Do We All Feel Off Balance?

My pilates instructor mentioned she felt everyone in class was off balance lately. Granted, she was talking in terms of classical pilates; a literal lack of footing. But I took it as something bigger.

World leaders are exercising dystopian-level violence and inhumanity. We’re in the midst of another Mercury retrograde. Throw in a bout of ongoing seasonal depression. For some of us, Saturn returns.

It’s a heavy time. I feel off, and I can’t be the only one struggling to keep my footing.

My nervous system is in shambles. I haven’t even been able to read like I used to, one of my biggest forms of solace. I’ve been reading the same book since before Christmas.

Not to be existential on this International Women’s Day, but what is life?

Because lately, I’m running on fumes toward a destination I can’t even quite make out. But if the only thing I can actually control is my next step, my footing, the least I can do is slow down. Smell the roses — or the flowers on my living room coffee table I’ve committed to refreshing weekly. Stay a while. Be grateful. The prospect of exercising agency is equal parts frightening and empowering, but necessary, especially in these times.

So in the spirit of taking back some of the power the world feels like it’s constantly stripping away, here are the small choices I’m making to center and ground myself:

Choice 1: I went to the English countryside and indulged in hours of uninterrupted reading, waterside strolling, sipping tea and whisky, and stoking warm fires. Will absolutely be doing more of this!

Choice 2: Slow mornings. Coffee at some point, probably, but first supplements, water, and sometimes a little Celtic salt for electrolytes.

Choice 3: I have a dear friend in town. We sat on the couch, hit record, and talked through what we want 2026 to look and feel like, and how we can support each other in manifesting it all.

We’re all just out here trying to stay upright.

Now, onto this week’s featured guest. It’s someone I just so happen to be co-hosting a virtual event with this upcoming Saturday, March 14th — all about organic relationship building, wherever you are in life or in the world. Because the people we keep in our circle also shape how we think and move. Register for this free gathering here! We’re also powering a special giveaway you should check out, too!

Stella Podcast: The “BBB” Building Up Women

Featuring Chai Thia Anderson

I met Chai at an event last summer and the first thing I thought to myself was, this woman is on a mission and I want to know more. We had approached the same speaker simultaneously post-panel and rather than handle the moment with tension and awkwardness, we laughed it off. Introductions followed naturally, the way they do when two people instantly recognize something familiar in each other. She’s building HERspire, “a community-led media and events company dedicated to sharing the real, raw, and powerful stories of women of colour,” with the same kind of integrity as that first encounter I had with her.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE

Stay In The Groove

Upcoming events for your calendar:

• HERspire & Stella Present: The Networking Groove (March 14, Virtual)

• Draw Your Life: A Powerful 4-Week Guided Experience to Tell Your Story (March 15, Virtual)

• Your Turn to Host: Supper Clubs & Events Workshop with Amber Hewett (March 18, Virtual)

• Truth As Source: Writing Toward What’s Real (April 11, Columbus)

• HERspire’s Brush & Bond (April 11, London)

• Black Women in Food Summit (April 23-25, Washington D.C.)

• Black Girls in Media: Lights, Camera, Influence Summit (May 3, Dallas)

Some job opportunities I’m seeing:

• Associate Director, Global Head of Content Strategy & Publishing, Owned Editorial Channels - Spotify

• Writer/Editor - TODAY Digital

• Content Manager - CultureCon

• Editor-in-Chief - GROWN Magazine

• Program coordinator, fellowships - The 19th

• Culinary Producer - The Kitchn

Stella Selects:

• “Influencers Make Money Posting About Their Lives. The Taxes Can Get Messy.” by Oyin Adedoyin

• “Is gatekeeping holding your marketing back?” Featuring Business Insider’s Tameka Bazile; Written by yours truly

• History That Binds: Carried Forward featuring Anna Cobb, Founder of O’kra Sparkling Water

• “Running a Business is Humiliating. But Would You Rather Be Cringe or Broke?” - via

• Tobi Oredein’s Messy Middle CEO Series

• Crystal-Angelee Burrell is seeking nominations for Hard Launch, an interview series centering women entrepreneurs who are building (or who have built) businesses alongside full-time 9-5 work. Submit here.

• Caitlyn Kumi: “If you want to be an influencer you need to start treating yourself like a media company.”

Till next time x

Bri