Hey friend, welcome back. Before we jump in, if you're listening to this episode that we get airs, I want to offer a reminder that this Saturday, March 11 is our community circle at 12:30pm. Eastern on Zoom, you can register at Steff gallante.com/community-circle. And I've included the link in the show notes as well. I would love to share this space with you. Heading into this episode, I'm going to be upfront with you from the start, I am coming in with a lot of questions today, which may leave you with more questions than answers. And even though that can feel really unsettling, sometimes frustrating or like what in the world has happened, I want to remind you that this is okay. This will be a great exercise in the non attachment non grasping and non possessiveness practice I offered in the last episode. And if you're just like, Ah, stop, I don't like that I want answers I know. But sometimes we've got to sit in this space of not having the answers and just a lot of questions in order to get to the place where the actual answers are. So this episode is airing on March 7. And on this day, there is a lot of energy present in the atmosphere with a Full Moon in Virgo. And we are officially entering the glitch the two week period at the end of one season and the beginning of the next amongst other observances happening in the world as well. And in terms of what's happening outside in nature, this is a really beautiful in between time where we still have some of the remnants of winter along with signs of spring. And the guidance from iron VEDA calls us in this time period to tune into the characteristics that are present in nature and note how they're falling within us. Are they creating balance or causing imbalance these characteristics of the upcoming season, and then adjust our self care practices as necessary. And so you may find that some days, especially depending on where you live, for me here in New Jersey, we can have winter in the morning, spring in the afternoon, winter back at night, and some days will be all winter, the next day will be completely spring. And so the idea here is to identify what is present the qualities of the the you know of nature that's present, because that's going to affect you internally. And then adjust your self care practices, meet yourself exactly where you are, and how those qualities are landing within you. And that might be like, wait, what? How do I do that? Are you serious? Like, we're not taught that because the problem is, and the shit that we need to talk about today is there's a rigidness in our practices, our routines, our beliefs, our expectations, and our lifestyle, that is a product of dominant culture. And all this stands in the way of us being flexible of tuning into our knowing and meeting ourselves with trust, compassion and aligned action without guilt or shame. And I cannot tell you how many times when I have conversations with people about noticing how the weather is affecting you, and adjusting your self care practices to meet that people like Are you Are you out of your mind, I don't want I don't have time, I don't have capacity. And also, you know, I'm used to what I do. And if I don't do this thing, I'm gonna feel really guilty about it, I'm gonna have a lot of feelings about it, I get it. As I've discussed in recent episodes, and as you already know, from maybe the thoughts that you're thinking, and also the experiences that you've had firsthand, white supremacy, culture, and the rest of the oppressive systems in place has us vying for success, stability and happiness at any and all cost. There is an extreme focus on intensity, discipline and willpower for us to achieve as fast as possible. And to be enough, right, beautiful and normal all in quotes, of course, for as long as possible. And therefore there's a rigidness to the things we do and don't do, which is why some people balk at this idea of feeling how you feel and how the day is landing on you and then deciding what you want to do about it. That just completely seems asinine. lack of a better word. And I get it, I totally understand that. For some of you, you're rigid and rigidness may turn out in a tendency for there to really be no order at all and simply flying by the seat of your pants. And that's also probably not really sustainable. Right, but no judgment at all, in terms of where it is that you fall here. None. Because we all fall somewhere in the scale of rigidity, and it may shift in terms of the area of our life as well. As I discussed in January, surviving capitalism in the winter workshop and also in subsequent podcast episodes, constantly pushing ourselves to achieve not Dealing with our feelings, whether that's as a result of not having support or space, or especially resources, not honoring or tending to, or living in alignment with our needs and desires of reaching for external things for fulfillment, especially when the benefits end up to be fleeting, or more taxing in the end. Also living without access to the appropriate resources for living a stable and secure life, PLUS dealing with the continued in justices and blatant assault on the lives and rights of specific groups of people, including bipoc and LGBTQ plus, folks. Well, friend, the challenge so many feel with our mental health, especially in the winter, that's not due to the increase in darkness for three months. And you might be wondering, like we're looking at a spring, why are we talking about the winter? Here's the reason why. How we experience winter is going to affect how we show up for care. The rest of the year, how we show up for care in the spring is going to affect how we show up for care the rest of the year. Let me let me go on. In case you missed the last few episodes, especially the ones in January, we were talking about seasonal affective disorder, I want to be very, very clear in this moment, and make sure that I say that I believe depression to be real and present, and also named that we are living in unprecedented times. So I do not at all subscribe to the belief that seasonal affective disorder is simply due to winter's darkness. It's due to multiple things, including the pace of our lives, the unrealistic expectations from society, lack of equity and resources and opportunities, an increase in social justice, and all the ways we bypass ourselves. Hear me out when we are often pushing too hard or trying to keep up for too long of a stretch of time. And we can't sustain this right. So what we do is at a overextending ourselves in every way or completely just trying to hide. This all leads to a complete shutdown, especially at the end of the year. And while unfortunately, there will not be a sweeping and large scale, immediate change to the atrocities happening in the US and across the globe. It's still of the utmost and utmost importance to do what we can to support and disrupt those in justices in any small way. And not letting the disrupting and there, we also need to disrupt the systems and status quo that affect our daily and day to day living. And I know that that can seem inconsequential, but it's not it's absolutely necessary to resource ourselves from for the big and marathon fights, as well, right so that we are adequately supported in our own needs, and to support and serve others. And that's especially important during transitional periods when it's easy for us to feel unsettled and overwhelmed. And so here's where I bring this all together, because you're like, wait, what we're talking about spring we're talking about winter, what is happening? Here's the thing, nature's on a cycle. So each season's energy and invitation is different and will affect you differently depending on your natural energetic dominance, and current state of balance or imbalance. Winters vibe from the dominance of Kapha energy is dormant, dark, often slow and sometimes heavy. It's reflective, contemplative, and offers space. In all of that space just be space to breathe fully and deeply space to reflect space to imagine and as we've been talking about.
All of this over the last few months. There's also a subtle energy that's light and mobile present in the winter that is coming from vata energy. And the saturation of both of these energies and the way these characteristics are expressed in nature will depend on geographic location. Now for instance, here in New Jersey, we didn't really get any snow besides a couple of dustings. So we really didn't have the dense heavy Kapha energy that way. But in addition to the increase in darkness and shortened daylight, which is Kapha and nature, we did have some really cold temperatures, some stretches where it seemed like the ranges would not end and lots and lots and lots of cloudy days and for me that was the hardest part of this winter the cloudiness around and the cloudiness that ran deep inside me holy moly, so deep and so wide. For me some days the vata energy which is light and mobile was present much more than on a subtle level, which can happen during the winter depending on where you live your energetic dominance and your current state of imbalance because my natural tendency is to feel pretty unsettled. For me on paper winter represents this beautiful opera portunity to be quiet and slow and deliberate and present. And still, it says if nature has the ability to actually slow time down. And all of this makes my natural nature of unsettled and fiery, to go very and gogogo to be very agitated. I don't settle down, I don't rest easily. Unless I've hit the wall, of course, right. And this nature of Go Go Go and being motivated to do is, you know, that's all celebrated by dominant culture, right? We need to do this 51 weeks out of the year. And then we're given that one week at the end of December when society says we're allowed to be, you know, quiet and rest. But as we've discussed in previous episodes, one week of rest and disconnection from the outside world, if you're so fortunate and recent resource to do so is not enough. So for me this winter, I really encouraged and I'll be honest, often pushed myself to lean into this kafa energy, which is, like I said, the least dominant in my personality. I have spent a lot of time in the recent years repairing and reimagining my relationship with rest and slowing down. So what I had to do this year, this past winter was I took a magnifying glass to the pace of my day, and my week, the responsibilities and the timelines that I was putting on myself and I stripped everything way down. The one thing you should know about me is that I thrive on schedules and to do lists, especially really long ones. And I'll be honest, the reason I continued leaning into winters by mid January and through February was out of sheer necessity. In mid to late January, I felt a resistance present in the atmosphere when I was trying to move too fast. Don't get me wrong, I was hearing dominant culture start the year strong messaging like loud and clear. And although there were parts of me that were still slow and steady, honoring winter's call, there were parts of me that still got caught up in societies new year with a bang, bullshit. But at every turn, anytime I tried, I was met with resistance. So finally I said, Alright, universe, spirits, ancestors, God, I hear you. And I begrudgingly stopped resisting as much as I could. And it was really hard, especially in my business. There were so many days when I said to myself more than 10 I'm not gonna lie. What the fuck am I actually doing. But it's a good thing I stopped trying to push because once I did that, we went straight into five weeks of sickness in our house, and everything got turned upside down. And so I needed that space, I needed that practice of opening space in time, we are thankfully, finally starting to emerge starting to emerge from all that, although we do kind of have a cold right now. But it seems like the roughest part is done. And the reason that I'm sharing all this with you is for the reminder that even though Winter is coming to an end, this is an important time for you to reconsider your relationship with it, as well as your relationship with the seasons, all of them, and how you engage with them through the year. Winter is a season that is three months long, but we've been conditioned by society to only adopt winters vibe for one week at the end of December, when capitalism slows down a bit, only to start the new year with as intensely as possible. But that goes against nature's energy and as a result produces a lot of strain in our being. When we begin to push in January. It's no wonder we are running on fumes by September, and maybe sheer exhausted. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself here by November and barely holding on in December. I have a feeling that some of you might be able to relate to this. Friend, there is a reason why winters. dormancy is three months long, because we need all that time to rest, recalibrate, release, regenerate and rejuvenate and reimagine are steps forward, based on our commitment to our heart's deepest desire in order to be resourced and aligned for the remaining nine months of the year. And don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean then that we just like leave all the rest behind because that's not true. It is really important that we honor nature cycle and experience and embrace the darkness, slowness, stillness, quietness of winter, in a way that accounts for how this energy affects our current state so that we can properly tend to our needs mentally, emotionally, energetically and physically. So going back to that conversation about seasonal affective disorder for anyone who tends towards a more depressive state, or has diagnosed depression, of course, the winter vibe is going to make things more difficult, which is why getting care regular care with your therapist, your healthcare team that may include medication, no shame and also supporting yourself with aligned self care practices. Every day throughout the year is essential. So the bottom line here is when we live in tune with nature's energy and our needs. When we recognize where dominant cultures pace and expectations are harming us, and there's a more aligned and sustainable way forward, we are better resourced. For the long run, we create more ease in our lives, we reduce our attachment and grasping to the shit that isn't for us. And we decrease our reach outside of ourselves for constant fulfillment. I know it's so much, my friend, you're here for it, you can do it. So when it comes to spring, it's a time of birth, new beginnings renewal, gentle growth that's watered by increased rain. And spring is a slow ish vibe. That's not quite as slow as winter, but certainly not as fast and intense as summer. There's a softness and warming present, which allows for an opportunity to release the accumulation of winters excess. Above all, this phase of nature cycle is our time for tending the soil of our life, and an initial planting of what we want to grow for the rest of the year. So friends, this is another look into disrupting that idea that we've got to push as intensely as possible from January because then we're bypassing the last month and a half or no, two and a half months of winter. And all of its vibe, you know all of its invitation to slow down rest. And again, that's going to look different from for each of us. And it's also going to bypass this essential part of nature cycle in terms of that slowness, that tending to the soil, clearing out the junk and the GOC in the stuff that is not going to support healthy soil that allows for beautiful growth. And so I'm hoping that this is starting to maybe set off some alarm bells or some questions in your mind of wait a second like this makes sense. So what now even though it is still winter, we are beginning to see evidence of spring coming and these characteristics may be different depending on where you are geographically.
I think in most places in the northern hemisphere the sunrises earlier now and the sunsets later. So more daylight Yeah, II. And here in New Jersey, specifically, there are flower buds on the trees, some little flowers and stems of flowers are popping up. We've got warmer ish temperatures during the day, and there's a lighter ish feeling. And the birds are coming back and chirping throughout the day. Now spring is technically characterized as a coffee season, which is the same energy that dominates the end of winter or all of winter in some geographic locations. But as you're probably already drawing the connections to we experienced this energy differently in this season, mainly in the speed, density and moisture. Although it still has a slow ish ness to it spring does have a lighter feel due to the increased daylight. And generally more moisture is present in a few ways from the rain. The old proverb April showers bring May flowers is playing in my head as I'm talking to you about this, as well as the thawing out of the ground with any ice or slow snow that accumulated melting. And so even though spring is technically a Kapha season, it does feel different and the characteristics are different. And so during this glitch period, and this next these next two weeks, they're going to be some really important practice is for you to explore that gentle transition into spring. And friend with that word gentle. We are already disrupting dominant culture, which you know, is one of my favorite things to do. I'll be honest, though, for the last few years, whenever we entered the glitch, my teaching and learning offerings, we're always about action oriented self care practices, you know, like, lean towards these foods, do this for your morning routine sleep, etc, right? And how to be good to slowly implement these shifts. So there's a smooth transition from one season to the next and don't get me wrong like these are really important. But in the last few months, I've noticed that there was something missing. I think I had been feeling this but I wasn't sure how to act on it. And I realized that there was an essential part of the process that was asked She stood in the way of these practices becoming embodied for people long term. And that was the mental and emotional relationship to our self care, to specific practices and dominant cultures, conditioning, about self care, obviously, also, all within the consideration of our identities, our access and the intersection of all of that, including our experiences. Because here's the thing, without understanding the disconnect, in our relationship to self care to specific practices, and dominant cultures conditioning, about self care, without understanding the limiting beliefs that we hold the old truth and lies we hold without acknowledging them without staring them in the face, and then deciding to take action to do things in a different way, a more supportive and aligned way, all the education in the world isn't enough. So my offering today very much leans towards the inner work, which will absolutely impact and support your outer work. And if you're looking for more guidance on action oriented practices, stay tuned. They're coming, and future episodes and offerings, and I'm really excited about them. But I really do believe that this needs to be the foundation of the work. So the first practice I have for you, is to consider what energy and practices from winter are the ones that you'd like to preserve, heading into spring and really the rest of the year. And what needs a clearing out what energy what practices need a clearing out. So I'm gonna ask another question, what of winters invitation to be slow, reflect, rest, recalibrate, rejuvenate, and imagine, is really supportive and needs to stay and even evolve? And for imagining, how can you really open the lens to a wider outlook, especially for your entire year? Realistically, what did winter rest practices look like for you? I've talked a lot in podcast episodes, newsletter ring, you know all the spaces where I was showing up about the practice of seven types of rest, physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual. So consider what worked and what didn't. What do you want to explore more of in the coming season and in the coming year, and on the flip side, what's clingy or stuck that's not serving you? What limiting beliefs or thoughts that do not support your truth and growth, need to take a hike? Consider Where did you disrupt dominant cultures, messaging and practices within your own care? Where is there still work left to do? Spoiler alert, there is always more work to do, because dominant culture runs deep. So please be tender with yourself as the answers arrive, you are not doing it wrong, you are not doing it's not that you're not doing enough. It's just shit is real deep and real hard. And it's gonna take a lot of time and a lot of energy to undo. So I encourage you to create space for inquiry. This doesn't have to be space that is quiet still or secluded. You can be in transit in motion and in the presence of presence of others. So start the practice. By simply asking yourself, what energy and practices from winter are the ones I'd like to preserve and what needs a clearing out? And let the question be open ended without expectation of when the answer should arrive? Or what they should be. Right remembering the practice of Aadhaar gras from last episode, non attachment, non grasping non possessiveness all the way. You might be surprised when the answers come in the situations you least expected. That's part of the fun. I think it's fun. I mean, not always, when you're like, oh my gosh, I didn't expect that. And especially not at this moment, but fun nonetheless. Second practice I'm offering is to notice how the new characteristics presence in present in nature from spring are landing on and within you and how you feel about spring coming in general. Let me address the first part of this inquiry first, how does it feel to you on the days when the qualities of spring are more saturated? Or the moments in time when those qualities of spring are more saturated? Do you feel settled? Do you feel unsettled? Are you feeling settled and maybe excited for more daylight, warmer temperatures, new activities, the speed of light, picking up a bit notice I say a bit and getting shit done in a sustainable way. If you're feeling settled, what are small things you can do to continue to support this? This gentle way of being and if you feel like you still need more slowness, maybe you need more quiet, maybe you're feeling resistant to changes that are coming Seeing, maybe some of winter's darkness is still hanging on for you. Well, if you're feeling this way, maybe consider is there a way to shift some actions to establish more comfort and harmony. Or maybe this is an invitation to get out of your comfort zone and begin trying on some more uplifting practices to help shift your energy. And the reality is, you may be unsure. Because the problem with dominant cultures, conditioning being so deep within us and our tendency to bypass ourselves, especially, of course, based on identities, access to resource experiences, that listening to yourself may be hard, you may not be able to discern what's true and what's fake, you might feel uncomfortable slowing down or tending to yourself, it may feel unsafe, or just really weird, there may be a lot. And so I want to be very clear that while I'm offering these things, I understand that everything's not black and white, and everything is not always going to fall well for you. I don't want you to feel as though I'm making very light of this and not at all. And so if you acknowledge that there's some like deep work that needs to be done, know that it's not you, and seek out support with this. Consider also that on the days or moments, I feel a little bit more on the wintry side, over the course of these next couple of weeks, or even after spring begins. Definitely inquire how that's landing within you. If the energy is soothing to you. This is a good time to engage in winter practices that you feel were supportive as long as it doesn't deepen your, you know, connection to lethargy and darkness, right? But if the energy is going to hide in any lethargy or feeling then lean towards practices that are going to be yes, if you're if the energies going to heighten your lethargy, please lean towards practices that are going to be more uplifting. And again, this takes a lot of time and a lot of points of inquiry. I don't mean sitting in time as in like, you've got to sit for 10 minutes to inquire. But I mean, like continuing to come back to the state of inquiry. Now, for the second point of inquiry that I just offered, how are you feeling about spring coming? And there's no judgment with whatever the answer is, and there's certainly no right answer. There's only your answer. And the important part of this practice is getting a true understanding of the why behind your answer. The reason the why is really important is because things on the surface are not always what they seem, as I've already said, right? Sometimes they are, but let's be real, sometimes they're not. It is possible that you really took winter by the horns and did all the resting all the recalibrating all the imagining and are ready to dust off your slumber. Awesome.
But are you planning on hitting the ground running or starting slow? It's also possible that you look forward, you are looking forward to spring because you feel as though the slowness and dormancy of winter doesn't vibe with you. And spring and summer is where you thrive, right? That's me too. But let me ask you, in using your regular method of operation through spring and summer, how do you feel typically going into the end of August and September? Do you feel resourced for the last four months of the year? And what is your energy storage? Like in November and December? Still got some gas left in the tank? Or are you running on fumes or maybe absolutely nothing's left. Another possibility is for some of you winter is just a shitshow of darkness. And yuck. And the spring brings a welcomed and much needed lightness, an uptick in speed and spring in the speed of spring to lift that dark cloud. How are you dealing with this figurative cloud figurative cloud throughout the rest of the year, so that it's not so heavy the next winter. So what I'm basically getting at is, you need to get really crystal crystal clear or at least begin the process of it. You may not get crystal clear this time. But it's as long as you're coming to the practice of inquiry, of understanding what's going on, the clarity will come. And I want you to become clearer in how you're feeling going into the spring. And why because when we are not clear on how we're feeling, why we're feeling the way we are, we cannot appropriately meet ourselves there with aligned support we need and that results in reaching for all kinds of things to support ourselves that just aren't for us. These things may feel good in the moment but are not, you know, are not lasting and maybe don't address the root cause of the problem. They may feel good at the moment but are taxing in the end or dehydrating in the end for us. They may mask or numb our feelings which is not helpful at all in the long run. And then once you become clear on how you're feeling going into spring and why this is the third practice, decide how you're going to meet yourself there gently and intentionally with your thoughts, words and actions, especially Mindful self care, with flexibility of course, and in the rest of the episodes. This month, I'll be offering practices for you to explore spring well being. But in the meantime, an important part of his process will be to notice what tendencies and urgencies are coming up, that are rooted in beliefs that are old capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy culture. Where is the resistance between your normal tendencies around this time of year and what's actually going to be supportive? You might be feeling like yes, stuff like in theory, all this makes sense. I'm all in. But in practice, things may actually feel really foggy, or murky, and that's completely normal. This inquiry and exploration into clarity is a big part of the work I do with clients as they create a personalized self care plan. Within my self care coaching group, mentorship group, the holistic self care collective friend, the reality is sometimes you need somebody to walk beside you, often we need somebody walk besides us and assist us on our journey. And that's exactly what I'm here for. So please, if you're like, dammit, yes, I need some help here. Definitely head to Steff gallante.com/holistic with a W H dash, self dash care dash collective to enroll and we'll get you started on finding your gentle aligned way forward, that starts to shed some of that stuff that's no longer for you, in a way that feels okay. My friend, the last offering that I have for you today, but certainly is not the least, is to embrace today's Full Moon in Virgo energy. And while the energy of the full moon typically lasts three days, I think it's still important to heed its guidance for days but beyond. So it's totally okay, if you're listening to this episode after March 10. This Full Moon in Virgo brings a sensual energy that really focuses on your own pleasure both in your happy satisfaction and enjoyment as well as sexually. And it's a call to amplify self love and deep and devotion, which is the absolute focus of higher beta self care. I love this invitation because it's boosting, it's calling us actually to boost our focus on our pleasure and what truly feels good. And when we do this, our actions are typically very intentional. And thus, the the outcome is very satisfying. As a result, the stuff that's fleeting, like the practices that we do that offer, you know, a immediate gratification, but that doesn't last or the stuff that we feel like we should be doing all that stuff, you know, falls away. We don't have time for that. We need to meet ourselves with sustainable actions of pleasure. Pleasure that is true and deep and spacious. And super enjoyable. And I love that this Full Moon energy could bet connects us back to one of the practices I offered in January from Mia Birdsong, called juicy January, which was choosing juicy practices juicy as in practices that are fluid, deep pleasurable, nourishing, sustaining, supporting. It's not simply reaching for that comforting in the moment, but will be fleeting or leave you worse off in the end. It is truly choosing something that will be absolutely supportive for you. And remember, when we're talking talking about coping in the moment, because some shits going down, that's different, right? Yes, meet yourself there with a course what is going to help you in the moment? Yes, 100%. But the fact remains, as I was talking about earlier, you know, because of this, this practice we have of always being busy always serving others, dealing with unprecedented shit on a huge asked level. We're not always stepping into the time and space and the practices that really are truly nourishing for ourselves. And remember, that truly nourishing deep practices, they don't have to be time consuming. They just have to be really intentional. And can be very quick in nature, if we are active in the choosing of what that is and why we're doing it. So I understand if you're like, Well, this is not going to be easy. It's not an easy practice, because the messaging from dominant culture on quick fixes and doing things a certain way and as intensely as possible is loud and far reaching. But the energy and in the atmosphere with this Full Moon Virgo, and the emergence and spring is going to help us disrupt all that noise. So I'm not worried about you. It's going to help you disrupt the attachment to these limiting beliefs and the ways that really aren't serving you. Because remember, when we allow for more pleasure in our lives, we soften we can become more gentle with ourselves and others and show more compassion. And so I'm asking you now How can you amplify the central energy in your life in the coming days? How can you engage in activities and ways of being that are truly and even deeply pleasurable in a way that honors your capacity for some real, in real time support, with disrupting limiting beliefs around our care and the pleasure we deserve, and our attachment to them, as well as our behaviors that are standing in the way of our well being, I love for you to join me this Saturday, March 11, in our community circle 12:30pm Eastern on Zoom, friend, remember, or in case this is your first time hearing about it in this space, we pause, we get quiet, we turn inward with curiosity, we create mindspace we connect to our collective breath, we meditate and amplify our self care. This is a space for you to be held in the same way you so fiercely give care to others with the same care is how I'll be meeting you. And it is here that you can put your baggage down for a little while and even leave some stuff that's not serving you because friend, you don't have to carry it all. It is here that you can create space and time for you to just be as you are without judgment or expectation and it is in this space. When it is opened, that you'll more easily begin to engage with your points of inquiry that I've offered in this practice or other points of inquiry you have and begin to explore answers. I'd love to share this space with you and you can register at Steff gallante.com/community-circle And I've included the link in the show notes. Please join me sliding scale begins at $5 and there's also free options so no one's going to be turned away for lack of funds. I've included the as I said the link in the show notes please please please invite your friends to come along. And until next time, my friends Please be kind to yourself gentle to yourself just as you would to those who are most precious to you. Whether that's a human animal, baby or a plant. I'd love to hear your thoughts about anything I talked about in this episode questions you have arguments that you have all the things so please reach out I love love, love to hear from you. And if you've been loving the show, please share it with your nearest and dearest and also leave a review or a rating. I am so grateful for you take good care and stay connected. You my friend are a badass and you are enough be well
