In Bloom
A Blog By Phase And Flow
Hi lovely,
This is In Bloom, a space I want women to feel they can come to as they are.
Not just for the days you feel put together and certain of yourself, but for the days that feel slower, messier, or harder to explain. The days where getting dressed feels like too much, where your energy shifts without warning, or where everything feels slightly heavier than it should.
Because for something so natural, the experience of being a woman can feel surprisingly difficult to make sense of. There’s so much we’re expected to manage quietly, so much we learn without ever being told directly, and so many ways we end up measuring ourselves without questioning where those standards came from.
In Bloom is where I try to make sense of that.
Each month, I explore one idea more deeply. Sometimes it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, sometimes it’s something I’ve only just started to notice. But it’s always rooted in the same intention, to understand the female experience a little more clearly, without overcomplicating it or turning it into something it’s not.
Think of it as sitting down with someone who will tell you the truth, but gently. Someone who doesn’t expect you to have it all figured out, and doesn’t need you to be anything other than where you are.
You don’t have to be impressive here.
You don’t have to be perfect.
And you definitely don’t have to be thriving.
You just have to be here.
With love,
Ava
Laziness, and What We’ve Made It Mean
Somewhere along the way, the idea of laziness began to take on a different meaning. Not as an unwillingness to work, but as a quiet, persistent feeling that no matter how much you do, it never quite feels like enough.
It’s not always obvious where that feeling comes from, but it seems to build over time. In the way we learn to define a “good” day. In the standards we hold ourselves to. And in how quickly effort can be dismissed if it doesn’t look a certain way.
This month’s In Bloom explores the way productivity has come to shape identity, and what happens when rest no longer feels neutral, but something to question or justify.
Because for many women, the problem has never been a lack of effort. It’s been the way that effort is seen, measured, and understood.