Rooted Wednesdays Vol. 30 There’s joy in the other choice (+ a bday gift) 🎁

What’s on my hair

I've been realizing how much I want to live on CP time lol.

Especially on wash days. I feel my hair getting longer and fuller, and that means longer wash days. More time. More presence. More slowing down.

And honestly, it takes some training and awareness for me to actually allow my nervous system to slow down. But it's ultimately how I want to live my life, so why not start living like that now?

Pre-pooing. Detangling before I get in the shower. Twisting my hair into sections before shampooing. Doing the little things that can feel like extra steps when I could just get in the shower and get it over with.

Hair care is funny because so much of the reward isn't immediate.

You can have a really good wash day and still not see the length you're hoping for. You can be gentle with your hair and still experience breakage. You can finally find a routine that works and then realize months later that your hair needs something different.

A lot of taking care of my hair is simply doing something today that I hope I'll be grateful for days, weeks, and sometimes years from now.

What's on my heart

I think sometimes we choose what brings us joy the fastest because somewhere inside of us we're thinking: if I don't get joy now, I'm not sure there will be any for me later.

And lately I've been thinking about how there's joy in the other choice too.

The boring choice. The choice that requires discipline. The choice that doesn't immediately give you evidence that you're doing the right thing.

The choice that requires you to slowly build something without knowing exactly what it'll look like when you're done.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about discipline as the thing standing between me and what I want. Like I have to deny myself something now so I can hopefully get something better later.

But I'm starting to wonder if I've misunderstood it.

Maybe discipline isn't always choosing joy later instead of joy now.

Sometimes there's joy hiding inside the choice itself.

There's something satisfying about showing up for something you care about. About realizing you followed through. About learning yourself well enough to know what you need. About doing something for a future version of yourself even though she can't thank you yet.

Hair care has given me a really tangible place to practice that.

I can do everything "right" on a wash day and still not have immediate evidence that it's working.

But I can show up anyway.

And sometimes, somewhere between detangling a section and twisting it up, joy catches me by surprise.

Maybe the other choice isn't the one where joy is missing.

Maybe I just haven't learned all the places joy can live yet.

From my wash day to yours,
Jasmine 🤎

P.S. It's my 27th birthday today 🥹 so I'm sharing a little birthday joy with y'all too. Take 27% off KNOTanother Haircare today only with code BIRTHDAY27. 🎂