Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk, Videos

I Shared My Pearls of Wisdom on Taboo Talk Podcast!

I’m excited to share that my friend and fellow NAMI-NYC Ending the Silence and In Our Own Voice co-presenter, Lady Charmaine Day, asked me to be on her podcast, Taboo Talk! In this episode I share my 21 pearls of wisdom on how to live a good life as well as my journey living in recovery. Feel free to check it out here or in the video below!

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 7!

✨It’s our final day of affirmations! ✨

Here is what I’ve come up with for today:

I welcome positive change and transformation into my life. I am equipped to face any challenge that comes my way. I am grateful for what I’m learning and I’m ready to continue on my journey.

Reflection: I did it! I challenged myself to create, write, and reflect every day for 7 days. I’m so proud of myself for keeping at it. I feel a lot better than I did a week ago. I’m ready for what’s next and will keep doing my best 😇.

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Power, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 6

We’re at day 6! 🎉🪴

Today’s affirmations are as follows:

I am comfortable and confident in who I am. I radiate beauty and each day I choose myself, I become more powerful. I love and accept every part of me.

Reflection: Guess what, sparkly fam!? Someone approached me today and said I was extremely beautiful. That really made my day and inspired my affirmations for today 😁. I’ve made so much progress in loving myself more and now feel good when I receive a compliment from someone. I’m really proud of myself.

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 5

Day 5 is here! 🥰

The theme for today is self-care. My affirmations are:

I allow myself to rest and regain my energy. I know how to manage my time effectively. I prioritize self-care because it’s important to me and I deserve to feel good.

Reflection: How I think about self-care is evolving and changing every day. Self-care for me can include being kind to myself, doing something creative regularly, and setting daily personal goals. The more I get to know myself, the better my mind and body feel.

What does self-care look like for you?

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Power, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 4

It’s day 4 already! 🦋

Here are my affirmations:

I’m capable of achieving the goals I set for myself. My efforts help me to succeed. I embrace my power and believe in myself. I’m focused on what I know I can do.

Reflection: I remember the dreams I have every night. Some of those dreams don’t have much significance, while others I can tell are showing me something important.

A few days ago I had a dream of a silkworm (a first for me despite often having animal symbols in my dreams). The silkworm was following me not too far away. Although I was confused and a bit scared of it, it continued to linger going from its larvae state to flying toward me as a mature moth. Similar to a butterfly, a moth too represents the ongoing cycles of transformation and rebirth.

I’ve been on an ongoing wave of transitions for the past year and it’s taken a lot out of me. The stress and the uncertainty alone has caused my confidence to plummet. I choose right now though, to push forward and use the silkworm from my dream as a guide to not give up on myself or my goals. I may continue to be challenged, but I know my efforts will pay off.

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 3

Day 3️⃣ and counting!

Today’s affirmations are about me, money, and wealth. They are:

I am financially wealthy. Money flows to me effortlessly both in expected and unexpected ways. My prosperity is limitless. I am open to receiving all wealth life brings to me.

Reflection: *Takes deep breath*. Unfortunately, I experienced a panic episode today. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this amount of overwhelm, but I’ll be kind to myself as I gain my energy back. I was sitting in a meeting and remember getting a flood of negative thoughts, especially about money and security. The fear associated with wealth can stop me in my tracks and be challenging to gain confidence around. I want to get a better grasp at manifesting financial and other types of wealth and feel good about my skills, talents, and abilities. I know things will get better for me, I just have to be patient with myself. I’m ready to continue to move forward.

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 2

It’s day 2 of affirmations!

After a long day of work, here are the words I want to practice:

I live in a constant state of abundance and love. I know who I am and what I deserve. I set boundaries that reflect my needs and advocate for myself when necessary. What is meant for me will always find me.

Reflection: I’ve been on a journey of recovery, both for my mental health and the symptoms I manage daily, and from years of perfectionism/people pleasing due to feeling undeserving of love and companionship from others. I’m learning that there’s nothing I have to do to be worthy of love. I’m allowed to take care of myself, speak up, and put my needs first without being afraid of losing out on opportunities of connection. Although this is a lifelong practice for me, I will consistently remind myself that what’s meant for me will ALWAYS find me.

Posted in Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

7 Days of Affirmations: Day 1

I think it’s about time I’ve done another themed writing series! For this series I’ll be writing personal daily affirmations 🦋.

Today’s affirmations are:

I trust myself and the decisions I make. I’m allowed to make mistakes and learn new lessons every day. I take my time and do my best. Good things happen to me regularly.

Reflection: As I navigate new environments and meet new people, I’m learning to trust myself better and not be afraid to make mistakes. I affirm that my best can look different every day and I can do a good job every time. I don’t have to be perfect. I’m allowed to learn as I go and be kind to myself in the process.

Posted in Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-Talk

Self-Love and Creativity


The energy of love that flows with creation helps me to understand how to take care of myself. Every time I create something, my body feels better. I can navigate happiness and excitement while I bask in the relief of success. I love myself more and more as I make time for my imagination and creativity.

Affirmation: I practice self-care every time I create. My creativity is beautiful.

What’s your favorite way to be creative?

Posted in Confessions, Love, Potential and Worth, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

Dear Little Nina, We’re 30 Years Old Now

Dear Little Nina,

We’re 30 years old already. Can you believe it?! We made it this far. And, yes, we still have big emotions that feel overwhelming sometimes. But, I’m still working on our goals and I’m continuously redefining what success looks like every day.

We were going through some old pictures with mom a few weeks ago and I finally remember. I remember how you felt most of the time. I remember the moments where you didn’t feel seen or loved by anyone. I remember when you started to use perfectionism and people pleasing to try to get people to notice and prioritize you. I remember when self-hate seeped in, too. I’m unlearning all those things for us, though. You are lovable and don’t need to be perfect for anyone to realize how valuable you are. We don’t need to go above and beyond anymore, hurting ourselves by doing too much, just so people can be happy that we’re around.

I remember when we didn’t know how to identify our emotions and were confused a lot of the time from our sensitivities. I know how often we cried from being overstimulated. No need to worry though. I’ve created safety for us now. You can feel your feelings and no one will get mad or yell at you anymore.

Little Nina, there is nothing wrong with you. There was never anything wrong with you. Our big emotions make us extra special. Our brain gets sad and anxious sometimes now, and sometimes we have bad dreams, but I promise I’ll take care of us.

I know that there were things you really wanted to experience, especially when we were a teen, and it hasn’t happened yet, but that’s OK. We still have more life to live and people to meet. I’m trying my hardest not to give up on certain things. I know how much we value love and want to bask in it as much as possible. But, I can’t say I don’t struggle with that idea still.

I’ve grown in loving US, though. I love you so much and want you to feel safe to be you. You are amazing, talented, funny, and beautiful. Your light is sooo bright and it’ll only get brighter as we get older. You don’t have to be scared anymore. I put boundaries up to protect us, OK?

We are helping other people who felt like you did growing up now. I’m sharing our story so we can help other people feel loved and seen, too.

We’re doing a great job and walking in our purpose. It started with you, though, because you did your best with what you had. I got it from here.

I love you so much 🩷
Big hugs and kisses from 30 year old you,
Adult Nina