Our blogger crush today makes sure she blesses us every Wednesday with a heartfelt piece that speaks either on our personal growth and/or loving ourselves. Today we celebrate her. Mavis B. Elias.
8 Questions for Mavis Braga
1. Describe yourself in three words
Ambitious, God-fearing and philanthropic.
2. Describe your blog
All things self-love, self-improvement and self-enrichment.
I am honestly obsessed with self-discovery. It is a journey I embarked on some time last year and have never looked back. The beauty in knowing who you are, searching beneath the layers and finding the true purpose that lies within. It is from where the blog was founded and transformed into what it is today. My blog has taught me honesty. The kind of raw honesty that allows me to open myself up to my readers, something I genuinely struggled with at the beginning. I felt exposed, but the truth is my writing did not start until I was honest.
3. What you want your readers to get from it?
Truth. Raw truth about matters of life. It is about telling my story in the hopes that it might inspire someone out there, because I have come to understand that relation breeds healing. Knowing that you are not alone and that someone is going through what you are going through, opens up room to heal the areas that hurt. We have all had hard times in life, and many have not fully healed and snapped back to their original form. Bitterness has grown in our hearts and resentment has hardened our hearts, so I seek to soften those areas with my writing.
There is no greater beauty than seeing a woman reclaim her life from whoever and whatever may have happened to her, which is my only mission – to see women find themselves again.
4. What are you reading at the moment?
Chimamanda Adichie – Half of a yellow sun
My greatest obsession is how the mind works, and I have been transfixed by Chimamanda’s mind. I have followed her work and I simply cannot fathom how she formulates her opinions and views. Seeing life through her eyes is simply amazing.
5. What is the biggest lesson you have learnt this year (so far)?
This is a tough one, because this year has been all about lessons. I am struggling to choose which would top the list, but I would say self-love. You cannot give others, what you yourself do not have. This is profound because as someone who spreads love in doing charity work, it was ironic that I lacked in that area. I was operating on a deficiency, and in turn I was not nearly as effective as I would have wanted to be. I have since learnt, and continue to learn that self-love is a journey, not a destination.
6. Mood for the rest of the year?
Plan.
I mean set out and plan everything. I am in a year of ground work, unearthing the things that do not need to occupy space in my life and planting the things I lack. I am simply getting the ground work fertilized, to ensure that I can take on a new year with a set foundation.
7. Favourite quote/set of words?
Forever and always the words of Marianne Williamson,
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
8. What would you rather be doing right now?
Sitting on the beach with wine and a novel in hand. The sea calms me. Wine, my long lost life partner and novels are my escape.
This just made me a little sad… lol, because it honestly is what I would love to be doing right now.
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