so this is it: this’ the sign you been looking for.

cus it’s time…

…to see it more clearly. to aim forward. to write ’em down. to print ’em out from pinterest. to cut ’em out from magazines. to speak ’em in progress not in wishful thinking. to embrace the new. to find genuine support: be it lil’ or a lot. it’s time to stand tall in that idea, or that vision. to try ‘em out. to trust not in ‘em but in our skills, and in our gifts. to flex our backbone. to harness our own creative power. to get off autopilot and be deliberate. to give ourselves permission to take the step, even when we don’t know what we’re doing.

nuru the heartistMarch 22, 2022Comment

i love on me better than anyone else can: committing to our cells!

and so i’m learning that i choose better when i prioritize loving on me. cus loving on yourself repurposes your past. loving on yourself filters out what no longer adds to you. loving on yourself keeps you tapped into what feels good/free to you. loving on yourself brings clarity into the experiences you do want. loving yourself powers you with the courage to attract and stand for ‘em. loving on yourself blesses you with opportunities to recreate your present. loving on yourself is a practice and a fucking dedication!

nuru the heartistFebruary 18, 2022Comment

minding my busy-ness

think about it. any business venture is an extension of you. your thinking. your skills. your decision-making. your creativity. your knowledge. it’s your heart’s work materialized.

sharing it with y’all now with monetary energy exchanged, felt different. especially with the value we’ve been placing on money.

so mistakes didn't always feel like lessons like they do now. they felt like a loss, and preventable. at times, i’d get soul caught up in coulda, woulda, shoulda till I didn’t really do no better. my determination wavered between improving and obsessing. reworking a recipe, a logo, a budget, a procedure, or a post, times over. it wasn’t healthy.

nuru the heartistDecember 15, 2021Comment

over 111 songs to uplift us into feelin’ better: healing to our ears

have you ever felt music groove right into your innergetic space? have you ever felt it power a connection straight into your heart? has it ever willed your innergy into motion (even when you thought you didn’t know how to dance)? have you ever felt memories stream along your favorite songs from back in the day? have you ever had a part of a song worm its way into your ear for far too long? have you ever memorized some piece of information, like a formula, or numbers in a different language as a song? have you ever felt more impacted by the music playing in the background than the movie scene itself?

ye, me too.

nuru the heartistDecember 3, 2021 Comment

unshaved and unashamed: armpit hair in 2021

since i can remember ever really using deodorants, my body been mad. i can’t really say there was much thought behind why i started back in 2005. i was maybe 15 learning about this growing body from tv and magazines, friends and classmates, a cancer mom and an immature mind. somewhere in all that influencing, i was deluded into feeling like shaving made me more attractive AND IF NOT THAT, AT LEAST HYGIENIC. and i DON’T KNOW: it felt like a natural progression to use deodorants too.

skin really do be that deep: the mind, body, soul as one

in creating my own skincare medicines, It became clear how truly connected our souls, minds, and bodies are. I knew, but not like I know now. even down to this skin we are in. we are souls housed in this sacred vessel. and with life actively happening, we may choose not to recognize their interactions, but we feel it regardless. you may attribute a dis-ease to something outside of yourself/cells like the food you been eating perhaps, but really how did you get to that first bite in the first place? or perhaps you blame genetics. but what habits really led you there? how did you learn them? what really is at the root of these lifestyle choices?

skincare, skinspiration, lifenuru the heartistNovember 4, 2021skincare, skin, spirit, mind, body, soul, healing, acne, rosacea, psoriasis, rash, hives Comment

i’m deleting my social media: not that you needed to know

for some time now, social media has felt less like inspiration, and more like unproductive comparison.

and by social media, i mean the more interactive ones: like instagram, facebook, tiktok, twitter, snapchat, tumblr, whatsapp, linkedin, even youtube.

so more correctly, i should say: i’m minimizing my online presence to mostly this corner. so my facebook, instagram, and twitter…? they gotta go. i’d release my tumblr too only if i remembered my account.

i’ve been on social media since the age of myspace. i was maybe 17. existing online felt a whole lot simpler then.

affirm with me: we are wealth in human form.

life reassures me daily that i do have a birthright to be content. to have my senses revel in being alive. to feel good. to be at ease. and so do you! yes, of course money can support alla that. but not without us first believing that we are worthy regardless of the sales, or the salary, the degrees, or the professional and even parental validation. i am divinity personified. i am valuable in my own existence. while it’s being culturally normalized to spend ourselves to death for financial security, i know we deserve a life of so much more.

haircare, business, life, money, moonetary energynuru the heartistSeptember 15, 2021Comment

my freeforming crown: the loc journey I thought I'd be dreading

i’m so thankful to have come across loc’d queens and kings that’ve affirmed me in my decision, not only directly, but also in loving themselves so shamelessly. for years now, i’ve been unlearning this programming to have every curl and coil laid, and apologetic. by 2019, i was convinced that freeformin’ into locs was gonna be the most supportive experience towards this process. and it has, even in those short 9 months since i began. evidently, in all her forms, she brings lessons. when i see her, i’m reminded to be expressive, and unfiltered. to flow with change, so much so to find safety in it. to honor my feelings, and my vision. to always see me, especially when others don’t.

haircarenuru the heartistMarch 16, 2021nannanfreeform, locs, natural haircare, skincare, natural hair, black ownedComment

"dear hair," an ever-evolving nhairrative

I learned at 27, you’re a reflection of my innergy, transmuting moments into stories i wish you wouldn’t tell so publicly about what i’d been consuming…

from projections to propaganda, products, to produce; keeping receipts on how unintentional i’d been with my mind, my body.

checkin’ me till eye can’t ignore.

I learned at 29, when I decided to let you be, to expand, bend, and break as you please, i’m still unlearning.

nuru the heartistMarch 10, 2021Comment

Cellflove rituals: from baby oil to lime juice

oiling her skin was an essential process to her rituals. and mines too as her child. that was ‘bout the only step shared. with never enough blue magic combing miracles together, baby oiled toes, baby powdered armpits, and a few taps of bien être on the neck, i was deemed ready. her routine tho, unlike mines, was always so intimate, and intricate. with tubes and jars of promises spread across her dresser, it surely felt infinite too.

nuru the heartistJanuary 17, 2021Comment

when you know you’re sacredness embodied.

one divinity that i’m appreciating more and more about my body is how communicative she is. or rather, has always been. if i’ve consumed anything not too constructive to living my best life, she expresses it. through body odor, dry hair, emotions, stagnation and acne. she don’t ever hold nun back. all of our organs are a working unit, continuously interconnecting and exchanging energy. so, they must all be shown tlc. our skin and hair are expressions of what’s within. and for many of us, our skin and hair are a lot louder than we’d like ‘em to be. but are you listening? what are your cells trying to tell you?

nuru the heartistNovember 14, 2020Comment

Nuru ayoka Àkànjí: a self-given name

bearing these names feels like an affirmation to be. not the version of cellf carved in the dreams and fears of loved ones, teachers, exs, this matrix. not the version of cellf performed to coexist. nah.

the version of cellf that is:

free most of all;

in gratitude;

an uplifting force;

fluid energy.

nuru the heartistNovember 11, 2020name, africa, self-given, healing, reincarnationComment

truth is, cellflove hasn’t always been my first choice.

from nicknames, to music videos, stereotypes, to backhanded compliments, i’ve always been aware of my skintone, and the texture of my hair. they had for long become these seemingly inescapable characteristics of mines, and my mother’s too. even with all those moments spent depigmenting in the shower. even with all those saturdays in some aunty’s backyard or that neighborhood salon chair painfully hot combing, and perming pride down our shoulders. all this solar energy forgone chasing shade, and value. all this staying dry and inactive. decades in a dis-ease relationship with ourcellsves; well, with mycellf.

nuru the heartistOctober 14, 2020Comment