ShaVaughn Elle (00:00.888)
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Muses Lab podcast. It's your girl, ShaVaughn Elle And I'm actually pulling a blog topic. I don't like calling myself a blogger per se, because I do more than just blog. But I don't know, at least I haven't created the word for myself, what to call things like my substack or my medium.
Maybe it's a publication. Maybe I'm just a writer that has publications, but I had a topic that I wrote down in my spreadsheet of topics to write whether it's on my sub stack or whether it duels as a podcast episode in a sub stack piece, but I wrote it down and when I went back to review
my topics because I'm like, don't know what to write. But then I have like this spreadsheet of like 45, 45 topics that I can utilize to write with. So as I'm reviewing my spreadsheet, I come across a title, Root or Fruit. And for the life of me, I could not remember what I meant. What, what the, the context was when I wrote that. So I happened to be
running through Evernote. That's one of the writing platforms that I've used for over a decade. And they've just become like super expensive over time. And I'm just like, I'm just going to stay with the free version and start migrating a lot of what I've written on Evernote over the last decade into Google Workspace, which is the current platform that I use. I'm sure there's there, I know there's other platforms, but right now we're using Google Workspace as where we at.
And as I was scrolling through all the unfinished written pieces that I have started and stopped over the last decade, I came across Root or Fruit. And it clicked and I was like, this is what I meant when I wrote down Root or Fruit. So the question I will say, I jot it down as a thought starter.
ShaVaughn Elle (02:29.932)
was or is, do you see yourself as the root and take caution to what feeds you? Or do you view yourself as fruit and allow yourself to be consumed? If you are the fruit, who or what is your root? And that was the thought starter that I had. And when I begin to outline how I wanted to
approach this topic, it kind of evolved into, I don't want to say something else, but something greater, right? So.
When I thought about root or fruit, it was definitely as an identity or an archetype, an extension or not an extension, layers of who we are, right? So how you are identifying yourself as we're navigating our human experiences. So I started to jot down what kind of descriptions or metaphors I would use as it pertains to root.
or fruit. So I came up with root sustains and protects themselves by being selective about what they absorb while fruits offer themselves to be consumed and spread their seeds. Here's the thing with that. It's not a negative thing. It could be, it could be, it could be a negative thing. It could be a root and stay hidden beneath the surface with that.
selective mindset and being very cautious about who handles you, right? And as a fruit, something or someone that is exposed and open and magnetic to be connected to people, like does your energy as a fruit provide nourishment, provide sweetness?
ShaVaughn Elle (04:45.068)
Is it in service to others? Oftentimes a root we know can be an anchor. So maybe you being a root isn't necessarily just isolating yourself. Being a root is someone who knows how to be an anchor for those who need it.
ShaVaughn Elle (05:04.066)
Very interesting how my mind is evolving these things, right? So thinking about root or fruit as necessarily a philosophy, but how we orient ourselves in relationships, work, our spiritual practices, our spiritual relationships, and even just within ourselves, within personal growth. I have been both a root and a fruit.
I actually often operate dually as a root and a fruit in my life. For my personal relationships, my familial relationships, I am very much a root.
Bye.
I'm not just selective about what I absorb, but I am an anchor for other people to lean on. And while that feels or sounds commendable, that is often exhausting. Quite the exhausting.
person identity archetype to be. But I've also operated as a fruit and operate as a fruit in my social community. As it pertains to the Muse's lab, I operate as a fruit in this space. I allow myself to be a space of nourishment.
ShaVaughn Elle (06:45.344)
a space of creative consumption, even though I often say I'm not to be consumed, right? I am to be experienced. So as a fruit, like, yes, people may be ingesting the things that I say, but not as just plain or standard consumption, the absorption and the ingestion part.
is part of the sensory experience that I provide for people, mind, body, and soul.
which is why I've made it my practice to ensure that whatever type of content I create, whatever type of content I create, what I do operating as ShaVaughn Elle. and or the Muses Lab, that it is a sensory experience. These are seeds that I'm planting, right? Me operating as the root.
allowing the seeds that I'm planting to bloom so that people can find my fruits and taste and experience what I'm offering to the greater collective. So these are instances where I've operated duly as a root or a fruit. This isn't to say that is what you have to do, but thinking about
personal or interpersonal relationships and how we are showing up in the world and determining what feels, I'm gonna say apropos for lack of a better word, but what feels resonant with yourself, right? Is being a root resonant or is being a fruit resonant? So.
ShaVaughn Elle (08:50.166)
In order for us to get there, I'm to define, I'm going to get a little bit more detail and define, give a core definition of what a root could be for you. So a root could mean seeing yourself as the foundation of your life while carefully filtering what you allow it because we know our roots, again, are the anchor and what you feed in your soil.
affects your roots, right? So some characteristics that we can say are resonant or can be adjacent or.
connected to being a root are boundaries, focused, being a protective internal resource, being selective about what influences you, your relationships, your commitments, prioritizing yourself and your personal growth, being cautious about what external demands and expectations other people put on you when you put on yourself. Also valuing depth.
over breadth and connection. So wanting something more deep as opposed to just simply expansive. And maybe, maybe you value both breadth and depth, right? Maybe you value both deep and immersive connections that expand over time, right? So as I'm saying these characteristics and I'm offering these definitions, these are not finite, right?
I want to be very clear about that because often when you'll hear someone talk about archetypes or identities, most people don't put the caveat that this exploration, because that's really what it is, the exploration that they are providing you and as you're listening and figuring out ways in which you can.
ShaVaughn Elle (11:02.846)
identify and show up in your human experience and in your layers, they don't caveat that these things are not finite, that they are foundations that you can build upon, that it is a framework that you can build upon and adjust based on your personal experience, right? We can take these templates and see them as something that we can utilize and then we shape it to fit.
where we are and who we are and how we are showing up in this version of the timeline. So I wanna make that distinction right there. These are not, what I'm sharing is not finite. What I am sharing is a spark that you may identify with and may help you really fine tune how you are curating.
your human experience and the ways in which you show up in the world and how that affects the way you manifest or actualize the things that you desire and again, the experience that you are trying to create, co-create for yourself. Certain characteristics, personality traits, archetypes can affect how that shapes for you.
Right? So I wanna put that out there as a...
a level set so that we're clear that this is not finite. This is just a template, a blueprint, a framework.
ShaVaughn Elle (12:49.42)
So someone with a root mindset may say, what I consume shapes who I become. You think about that as a root. What are you feeding into your soil and how is that affecting? How is that seeping into where you have planted yourself? And how is that allowing you to further anchor yourself into the tree or the plants?
that you are trying to blossom and bloom as. So that's root. Here's fruit. So how we can define being a fruit is seeing yourself as someone meant to be shared with the world, because we eat fruit, right?
ShaVaughn Elle (13:42.872)
However, we think about consumption in that way. A fruit may be open to being consumed by others, however, it can be through service, ideas, or creative output.
that's filling, that those distinctions are feeling very resonance in my spirit, right? A fruit may focus on their contribution and impact to the world. It could someone as a fruit or the archetype of fruit mean or recognize that how they show up or just showing up in general.
people benefit from their existence. we talk about, most people talk about as a creative or just in general, you hiding yourself or you not standing in your greatness, you're not standing in your genius could be holding someone up from being in their genius and being in their greatness or showing up the way that they need to. So it is imperative for us to lead into our gifts and our talents.
because we are all interwoven and interconnected and being a fruit, thinking of ourselves as a fruit.
is a way to describe that.
ShaVaughn Elle (15:16.162)
deriving meaning from how others benefit from your existence. So seeing your purpose and how you show up.
for others.
I'ma leave that there. Also, fruit embraces vulnerability as a pathway to connection, thinking about how fruits soft and sweet, that, ooh, I'm getting that taste on my tongue, soft and sweet, and that experience, right? Allowing yourself to be experienced.
We're saying consumed for the context of this episode, but I wanna be very.
about how I'm utilizing the word consumption. Because when we're utilizing the word consumption.
ShaVaughn Elle (16:21.708)
It often means that people are just inhaling us in without thought or regard, right? So I wanna set the tone for consumption in this space, in this exploratory space that I've created. Consumption is how people are receiving you. I wanna set that framework. I think that's very important.
I wanna focus on the fact that when we consume things, we aren't often just moving mindlessly. When we are consuming things, we're taking them in, we're receiving them, we're allowing it to absorb into the body. are doing our best to be sensual in this experience and sensory in this experience.
and being active participants with how what we are consuming is affecting the body from the mind to the tip of our toes. So I want to define consumption as that in this space so that as I'm saying consumption, it's not being activated as people who are just, I'm getting a visual of like,
biting into something and the juices coming down the side of your mouth and just ravishing, right? I know for some people when they hear the word consumption, they may have that visual of someone ravishing them. And in certain instances being ravished, in certain instances being ravished is a great thing.
But for some, that identifier may be activating, may be triggering for them. So I wanna set the ground, I wanna set the tone that consumption in this space, in this container that I'm creating in this episode, consumption is about how we are receiving what we are ingesting and how that is being absorbed and influenced in the body.
ShaVaughn Elle (18:41.154)
That's how consumption is defined in this space. So I want to also set the tone here as we continue this space of exploration. So one of the last characteristics of being a fruit is someone who values breadth and reach of influence. So when you think about a lot of your content creators or just artists in general, we may perceive them as being fruit.
or persons who are in spaces of service, in spaces of leadership, your activists, your community leaders, your visionaries, we may perceive them as fruit. Your roots may be perceived based on the characteristics here, may be someone who is in leadership, but your entrepreneurs may be seen as a root.
Someone who has a business mindset may be seen as a parent or a maternal figure, a paternal figure, a parental figure. They may be seen as roots. Your mentors may be seen as roots.
ShaVaughn Elle (19:57.326)
I'm sitting with that. Okay. So a fruit mindset could be seen as I was created to nourish others, right? So root mindset, what I consume shapes who I become. Fruit mindset, I was created to nourish others. So how do we begin to start assessing whether or not we're a root or a fruit?
You may need more context, right? So we broke down some examples of what that may look like, but maybe you need some more context on how to determine where you are on the spectrum of being a root or a fruit. So some questions you can ask yourself are, when facing new opportunities, do you consider first what you'll gain, that's a root, or what you'll give?
That's a fruit. Gain, root, give, fruit. Interesting.
Next question, in relationships, are you more concerned with protecting your energy, root, or being available, fruit? Now, I find this interesting as I am in.
delving into these questions, right? Because this feels like, I love when I write things. ADHD break. I love when I write things and in the moment it's clicking. And then when I start saying them out loud, I'm like, did I mean that?
ShaVaughn Elle (21:44.15)
Was that what I was trying to convey? ADHD break. As I'm reading these questions, right? I'm thinking about how we're shaping what a root is, right? We have, I have notes, so I'm going back to things that I've written, right? So again, we have this boundary focus person.
that is protective of their internal resources. They are selective about their relationships, what they allow themselves to be influenced by, their commitments, they're prioritizing themselves, they're focused on their personal growth, cautious about what external demands and expectations they allow themselves in the world to impress upon them, and they value having depth of connection, right? However,
is someone who may identify as a root, someone who is focused solely on themselves. See, the more I'm talking this out loud, the more I'm recognizing that's not necessarily how I would perceive someone who is a root to be. Like, yes, you are very...
ShaVaughn Elle (23:10.328)
Progressive. I'm gonna say that for right now for lack of a better word. You're very progressive. Someone who is or would be very progressive about self-preservation and ensuring, I just had a thought. Progressive in preserving themselves. I'm thinking about that question of when facing opportunities.
Do you consider what you'll gain or what you give? And gaining is not necessarily a negative thing. they're thoughts that are happening in real time as I'm speaking this out. Now I see that when we think about...
Focusing on ourself first Because I started to feel that in my body too that often feels selfish And if we're describing if we as I'm describing the root
it started feeling as if a person who identifies with this archetype is selfish, but that is not a negative thing. Maybe the root is self preserving because in order for them to be an anchor for others, in order for them to be...
The thing that holds people up, the thing that provides a foundation, the person that provides the foundation, the person that provides the framework, the person that provides the template, in order for them to be the foundation that holds people up, they have to ensure their roots literally are grounded and solidified in the earth and the soil that they have created for themselves.
ShaVaughn Elle (25:08.664)
They have to ensure that the bones of their proverbial house or metaphorical house, I should say, the bones of their metaphorical house are solid. So of course, I'm going to naturally as a root, think about what I can obtain from these opportunities, from these relationships, because that is then furthering the sustainability of myself.
so that as I'm showing up in other spaces where I'm having and building these interpersonal relationships, business relationships, commitments and such, I'm clear on who I am.
ShaVaughn Elle (26:03.544)
Root may be, the root archetype may be more, thinking about hybrids, the root archetype may be more internal leaning, right?
ShaVaughn Elle (26:20.194)
The root may be more internal leaning while the fruit may be external leading. Because these questions I came up with are focused on the root.
ShaVaughn Elle (26:39.576)
gravitating more towards personal fulfillment and finding purpose.
ShaVaughn Elle (26:48.566)
and sustainability through their own personal growth.
The root is my life, the root is my evolution is what constantly anchors me into the earth, into this timeline. The more I evolve, the greater I become, the more expansive I can be, the more.
Depth I have the more I'm anchored into this timeline as I continue to evolve. It's definitely tree It's giving me tree the more I continue to grow within myself The more I allow myself to evolve the more I transmute my experiences the more I collect interpersonal relationships that I value that helped me grow like
My relationships are intentional because they're there to help me grow as a person. The opportunities that I take on are intentional because they help me grow as a person. And as I continue to grow and evolve in my human experience, that is what gives me purpose.
ShaVaughn Elle (28:07.298)
The fruit thinks or mindset is my servitude to others is what gives me purpose. Me sharing myself with the world is what gives me purpose. I am fulfilled when I allow myself to be received.
It doesn't necessarily say the root doesn't allow themselves to be received, but the root is hyper-focused on their personal growth and evolution and how their relationships and the opportunities and the activities and the things that they do pour back into the cycle of their personal growth. The fruit archetype is the more I give myself
The more I give of myself, my gifts, my talent, my creativity, my energy, my love, the more that I give that part of myself to the collective, the more I'm able to receive that and have that reciprocated back to me. I feel most alive when I'm sharing my gifts and my talents with the world.
Vulnerability is my superpower. The more I allow myself to be exposed, peeling back my layers, thinking about an orange, peeling back my layers and getting to the goodness and the juiciness of the core of who I am, that is what makes me feel most alive. And maybe those seeds are then planted back into the soil that allows me to continue to bear more fruit. So while I am nourishing others,
I am allowing myself to be nourished and that is how I continue to bear more fruit. Mm mm mm. I like that.
ShaVaughn Elle (30:13.358)
Oh, I like that. Oh, that feels, wow. That feels amazing. That feels amazing. Oh, man.
ShaVaughn Elle (30:31.726)
I'm like really sitting with that. That felt so amazing. I think I'm more of a fruit. I operate as a root sometimes, but I feel like I'm more of a fruit. You know what it is? I don't operate as a root as much as I should. Now we're talking about balance. Maybe, if you identify as either or, whether you identify as a root or identify as a fruit, now we're coming to the part of the exploration.
that we have to have harmony, right? If we're operating on the far left or the far right of the spectrum, we're not quite in harmony. And we are placing ourselves in a position to miss out on experiences that can give us a more holistic view, point of view or holistic space experience for how we are.
in this archetype. So if you are solely focused on being a root, maybe you have non-negotiable, very clear boundaries, maybe you're selective about what you consume, the type of social circles you are a part of, maybe you require significant alone time to process and integrate, sounds like neurodivergent, maybe you are resistant to external influence and you feel drained by excessive giving,
Maybe your balance is to then find yourself in the space of a fruit. Maybe you should feel most alive or find ways to feel most alive when you share your gifts. Maybe as a root, you should find some comfort in being vulnerable.
Maybe as a root you should use impact on others as part of your metric for success. And maybe as a fruit, you need to have better boundaries. Maybe as a fruit, you need to be selective about who's in your inner circle and what things that you consume, what type of media, foods, all the things because that influences your body and your ability to give and your output.
ShaVaughn Elle (32:53.752)
how you're able to share yourself. Maybe as a fruit, need to, again, have boundaries with how much you give. Maybe as a fruit, you need to value your alone time so that you have space to process and integrate things that you've learned. So what this telling me is that, yes, you may identify most with either being a root or a fruit.
But the key here is to find some interconnection and where you can create harmony and show up best as with ever archetype you identify with.
So some things about root, some strengths, some strengths and shadows about being a root that you may identify with.
Roots can be perceived to have a strong sense of self and identity.
have a path of sustainable personal growth, maybe clarity of purpose and direction. Some shadow elements may include isolation and disconnection, missed opportunities again for growth through giving, being stagnant by hyper-focusing on whatever the goal it is you created for yourself or that stagnation is due to becoming a bit rigid and closed-minded.
ShaVaughn Elle (34:33.036)
Right? So those are things to consider to look out for, particularly in that shadow. But see, when we look to the other archetype, we can then find our middle ground. Some strengths of a fruit may include huge positive impact, rich and diverse connections, adaptability, openness, fulfillment through service.
and thinking about your impact on the collective through legacy and recognize that your legacy extends beyond yourself, that what you do in this part of the timeline is going to impact and affect generations to come. But here's some shadow elements there. Burnout, course. Depletion. Losing yourself in this greater
vision of purpose that you've created for yourself, losing your personal identity. Because you are leaning on vulnerability as your superpower, does or can lead you susceptible to manipulation, having difficulty with creating healthy boundaries for yourself, and even having some people pleasing behaviors. So again, many of you may identify both
with a root or fruit. But knowing these shadow elements, being aware of these shadow elements can help mitigate harm to oneself and maybe others and create space for you to find your own.
Path 2.
ShaVaughn Elle (36:28.076)
reducing, mitigating harm. How do you utilize this information as a roadmap for how you navigate these different aspects and qualities of yourself? What's to solve? So if you recognize that maybe as a fruit, you find yourself becoming self-absorbed or isolating yourself or becoming disconnected from others, how do you then
create more rich, juicy, heartier connections. How do you then allow yourself to be more adaptable and open to what your human experience is providing for you?
Right? If as a fruit, you feel yourself losing yourself within the work, recognizing people are taking your kindness for weakness, find yourself overperforming in certain situations and social groups, social circles, work, find yourself overperforming, how do you then...
Regain your sense of self and your identity How do you then start? creating signposts posts for yourself to resist unhealthy influences how do you then Return to yourself and Seek more clarity in your purpose in your direction and how do you then create?
guidelines, rules engagement for yourself to create deeper and more quality relationships.
ShaVaughn Elle (38:15.916)
that can prevent or avoid some of those shadow elements. Seeds to consider.
ShaVaughn Elle (38:25.922)
So.
ShaVaughn Elle (38:31.064)
So let's talk about integration, right? We all go through seasons in our life. So.
Here are some ways that again you can identify with needing more root and more fruit.
ShaVaughn Elle (38:59.798)
You may need more root energy when you start feeling scattered and unfocused. When you have compassion fatigue. Let's get into that for a second. Here's what I know about compassion fatigue. I know that me personally, I'm a compassionate person.
and that I'm making my business to always understand both sides of a situation, whether it's both sides of an argument, both sides of what someone is going through. Maybe we can attribute that to my Libra stellium. Being a diplomatic person, or maybe it's the Jupiter in Libra in me, being that diplomatic person. But I'm always looking at both sides of it.
both sides of the spectrum as it pertains to what someone is experiencing. And that's where the root of my compassion lies. What I have learned over time is that it doesn't matter whether I can understand both ends of the spectrum, where someone fucked up and where someone should have more grace. If that person
doesn't recognize the two ends of the spectrum of their situation, me constantly being compassionate or trying to show compassion, show empathy can become very draining for me because once someone recognizes that you operate naturally with this radical empathy, this very
immersive, compassionate energy. When people start to recognize that, they then begin to siphon that from you. They take from you. And I had to learn when to extend grace and back away. Sometimes we extend grace, we extend compassion, and then deep dive, further deep dive into somebody else's shit. You have to learn.
ShaVaughn Elle (41:15.938)
the boundary of what your compassion threshold is. We have to have a threshold for each of the emotions that we experience as it pertains to our interpersonal interactions. We have to have a threshold. What's your compassion threshold? What is the line where it hits for you and you go, I need to take a step back? Until you understand what that looks like for you, you may often experience compassion fatigue.
You may often get angry or get tired or get aggravated about constantly being empathetic towards people or people constantly seeking compassion from you or people constantly seeking grace from you and not having changed behavior, right?
So consider that when you are determining whether you need more root energy, right? That compassion fatigue can lead to being resentful in relationships. Again, because you're extending so much grace and you're trying to be empathetic and you're trying to see both sides of a situation. But whoever those people or that person may be, the change behavior is not happening. You're not seeing the shift
and the behavior. All you're seeing is a repeated pattern. And if you are a neurodivergent person, whether you have autism, ADHD, or any of the categories of neurodivergent, pattern recognition is one of our default mechanisms in the brain. That's what we do. That's how we navigate life, pattern recognition. So once that pattern recognition starts to kick in, you may begin to feel resentful because now you feel like somebody is taking advantage of you, especially if you already set the groundwork
to let them know, do not take advantage of me, or here are examples of when people took advantage of me, and then they turn around and become the example. You can then become resentful, especially if you are an undercover, overgiver, over lover. If you identify as that, it's easy for you to then isolate yourself. So then now it goes back to...
ShaVaughn Elle (43:34.882)
Getting clear on your purpose and your interactions, whether it's just to be friendly, whether they have an end goal, but understanding the nature of your interpersonal interactions as bringing in that root energy into your life. Creating clear boundaries, asserting those boundaries. Again, knowing what your threshold is. Knowing that maybe your threshold needs to be a lot shorter than some people.
because you allow things to evolve longer than they need to. Maybe your threshold is soon as it starts to evolve. And when you see the evolution of someone taking advantage of your compassion and your kindness, maybe that's when you start to cut it off. Maybe that's when you give a warning. Warning one. I see you.
And maybe the end of the threshold is right when you have to get to warning two, right? So having those rules of engagement for yourself is a way to create more root energy, or it's a sign that you may need more root energy. And of course, spiritual disconnection. When last time you sat at your altar, and if you don't have a formal, I'm saying formal or proper, but really, if you are the living altar, you can do all these things for yourself.
Right? If you are the living altar, you can set up shop anywhere because you recognize that you are the spirit, that you are the energy. So when you are in disconnection with yourself as a spiritual being, as the living altar, it then perpetuates disconnection with your own spirit team and your own spiritual court. So when you recognize that you are disconnected from yourself because you are feeling scattered and unfocused, you're experiencing compassion fatigue, you may have
lost yourself in the purpose of what you're doing and you may be resentful in relationships, that is your cue to reconnect with yourself and get grounded in yourself.
ShaVaughn Elle (45:48.398)
Signs that you need may need more fruit energy, right? Things in your life feeling stagnant or stale, the lack of movement can always give us a sign that either things are working in the background, which is like 100 % of the time, or you may be doing things in a rote way.
that doesn't allow for freshness and openness to come into your life.
ShaVaughn Elle (46:30.978)
When we focus on ourselves, that's important. I don't think a lot of us do it enough. But when self-focus evolves into isolation, as if you are your own island, you are in your own bubble, and nothing else outside of you exists, that could become problematic.
Because this part of the 21st century is reminding us heavily, 2020s in general, is reminding us heavily that community is what will save us. So when we operate in our own siloed bubble and we forget that there are people around us, village, whomever, that can support us.
can be uplifting, can be an ear, can be a soundboard. We then create a vacuum for ourselves and we start operating in a vacuum.
I did a podcast episode.
World Building, season four.
ShaVaughn Elle (47:45.186)
That's the last set of seasons I've done. There's the last set of seasons I've done. Now we just doing regular episodes. But the last formal season I had, season four, I did a podcast on world building and adverse And what that meant was that I created a world around what I thought people were thinking about me.
things that people may have said to me that I didn't clarify and I didn't get more information on. And I created a world around all of these different narratives that didn't exist that I created in my head and I isolated myself from people. And I was isolated from a lot of my core friends for over a decade. They didn't even know that I had isolated. They didn't even know that I had isolated myself from them. They had no idea.
I was living in this world that I created in my head by myself. And often excessive, if you will, I'm doing air quotes, excessive, you will, self-focus can place you in a vacuum and in a bubble so tightly wrapped that you don't even realize you have isolated yourself from other people and other folk don't even know that they don't even have a key.
to get in. They don't even realize they're no longer behind the velvet rope of your closeness in your space and your personal interactions. So being mindful of when you start to create a bubble for yourself and isolate and exclude the community around you for being your safe space.
ShaVaughn Elle (49:36.93)
We can also say lacking meaningful contributions to your community could be a sign that you need more fruit. And I think as it pertains to community service, that is open to interpretation. Often what we think or how we view community service is like, I got to go to a shelter or I have to do this. That may not necessarily be community service. Maybe you go down to the local Y and you volunteer.
Maybe you become a mentor and that's your means of community service. Maybe you join a panel gratis and you share your information with persons who are looking to get into the industry that you're in or just looking to follow a certain path and you share that information you give back to your community and you share those insights and guidance to allow people to learn from you. Maybe that's community service. That's contribution.
So really thinking about what community service looks like and allowing that definition to be expansive, but also in germane with who you are and how you're able to show up.
ShaVaughn Elle (50:52.141)
Yeah.
ShaVaughn Elle (50:55.864)
Mm-hmm.
How's that feeling? It's feeling great for me.
is actually helping me even more, right? The biggest balance or harmony, right? Because I think there's, it's not a difference. I think balance and harmony need to be in lockstep with one another because balance is just simply weight. How things are being equally distributed, that's balance. While harmony is how all of those things are interacting with one another.
how they're intertwined with one another. And one of the many.
talks or classes that I've sat in with Tiffany Aliche, the Budgetnista I remember her saying, I'm transitioning from balance and moving towards harmony because I wanna be in harmony with things. I wanna be in flow with things. And it's not that it didn't resonate with me, I just felt that, and I still feel that you can't truly have harmony without balance.
ShaVaughn Elle (52:09.762)
because you need to understand what the weight distribution is. You need to understand what you're harmonizing. can you be in flow if things are not equally distributed? If the weight quality is not the same? If you don't have...
access to the scale of how things are sitting. I think when the weight distribution finds its evenness, finds its space, its core, then we can think about harmony because everything isn't always gonna be in equal balance.
And think that's why balance feels distant from a lot of people. Because when we think about balance, we're automatically assuming things have to be equal in weight per se. There's equal weight, but what that size looks like is different, right? A one ounce jar of body butter is not gonna be the same as a one ounce jar of oil, of body oil.
The packaging looks different. How much product you're able to put in the packaging looks different. They're the same size as far as weight is concerned. But the shape and the format is different.
But the harmony is that if you want your skin to be the most soft and supple, you're put that body butter on and you're gonna seal it with the oil. That's harmony.
ShaVaughn Elle (54:05.166)
I hope that resonated with somebody. So the balance is in the ounces, both one ounce products, but the harmony is how those products are being used. That felt good.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
ShaVaughn Elle (54:31.97)
Being a root or fruit requires some form of integration.
It requires some form of channeling one and being able to tap into one aspect interchangeably in harmony with one another.
integrating those lessons and allow those certain lessons to apply where needed. Doesn't necessarily mean you have to fully embody a root or fully embody a fruit, with whichever you identify with, being able to take a little bit from each and add it to how you're shaping this archetype and this identity for yourself.
That's how we create harmony and balance.
ShaVaughn Elle (55:31.512)
Hmm, I like this. I like how this evolved.
I like, I really do. I like how this evolved.
ShaVaughn Elle (55:45.698)
also believe this is part of how we become more self-aware.
understanding where we're leaning towards and knowing when to allow.
ShaVaughn Elle (56:04.598)
other parts of ourselves to satisfy the puzzle piece, the shape and the mold that we have.
ShaVaughn Elle (56:15.468)
Yeah.
this is great.
I'm leave you with one question or a couple of questions. I'm gonna leave you with some questions, some prompts for yourself. Consider where in your life right now where you may need more root energy. Consider where in your life or how you can benefit from embodying more fruit energy. And what is one small step you can take
for the rest of this month that you are listening, for the rest of this month to create stronger balance, stronger balance and harmony with being a root or a fruit.
ShaVaughn Elle (57:12.376)
This is great and I hope this helped you, even the way it helped me. Talking these things out loud, talking this exploration out loud really resonated some things within me and I hope that it sparked and resonated some things within you.
Thank you for tapping into the Muses Lab podcast. Until we meet again.