Sessi. Dancing Corners

Tag: joyinsmallthings

  • 4th of July: Family, Fireworks, and Full Hearts

    4th of July: Family, Fireworks, and Full Hearts

    On my dad’s side, everyone takes turns hosting the holidays.

    My Titi Belen hosts Thanksgiving. My Tio Carlos hosts Christmas Eve. My Uncle Spooner hosts the 4th of July. I started hosting my cousin’s Christmas photoshoot and hanging out before all the Christmas activities. So yes, in my family, holidays are not just dates on the calendar. They are full blown family events.

    Back to the 4th of July.

    In Casa Rivera, my Uncle Spooner buys fireworks, my Titi and Tio get the food ready for the afternoon and dinner, and everyone brings their own kind of energy. There are drinks, food, music, kids running around, and family everywhere.

    Casa Rivera

    The kids play in the pool. The adults talk, laugh, joke, and catch up. Then once it gets dark, everyone gets ready for the fireworks.

    My Uncle Spooner does not play when it comes to fireworks either. We have ground fireworks and aerial fireworks. Everyone gathers outside, watching in awe, recording videos, taking pictures, and holding onto the people they love.

    Some family members are talking loud, some are laughing, and my Uncle Spooner is usually somewhere shouting about the fireworks like he is the official mayor of the 4th of July. And of course, Spanish music is playing in the background because what is a family function without music?

    Honestly, my Uncle Spooner made me fall in love with this holiday.

    He brought the family in during the summer. He gave us a reason to gather, eat, laugh, and make memories. Everyone has a good time with smiles, food grilling, and love all around.

    There is always something happening in my family. A graduation announcement, a pregnancy announcement, a birthday, or just another reason to celebrate life together.

    Last year, I brought my forever friend with me. She had fun, and she is coming again this year. That meant a lot to me because I do not bring just anyone around my family. I do not want temporary people in my life, especially around the people who mean the most to me.

    The day I bring a man to a family function, please know it is serious. My family means a lot to me. I am very family oriented, and my family is full of roasts, jokes, stories, chaos, and love. We talk about anything and everything.

    So happy 250th birthday, America. I hope we remember that we are still a melting pot, and that we all deserve to get along, live comfortably, and lead with love.

    And for me, the 4th of July will always be about more than fireworks. It is about family, memories, music, food, and those little moments that remind me how lucky I am to be surrounded by love.

  • My Body Needed the Pause: Yoga at Bryant Park

    My Body Needed the Pause: Yoga at Bryant Park

    I’ve been working nonstop lately with extra Saturdays because work is very short-staffed. Helping people get the right things done is important, but if you don’t give yourself the same care, burnout will come faster than you expect.

    No one wants to feel burnt out and do the same thing over and over again.

    I’m all for breaking the daily routine because I rarely use my PTO, and I almost never call out of work unless I’m really sick. So on June 3rd, 2026, I took a free yoga class at Bryant Park in New York City.

    The class started at 6 p.m., but I left right after work and headed straight to the bus. First stop: Juice Generation for the Blue Beauty Smoothie . It was delicious, and I’ll always support them.

    After that, I headed to MoMA to see the Frida and Diego exhibition. But, you know me your girl got lost before finding the location. Classic side quest behavior.

    I was on a time crunch, so I told myself I would go next time because I wanted a good spot for yoga. This year, Halara sponsored the event, and they had KeVita drinkable yogurt and Solely organic mango and guava fruit gummies. I got both and found a good spot for class.

    It was hot in New York, but I was able to relax during the class, and honestly, I needed it. I still think it’s interesting that they had influencers at a free event. New York has so many influencers now that it sometimes feels like they randomly pop up everywhere, telling you about the next viral restaurant or place to go.

    Anyway, it was a beautiful summer day to do yoga in the park, and it was exactly what I needed. I love a city reset.

    The next day, I was so tired at work and honestly, that told me everything. The reset worked. My body needed the pause, my mind needed the city, and I needed one small reminder that I’m allowed to step outside my routine and come back to myself.

  • Lost & Found on the Concrete Playground

    Lost & Found on the Concrete Playground

    The Version of Me in NYC 🗽

    2017-2019: Chaos in Heels

    Steam curled up from subway grates as I power-walked Broadway in rain-soaked stilettos crying, under eating, sleepless, yet still nailing every lecture, two internships, and endless dance classes. Friends saw a grin; Mom and my brother saw the cracks. It was heartbreak + feeling “behind” + “not good enough” the full quarter-life cocktail.

    Dorm-Room Floor Confessions

    Alone in my tiny single, I’d face-plant on cold tile, sob, then yank myself up for heel workshops with Ksyn, The Dollhouse, Aisha Francis all queens who slowly reignited my spark and reminded me my body could still live inside the music.

    Walk, Breathe, Repeat

    I skipped the subway, clocking miles instead earbuds pumping therapy playlists. When panic spiked, I’d duck into a bathroom, plunge my hands under icy water, inhale four counts, exhale four counts, and keep it moving. That trick saved more nights than I can count.

    The Night Tank DMed

    One evening, fresh off work, I caught Tank’s Sex, Love & Pain II tour at BB King’s. He joked about me filming (“Sis, you making a bootleg?”), then slid into my Instagram DMs after the show “ All love, just playing.” Serotonin unlocked.

    Dating While Unhinged

    Funny truth: rock-bottom energy is apparently magnetic. My DMs overflowed, dates lined up like taxis at Penn Station. Healed me gets crickets; chaotic me got invites. Therapy sessions became weekly deep dives into self-worth, love, and why attention ≠ affection. Wednesdays blurred into late-night hangs with Uncle Carlos Tommy’s crew life advice served with greasy diner fries.

    The Quiet Turning Point

    Between 6 AM lifts, heel bruises, and those frost-breath city walks, I stacked accomplishments I was too anxious to celebrate. Only later did I realize NYC had held both my breakdown and my breakthrough.

    2026: Same City, New Nervous System

    Anxiety? Basically ghosted thank you, weekly therapy, journaling, lifting, dance, and miles of fresh air. My blog the dusty side project from eight years ago is now a thriving home for intentional stories on healing from anxiety and creative purpose. Mind, spirit, body: healthier than ever, and the goals keep stacking.

    I’m living proof you can chase a dream, shatter, glue yourself back together, and still hit publish glitter everywhere, stilettos on.

    Call to Heart

    💌 Share this with your favorite mess in progress

    Because if you’re knee-deep in your own concrete jungle spiral, remember: the cold water resets, the midnight walks, and the sweat-drenched studio lights are carving the stronger version of you right now. Keep breathing. You’re not lost you’re under construction.

  • 35 and Becoming

    35 and Becoming

    I’ve lived 35 years, and I’m still becoming.

    Not in a rushing, fixing, dramatic kind of way but in a quiet, rooted way.

    A way that stays.

    I don’t need to be more.

    I just need to keep becoming more of myself.

    This birthday doesn’t feel like a reset.

    It feels like a return.

    A return to the parts of me I abandoned when I thought I had to be perfect to be loved.

    A return to softness after years of survival.

    A return to beauty not the curated kind, but the real kind.

    The unmade-beds kind. Morning coffee. Laughing somewhere with friends.

    I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what I do know at 35:

    Life is messy.

    You’ll cry while working out at the gym with your friend or at the bar.

    You’ll laugh in the kitchen during deep conversations on nights you stay in.

    You’ll forget your worth, then remember it like a firework.

    You’ll lose people who swore they’d never leave only to realize you were doing all the heavy lifting. And yes… it’ll happen more than once.

    But then, you’ll find peace in unexpected places.

    New York.

    A dance class.

    South Carolina while visiting a friend.

    Mexico.

    Mexico City while visiting your uncle.

    Italy

    Spain

    And somewhere along the way, the glow-up happens but it’s internal.

    It shows up in how you respond.

    How you pause before reacting.

    How you protect your peace even when it would be easier to self-destruct.

    It shows up after two years of therapy.

    After learning how to communicate better.

    After choosing healthier bonds with friends, family, and whoever is brave enough to take a real risk on you.

    Now, I find joy in the small things.

    Coffee runs.

    Slow mornings.

    Loud dinners.

    Spontaneous photoshoots.

    Walking aimlessly through New York because I don’t want to go home just yet.

    I’ve also learned this:

    You can love your life and still long for more.

    You can be grateful and still hungry.

    You can be more than one thing at once.

    You don’t have to follow anyone else’s timeline only your own.

    If it feels right to me, that’s what matters.

    I met the most down-to-earth dancers, entertainers, and creatives in New York during my mid and late twenties. It felt community based. Real. Appreciated. And I’m grateful I experienced that because now, I know what genuine connection looks like.

    Thirty five isn’t the finish line.

    It’s the soft middle.

    It’s where I stop performing and start embodying.

    Where I hustle less for love and trust it more.

    Where I know who I am just a little less shy, and a lot more hopeful.

    Here’s to not apologizing for who I’ve become.

    To loving louder.

    Resting deeper.

    Laughing easier.

    Letting things unfold naturally.

    I am so ready for you, 35.