Justina Blakeney

Thank you.

I'm really honored.

I keep on looking at Amanda on the zoom screen and I'm just giving you such a big hug and it's so beautiful to see you.

I've been thinking a lot about this over the past few years, because I feel like in the ether, we are talking a lot about self-love and self-care and, and,

something that really hit me hard that I don't feel like is as much part of the conversation is self-respect.

And it's an angle on self-love that I think about a lot because you can love in so many different ways.

And sometimes loving can look a little bit too much like smothering or loving can look too much, a little too much like

spoiling or indulging.

And I think sometimes for me, I can get into a place where that's true for myself as well.

So one of the things that I've been thinking a lot about and that helps me get out of that sort of deprivation feeling, if I'm trying to be more conscious about

what I'm putting in my mouth or how much I move my body or how much time I spend in front of a screen or any of these things is this idea of self-respect and this idea of what is good for me is good for the realm.

And that that looks different from indulging at every moment.

What that might mean sometimes is restraint and just finding that in-between place in that.

And temperance is something I've been thinking a lot about lately because I can get into a state of overwhelm or I can get into a state of go, go, go, go, go.

And everything's, you know, and so I have to like pull myself back and breathe and practice temperance and remind myself self-sovereignty.

not just for my good, for the good of the realm, the higher purpose.

So it's just these little reminders, these mini mantras and things that help me and bring me back when I'm not feeling grounded or when I feel myself starting to go into, yeah, I'm feeling like, oh, I'm so deprived.

I can't have that dessert because I'm not eating dairy.

Instead of that, it's like, oh, actually this is

an opportunity to practice self-sovereignty.