A good cry is all you need.

I’ve always judged people who recorded themselves crying and shared it online for everyone to see. Unless I was mid sentence and the emotions overcame me, and I HAPPENED to shed tears during a YouTube video or something, then I’d let it stay. But never, would I ever think to turn on the camera mid cry. That is, until last week.

Yes, I became that person.

I was having a conversation with my mom about work and all of a sudden I became overwhelmed with emotion. It was a rough week for me sleep-wise and that coupled with some growing anxiety about the direction of my business caused me to just break down.

I cried with her for a bit and then when she took Shai upstairs, I continued to cry. I allowed myself to just let it all out and while doing so, I looked up at my phone which was propped up and pointed right at me on my desk. And I did something crazy. I opened it up and hit record.

2-minutes worth of tears, sniffling, lip quivers, and sobs. And when I was done, I took a deep breath, gathered myself for a bit and decided I was going to share this very vulnerable moment on my platform.

I was terrified, but something deep inside told me it was the right thing to do. And I did.

I cut the video down to just a few seconds—expressed how I felt in the caption and hit post. And what happened next helped to shift something inside of me.

I’m always racking my brain trying to think of ways I can show up for my community. How can I serve these people who’ve trusted me enough to hit Follow or Subscribe. And this was a moment where the roles reversed.

This community that I’ve built over the years showed up and out for me.

I was flooded with comments of not only encouragement, understanding, and praise for my courage to share—but also, I received prayers in my DMs. Literal written out prayers from women I didn’t even know. I was sent resources. Young, new, and older mothers—women who were not yet mothers all let me know how relatable it was to just need that release.

And this, is how connection is made.

Now, I won’t be recording myself crying online like that again anytime soon. But it did reaffirm the importance of vulnerability and its power when it comes to deepening bonds.

In a moment of self-doubt, I was reminded about the strong community I’ve built over the years. And it gave me the confidence to rest in knowing that I *am* doing something right. My journey may not be as quick as others, but it has damn sure been meaningful.

xo, Aisha Beau