Briyamos

In my first post last year, I shared my story of reflection and healing that set me forth on a journey to explore what it looks like to actively and intentionally practice a love ethic across all dimensions of my life. While this journey has had some bumps in the road, I would not trade where I am today with where I was before I set off on this path. As I have shared my experience with others, several have expressed a hunger for and interest in engaging in professional spaces and relationships that are rooted in love. As I reflected on what it would look like to support others to engage in this practice, Briyamos was born. 

What does Briyamos mean?

Briyamos is a play on the Spanish word “brillamos”, which means “we shine.” In place of the two lls is a “y”, which means “and,” and there is a specific call out of “amo,” which is part of the Spanish phrase “I love.” In combining all three words, Briyamos conveys that it is through love that we all shine. Briyamos speaks to the interdependency between us as individuals and us as a collective.

Remind us again, why love?

I believe that love is the ultimate disrupter of ego and our conditioning, which underlies the harmful actions and habits that individuals, teams, and organizations perpetuate, often to the detriment of everyone and the work. I believe that with awareness, tools, and practice, we can disrupt our habitual patterns and condition ourselves to act from love; a disruption that will ripple across society and manifest a world of loving humans and a thriving planet.

What supports will Briyamos provide?

Briyamos will support individuals, teams, and organizations to build ongoing practices that create the conditions that allow love to flourish in work, school, and life. I am still in the process of building out the "off-the-shelf" offerings and look forward to sharing more as those come online. In the meantime, however, I will share weekly reflection questions/quotes and am recruiting individuals, teams and organizations willing to beta test and pilot some of the offerings I am developing. Similarly, I am taking on tailored consulting engagements from those who want to explore what it means to root ourselves and our professional spaces in a love ethic. Whatever your interests, I encourage you to sign-up to stay abreast of developments as they unfold.

How did you get here?

I am so humble and grateful for all the love that was poured into me to get me to this point. First and foremost, my husband Safiy (in addition to being awesome) designed an absolutely amazing logo and website for Briyamos, that I hope will serve as a helpful support channel for those looking to engage in this practice. I am beyond grateful for my family and chosen family of friends who are entirely too numerous to name. Ya'll have heard me talk about this work, throughout all of its iterations, and have shown me nothing but love throughout. I am also grateful for my fellow social justice travelers who believe that our fight for liberation should not come at the cost of our well-being and who are modeling a path forward rooted in abundance, joy, and yes, love. Last but not least, I have an extra special shout-out for and feel such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for Manuela Contreras for granting me the gift of time and space to be in conversation with her during her #WisdomWednesdays kick-off. Manuela's work is centered on maintaining our well-being in the midst of this work and reclaiming our power - Con Fuerza - and is holding space for critical conversations with others about the different ways in which folks can care for self as we also work to set us all free. I highly encourage everyone to engage with her and those conversations.

In closing, I ask us all to reflect on the following:

• What would our world look like if we all acted from a place of love?

• What supports do you need to start creating that world now?

And from our ancestor, bell hooks, I'll ground us in her definition of love on this day of love:

To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients – care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.