Part 1. Welcome or Welcome Back to Saguaro Sunday

Whoops…I skipped a week! I’ve been out in the world collecting data 🙂 But here we are again and I’ve got lots to reflect on.

Whether you’re a new or returning reader, remember that Saguaro Sunday is our weekly opportunity to slow down. It’s a chance to practice gratitude, celebrate what went well, acknowledge where we can grow, and reflect on what we learned. It’s also a time to look ahead and ask ourselves: 

What do I want to learn this week? How do I want to bloom a little more?

My hope is that as you read, you’ll also reflect on your own week. You can open up your Notes app on your phone, or better yet, open up a physical notebook/journal!

If you’re comfortable, I’d also love for you to share your reflections in the comments so we can continue learning from one another!

Part 2: This Week’s Gratitude

As always, I am grateful for my family, friends, home, health, job, and Coco.

This week, I am especially grateful for my dad, who recently celebrated a milestone birthday. I am grateful for his love, wisdom, patience, and for instilling in me the desire to learn and be curious.

He helped me become a bookworm growing up, but I also recently learned that he used to enjoy creative writing as well!

This is a gentle nudge to dad to give that a go again 🙂

¡Se te estima!

Part 3: This Week’s Bloom: Boundaries

As a recovering people pleaser, throughout this year I have been making a conscious effort to set and maintain boundaries as needed, whether that’s at work, with family, or in other interpersonal relationships.

For the uninitiated, setting boundaries is a way to protect our well being, physically, emotionally, and mentally, while also helping us maintain healthy relationships. They are not about controlling other people. They are about acknowledging our own needs and limits.

Boundaries can be communicated to other people, but they can also simply be commitments we make to ourselves. For example: “If X happens, I will do Y.” 

If we do communicate a boundary to someone else, it’s still not about forcing them to act a certain way. Please please please keep that in mind! We are not trying to make people change. Instead, it’s about communicating, “If you do X, then for my own well being, I will do Y.”

It’s not a punishment. Boundaries can be communicated clearly and compassionately.

Recently, I found myself needing to practice this skill once again with a new person. They did not seem to like my boundary (which was ironic because they are supposed to be an expert on mental health).

I set a kind and reasonable boundary: “No, I am not comfortable with X because Y, but what I can do is Z instead!”

That should have been enough, and as they say, “‘No’ is a complete sentence.”

Unfortunately, my boundary was treated as though it were negotiable and something that needed to be debated.

This experience reminded me why boundaries can be so difficult.

It can feel scary to say no to people. Especially as women, we have often been socialized to be agreeable. Sometimes we learn that saying “no” needs to come with a smile, maybe an apology, or maybe a lengthy explanation so that the other person won’t be upset with us.

But we are allowed to say no!

We are allowed to say, “I’m not comfortable with that.”

And we don’t have to convince someone that our boundary is reasonable in order for it to be valid.

Remember to be brave. If you’re not comfortable with something, speak up.

People who are emotionally mature might not always be happy about a boundary, but they can respect it because they respect you. They might ask a clarifying question, or they might need a moment to process their feelings, but ultimately they understand that your boundaries belong to you.

And when someone repeatedly pushes against a clearly communicated boundary, that is also worth paying attention to. It might not mean that they’re a bad person, but it does give you information about how they respond when they don’t get what they want. 

Learning to respect our own boundaries as well as those of other people is part of learning how to have healthier relationships.

We got this!

Part 4: This Week’s Wonder – Rapid-fire Edition! 

A few random things I learned these past couple of weeks. I will keep a lot of this vague and I will eventually go back to adding links to my resources library, but if something sounds interesting to you, go ahead and google it :D:

• The word “girl” might be becoming gender neutral, like “bro” or “dude”
• Mexican fashion designer, Manuel Cuevas, was the one who designed The Beatles’ outfits for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• There is such a thing as “Chicano English” and, apparently, I might speak it a bit?
• Intellectual intimacy is a thing

Part 5: Next Week’s Growth 

This week, my goal is to continue balancing my social life with work and Blooming Saguaro. I hope to make at least one Reel/TikTok this week!

Now it’s your turn!

🌵What are you grateful for this week?

🌵 What did you learn?

🌵 What’s something you’ve been wondering about lately?

🌵 How do you want to bloom a little more this week?

🌵 Question of the Week: What is one boundary you’ve learned to set that has made your life or relationships healthier?

I’d genuinely love to hear your reflections. Thank you again for spending part of your Sunday (or whatever day it is when you’re reading this) with me.

I’ll see you tomorrow for Motivation Monday over on my socials!

Until then…

Learn a bit each day. Bloom a little more. 🌵