a business, raising kids who will change the world, healing from something that tried to break you, or simply trying to show up as yourself in spaces that weren't designed for you, resistance will meet you at the door. Every. Single. Time.

And you have to learn that the assignment is bigger than that resistance.

I keep a folder in my inbox called "Love Notes." Screenshots of kind DMs. Emails from readers who said something I wrote changed their perspective. Notes from people who felt seen. Because on those days when the resistance feels like too much, when self-doubt is loud and the path forward is foggy, that's what I go read.

You need a folder like that too, Reader. Whatever reminds you that your presence matters. Your voice matters. The thing you're building, creating, healing, becoming? It's reaching somebody. Even when you can't see it. 🥹

So even when you want to hide, you stand in obedience. Because the obedience is where you are rewarded.

Our lives are not to be lived by anybody else's validation but God, really, and ourselves. Honoring our soul's assignment is what we were brought here for. Everybody else? Extra. Shout out to them, but extra.

You will lose friends. You will lose people you thought would be along for the whole journey with you. People who cheered for you when you were struggling might get real quiet when you start thriving. And as much as that stings, here's the thing: You can't bring them with you.

Just do your assignment. And let them fall.

If you've been obedient to what you were called to do, you'll be rewarded for it. And whoever can come along? God bless them. We wish the others well. We send them away with love. May they be well. And now? You're lighter for it. 🙏🏾

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RECOMMENDATION

Listen to me on Not My Best Moment with KevOnStage

Speaking of resistance, let me tell you about an occupational hazard of the volume of your assignment.

A few months ago, I ended up trending on Threads for days. And not the good kind of trending. People called me everything but a child of God. 😩

I recently sat down with my friend Kevin Fredericks, aka KevOnStage, for his podcast "Not My Best Moment," and we talked about this in detail. We talked about the times he's faced the same thing. We talked about how the internet can make you feel like the worst person who ever personed. We talked about these occupational hazards of visibility. 🤌🏾

But we also talked about the divine lessons in all of it. About how some of the most meaningful growth comes from the moments you'd rather forget.

No man can destroy what God built.

If you've ever been publicly humbled, if you've ever had to sit with shame you didn't deserve, if you've ever wondered how to keep going when the arrows are flying, this episode is for you.

Tap in and watch it on YouTube. 👇🏾

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Or listen on Apple here: 🎙️ Listen to Not My Best Moment with KevOnStage​

What mission are you being called to that resistance keeps trying to block? What would it look like to stand in obedience anyway?​
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With softness and steel,

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P.S. The LuvvLetter is moving to Substack! Nothing changes on your end. You'll still get it in your inbox like always. But now you'll also be able to read and share it on Substack, which folks have been asking for. No action needed from you, but you'll start seeing it come from our new home soon. 💫

P.P.S. Y'all know Moira Rose stays in rotation around here. I picked that GIF in today's reflection before we found out Catherine O'Hara passed. And now it hits different. 🥹 Rest in peace, legend. Thank you for the joy. 🙏🏾