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Maria Manrique

@adeepexhale

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Why we do what we do.
Especially when we know better.
Things about being human you can’t unsee.

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If this resonated, stay taken in 武当山 Wudang Mountain by @adeepexhale

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4 months ago

I spent years thinking a full life meant experiencing as much as possible. More places, more people, more new.

I still want that.

But lately I’ve been thinking about what you can only have when you stop starting over.

The friend who already knows the story.
The place that feels like coming home.
The traditions nobody planned.
The people you’ve watched change, and who’ve watched you change too.

Maybe a big life isn’t just about how much you get to experience. Maybe it’s also about what you give enough time to grow. by @adeepexhale

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a day ago

I wonder how often we call something a preference when it’s actually a limitation.

“I’m not really a hiking person.”
“I’d rather just watch.”
“That looks fun, but it’s not really my thing.”

Sometimes that’s completely true but sometimes I wonder if we slowly stop wanting the things our bodies make difficult.

Not because the experience stopped being interesting.
Because saying “I don’t want to” feels very different from saying “I don’t think I can.”

And that makes physical capability interesting to me for a completely different reason.

It doesn’t just affect what you can do.
It might affect what you even consider doing.
I’ve been thinking about that one. by @adeepexhale

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2 days ago

The question I didn’t get into:

How many of our desires are actually ours?

You see someone’s relationship and suddenly yours feels lacking.

Someone gets promoted and the job you liked yesterday feels too small.

Everyone starts moving somewhere and suddenly you’re checking flights.

Nothing about your life changed.

Something about what you saw did.

Which makes me wonder:

Before asking “How do I get what I want?”

maybe there’s an earlier question.

Where did I learn to want this? by @adeepexhale

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3 days ago

I think this got under my skin so much because movement has always been my thing.

It’s where I’m used to feeling capable. Where I’m usually the one with answers.

So when I suddenly wasn’t good at it, I noticed how quickly my brain went looking for something to fix.

And I know this pattern very well:

If I can find what’s wrong with me, I can fix it.

Which sounds useful.

But there’s another layer underneath it:

If I’m the problem, then I’m also something I can control.

And sometimes making myself the problem feels easier than admitting I don’t control how quickly something unfolds.

I’m still catching myself doing that one. by @adeepexhale

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4 days ago

Try this with one thing you keep catching yourself doing.

Not “I want to stop getting defensive.”

Get super specific.

When: Someone disagrees with me and I feel the urge to explain myself immediately.
Instead: I wait five seconds before I answer.

Or:

When: I open Instagram without thinking.
Instead: I close it and ask what I came to my phone for.

Or:

When: I want to say yes just because saying no feels uncomfortable.
Instead: I say, “Let me think about it and get back to you.”

The smaller the moment, the easier it is to actually test.

Pick one trigger. One different response.

Then see what happens the next time real life gives you the chance to use it. by @adeepexhale

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5 days ago

by @adeepexhale

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15 days ago

Did yours call you out a little? 😅 by @adeepexhale

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16 days ago

Send this to someone who’s done years of inner work… and still loses it when they go home 😂 by @adeepexhale

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17 days ago

I used to think feeling at home was something I could create on my own.

Now I’m paying more attention to a different question:

Where do I get to be fully myself without having to explain so much?

That answer tells me a lot.

Where do you feel most like yourself? by @adeepexhale

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18 days ago

For years I’d post, check the views, check the followers and immediately decide if it was working.

And whenever I got frustrated I’d think, “But I’ve been posting for TEN YEARS”

Except those 10 years were so random. I’d post on and off, disappear, come back, change what I was doing. There was no real system behind any of it.

So I did something I’d never done before:

21 days. 21 posts. One actual structure to follow.

And that’s when I started noticing things I couldn’t see before. What I like talking about. What loses people. What makes a story better. What I want to try next.

But here’s the funny part:

21 days still isn’t enough to know if any of this works 😅

And I think THAT’S what I kept getting wrong.

I wanted an answer way too quickly.

But how could I know what was working when I kept changing what I was doing?

No result? “It’s not working”

Good result? “OMG THIS IS IT” 🤭

Then I’d change something again.

Imagine doing ONE workout and asking, “Where are my abs?”

I’d never do that with training. Apparently I’ve been doing the Instagram version for years 😂

“I don’t have the result yet” and “this isn’t working” are not the same thing.

Maybe it’s working. Maybe it isn’t.

Maybe I just don’t know yet.

And weirdly, that might be the most useful thing these 21 days taught me.

#storytellingcontentchallenge by @adeepexhale

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19 days ago

Something I wish I understood WAY earlier:

Every time you add, you also divide.

Add another goal?

Your attention gets divided.

Another project?

Your time gets divided.

Another priority?

Your energy gets divided.

I used to think MORE was mostly about how much I could add.

Now I think the real skill is knowing what deserves a bigger piece of me.

Because giving 20% to five things isn’t necessarily MORE than giving 100% to one.

And THAT is something nobody could’ve convinced me of at 23 😂

Maybe the fastest way to MORE isn’t always adding.

Maybe it’s concentrating.

#storytellingcontentchallenge by @adeepexhale

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20 days ago