Welcome to the Black Girl Burnout podcast. Kelly here.

And today we're going to talk about how to opt into celebrating and celebration.

I'm really excited to do this episode because I have spent a lot. I looked back on the, I don't know,

150 episodes we've done now for this podcast that I've written. And I realize I don't think I've

talked enough about fun and celebration. I've talked about the hard stuff and how to opt out of struggle, but opting out

of struggle doesn't have to be miserable. It can also be fun. And as we talk about opting into

joy is a key part of getting out of the struggle and leaving behind those myths that really shape, unfortunately,

who we are and we have to fight against on the regular and unlearn.

When we think about black women, a lot of times people are drawn to the negative,

or they're drawn to the qualities that we have developed out of hardship, perseverance, you know, we really will get it

done, hardworking, will put others first. There's a lot about being a black woman that is born

out of generational trauma and historical myths. But there's another side about being a black woman, which is that

it should be a joyful and fun experience. And don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that there

aren't struggles and trials and difficulties, right? There absolutely are. And that's why this podcast focuses on how to

overcome them, how to get over comparison, how to get past when people are disrespectful or

hurtful or how to set good boundaries. That is so critically important to opting out a struggle.

But celebrating is also an equally important part of it. And I don't think we celebrate enough or for myself. I know I can speak for

myself and say that certainly is something I struggle with. If you recall in the last episode,

if you've been listening to this in order, I talked about self-improvement traps. And I said, one of them can just stop us from

really being able to be and enjoy our accomplishments, enjoy how far we've come. For always looking

to be better, we don't actually just sit in the being of better. And I talked about my own journey

that I don't do that. I tend to just add things to my plate. Even though I don't burn out like I used

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