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  • Nysha Camilo responded to a letter in topic Why do you love yourself? 1 months ago

    Thank you! I’m happy I can help you remember the importance of self love. But also, give yourself grace. Just like it didn’t happen overnight for these habits to be learned, it’s not going to happen overnight for them to be unlearned. The first step is acknowledging and you got that down! Now, just try to be mindful of noticing when you’re doing and make a plan on what to do when you do. We all go through similar things in different ways, people just like to mask it so thank you for being open to connecting. 💕

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  • Just Keep Swimming

    Dear Young Ones,
    Let me start off by saying I see you. You are not lazy. You are not stupid. You are not incapable. You are not too young to feel the way you do at times. Your feelings are valid. Your mental state is real. You are real. I could sit here and write to you telling you what to do, but instead I’ll write to you telling you what I did. I’ll share with you some of my experiences because everyone tends to think we are so alone, we’re not. The world is huge and everyone likes to mask up and hide their experiences, which makes you who you are. My experiences do not define me but they helped mold me into the person I am now, and the person I am growing to be. One of my first memories is at 8 years old sitting in my top bunk bed drawing a big tree, apples you would think right? No, broken hearts. A swing you would think hangs from the branches? No, a noose tied around my stick figure neck. Big bold letters lined the bottom, “I’M SAD!!!” I had been abused since a very young age, in all ways, mentally, physically, sexually, emotionally, and spiritually by my family. I have used every type of bad habit to run from these experiences and mask the pain I felt. Let me ask you, does a mask just cover or cure? I asked myself, how do I cure scars that one cannot see? That family for so long told me were not real? I’m not one to lie, it is a hard, long road filled with bumps and hills to go over. For me, the first step was leaving my toxic environment that in all reality I loved so much. That was one of the most challenging things I did. For a while I went back and forth, reaching out arguing, begging for an apology I will never get. I had to realize I was only hurting myself so I finally stopped. Therapy helped with that but I wasn’t consistent yet. I worked a lot and didn’t want to use my skills. At first, I will admit, I traded one toxic environment for another. Using vices, hanging with unhealthy peers, sharing bad habits, contributing to thinking our ways were okay and going out a lot. I mean, we’re young right? Meant to make mistakes and “live it up”. Then, I found myself in a toxic relationship that I stood in for a year and a half until I got the courage to leave. Finally, I started taking therapy seriously. Stopped making excuses for not going or not using the skills I was learning. I stopped all of those vices, which took time and a lot of fight. I had to be real with myself and be accountable for the actions I was doing and the choices I was making that got me in that relationship and where I was in life at that time. I was on the verge of being evicted with no source of income, so I applied to multiple programs to receive help. I applied to multiple jobs. I was very ashamed and disappointed in myself and honestly, even aggravated. I had a choice, fight to do better and learn from mistakes or keep the cycle going. Now, almost a year later I got my job back working with kids at a high school. I have an afterschool job with elementary kids. I’m enrolled to start school in fall. Every morning, I brush my teeth then workout and I make healthier food choices. Both have helped my mental health immensely as well as my self confidence and discipline. Every Monday, after work I go to counseling then to a group. After I graduate from that group, I take EMDR therapy to help me remember my traumas so that I can process them and let them go. On Saturdays, I clean my house for the week. Every Sunday I include self care where I do whatever I see fit. Sometimes it’s being lazy in bed all day with a vanilla candle burning and whatever show I’m binging at that time, sometimes I go get my nails done, or my hair, sometimes I sleep all day only getting up to meal prep for the week. Life is a continuous challenge, but by learning what helps me and skills to handle problems in a healthy, safe way, I now know I’m equipped to handle anything life throws at me. I no longer need to fall and get back up constantly, I may trip a little or get off balance, but I stay on my feet now. All thanks to me.

    Nysha Lee

    Voting starts May 16, 2024 12:00am

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  • I appreciate that a lot. I really am doing everything in my power to face everything so then I can be better then my past. Thank you for seeing me.

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  • Best Love

    Self love (smacks tongue)
    I love me (smacks tongue)
    That tastes… bittersweet
    I’m proud of me but this is weird
    When I was younger and feeling myself I’d be shut down
    Chill out, you’re not all that and a bag of chips
    But I meannnn
    Look at these hips
    I am indeed, all that and a bag of chips, the dip, plus more
    I’ve learned that self love is the best love
    It took a while to learn that lesson
    I went looking everywhere for someone to express in
    I let anyone be that person
    Letting anything slide which just led the pain to worsen
    I didn’t know how to be alone
    Alone I felt I was in the dark drowning in my thoughts
    A pool of mean words which led to mean actions
    Mean towards myself
    God forbid I was mean to anyone else
    At 10, I began to hurt myself
    A razor became my best friend
    8 years later that friendship came to an end
    Drugs and alcohol took her place
    5 years later and I finally beat that case
    A long, hard fight filled with tears
    I had to rewire my brain to treat myself as good as I treat others
    I deserve that more than anyone
    I am all I got
    In pain I heal myself
    In sadness I pick myself up
    In anger I calm me down
    In poverty I work my ass off
    I am all I got
    In all things I know I am self taught
    The best lesson I taught myself is self love
    I no longer play about me
    Treat me right or get left
    Respect me or leave me be
    Words are powerful
    So now I speak life into me
    I am beautiful
    I am smart
    I am important
    I can do anything I put my mind to
    Actions speak louder than words
    So I take care of me
    I have a routine for day and night
    And that helps my light shine bright
    I can’t pour from an empty cup
    So I focus on me until I fill it up
    Everyday looks different
    Some things stay the same
    Each day I give me grace
    I give me forgiveness
    I give me love
    I give me patience
    Each day I exercise and eat right
    Health is wealth
    I deserve the love I give to me
    I deserve to be anything I want to be
    I focus my mind and attract
    I enact in stealth
    I move quietly and mindfully
    I’m making my own dynasty
    The strength inside of me shows up in everything I say and do
    Sometimes I surprise me, I realize I really had no clue
    Self love is the best love
    I now can finally say proudly and confidently
    I love me

    Nysha Lee

    Voting is open!

    Voting ends May 16, 2024 12:00am

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    • I really love the story aspect of this piece. I feel like you took me on a journey in your life from beating self harm to beating drug abuse to who you are now. I also used to let anyone be that person and constantly looked for love in other people; sometimes I still do. This poem was a nice reminder of the importance of self-love and I felt very…read more

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      • Thank you! I’m happy I can help you remember the importance of self love. But also, give yourself grace. Just like it didn’t happen overnight for these habits to be learned, it’s not going to happen overnight for them to be unlearned. The first step is acknowledging and you got that down! Now, just try to be mindful of noticing when you’re doing a…read more

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    • Wow! Nysha! Look how far you have come! You are amazing and now an inspiration to not just yourself but so many others. I am so proud of you amazed my you! Keep rising up!I am cheering you on. <3 Lauren

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  • My Best Me

    And like that 2023 is over, this year flew by
    But isn’t that what we say every year when the end is near?
    Still though time does seem to speed up annually
    Does that come with age?
    I’m only 23, a 2000’s baby is what I be
    Last year I finally learned to love me
    That along with a lot of other things
    Habits are hard to change especially when taught young
    Negative habits were all I knew
    Being toxic unconsciously, wanting control over everything, vices to “keep” the pain away

    Smoking, drinking, eating, sexing
    All fake distractions that in the end, made me worse
    Trust issues
    But I called it individuality
    The inability to listen, being stubborn and hardheaded
    2024 I realize, accept, and input the facts that help me grow
    It’s okay to listen, be silent, intake, and think
    Not everyone is out to hurt me

    Balance and confidence are needed to not take everything personally
    Are you a reflection or a lesson?
    I go to my therapist for a session
    I need to release and let go
    So that way I wont feel so low

    2024 is where I meet sober me and face everything inside
    The world is proving what’s in the dark must always come to light
    But I, by myself choose whether I win that fight
    To face and to conquer
    Or to ignore and ignore and ignore until I blow up

    Physically I must strengthen myself
    When I do something I don’t want to do that strengthens my mind
    When I strengthen my mind I have the ability to do anything I want
    So I wake up early, work out, no eating until noon
    At 7 I stop eating, meditate and give thanks to the moon
    The moon illuminates my battles

    Battles that no one can fight for me
    I, by myself must choose my destiny
    And I choose to first change my melody
    From darkness to light
    From anger to forgiveness
    From sadness to happiness
    From negativity to positivity
    From irritability to patience
    From assuming to asking
    From quiet to loud, confidently and unapologetically

    From changing my melody I attract what is meant for me
    From changing my melody I can accept and maintain all that is for me

    2024 is my year of love, light, success and peace
    2024 is the year meant for my best me

    Nysha Lee Camilo

    Voting is closed

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    • Nysha, WOW! I love how you ended this piece: “2024 is my year of love, light, success and peace
      2024 is the year meant for my best me”

      It sounds like you are really facing anything and everything that hurts you or holds you back and tackling it head-on. That takes A LOT of strength and courage. You should be so proud of yourself. I am proud of…read more

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      • I appreciate that a lot. I really am doing everything in my power to face everything so then I can be better then my past. Thank you for seeing me.

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