My Story: Pleasure Activism + Mental Health
Pleasure activism saves my life.
It reminds me of the beauty of life even while facing and holding the suffering.
Pleasure makes me feel alive, a deep breath.
While activism gives me the purpose and direction I need to keep swimming.
I breathe, I swim.
I breathe, I swim.
I make my way the best that I can.
I sit with myself and whisper that I do not need to be perfect, my life does not need to be perfect.
I keep swimming.
~
In 2020, my one goal was to align my philosophy with my actions, work, thoughts, and being. The pandemic hit and I lost everything. My mental and physical health hit rock bottom - a danger to myself. Still, I made it through thanks to pleasure activism and my community. My life needed to fall apart so that I could realign with what was meant for me. This story is long and beautiful and is the main catalyst for my memoir ~ one day you will hear it all <3.
Sola Habibi emerged in the depths of a COVID lockdown depression. Recently broken hearted, unemployed and isolated, I was applying to jobs left and right - rejection a broken record on my broken heart. I was unemployed for a full year.
Like many who were laid off during this time, I found myself aimless, anxious, and depressed.
The darkness of this world seeped into my immune system leaving me heavy. I could argue I do not control my absorption of this dark and heavy world, but rather I have increased my capacity to hold it all. The depression, anxiety and stress from living in a white supremacist and capitalist state often manifested as physical and mental illness.
I spent a lot of time rewiring my brain from harmful capitalistic and supremacist mindsets that said I was worthless, lazy, or dumb for being unemployed, housing insecure, and single. Stubbornly, I knew although institutions were not recognizing me or my value, I was and am incredibly capable, worthy, and lovable. Eventually, I stopped waiting for them to pick me and started my journey with pleasure activism. I found happiness while writing, studying, organizing, painting, drawing, and otherwise expressing myself. From these moments of joy and rediscovery, Sola Habibi, my pleasure activism business, was born.
This project has shifted into a career filled with joy, purpose, and alignment ~ all deep medicine for my mental health.Pleasure activism pushed me to see past these systems and to find work and labor that brought healing to me and my community. As I’ve continued down my pleasure activist and entrepreneurial path, my health has improved.
In moments of mass uprising, collective opening, and awakening, we do not need to live in desperation and hopeless. Our work and labor can contribute to the change we need. We don’t need to participate with only urgency based action, but with action from a place of clear headed longevity and endurance.
Right now, I know my role is ushering you to a new life or project centering joy and purpose. We cannot go back to closed eyes. We must move forward; follow our intuition and create the world we want to see using our divine work and labor.
So I ask you, does your life feel aligned with the world you want to see? Are you moving in the direction of contentment, purpose, and liberation?
If you answered no to these, don’t worry. I’ve written up a guide to support you with your transition.
