Dear there ,

This is Week 5 of The Elementa of My Becoming and yes, I’m sending it a little late. Why? Because I got wrapped up in dreaming and building something beautiful: The Elementa Way, a more rooted, integrated expression of my voice, my work, and this community.

And like many of us, when I get excited about something new… I sometimes go quiet about the things that feel heavier.

Which brings me to this week’s theme: Gentle Visibility and Depression Awareness.

October is Depression Awareness Month, and October 10 marks World Mental

Health Day. These aren’t just calendar markers. They are personal invitations to:

• Name what doesn’t show up in our highlight reels

• Witness the parts of us that are still mending

• Offer softness to the self that performs strength on autopilot

We often survive in silence. But healing requires visibility. And visibility doesn’t always mean broadcasting. Sometimes, it just means telling the truth to yourself.

Prompt: What am I tired of pretending isn’t affecting me?
Let your journal hold what you’ve been holding.

Practice: Light a candle and place one hand on your heart. Whisper, “You don’t have to hide to be held.”

Support: Download and listen to this free meditation, Loving Kindness, to help cultivate kindness for yourself.

A moment of vulnerable visibility: My upcoming self-help/memoir book, which I scheduled to finished on 10/10, was written through a season of invisible struggle. I selected that date without even knowing that it was an acknowledgement of mental health globally. Writing helped me find language for what I couldn’t explain at the time. I share that not as a triumph, but as a testimony. If you’re in it now, your words will return. Your light will rise.

Thank you for your patience, your presence, and your quiet power.

With grace for all that’s unseen,

Galanda
GalandaB, The Elementa Way