people sometimes ask me why i chose the name black self wellth.
for a long time, i answered by explaining the words.
today, i answer differently.
black self wellth is a practice.
a practice of scenting what matters so we can carry it with us.
because there are things we were never meant to leave behind.
family.
memory.
belonging.
tenderness.
humanity.
faith.
the people who have loved us.
the stories that have shaped us.
the places that still live inside us.
these are the things we carry.
not because they weigh us down.
because they remind us who we are.
without realizing it,
the practice had already begun.
long before there was an oil.
long before there was a logo.
long before there was a business.
i was already carrying what mattered.
i just hadn't found the language for it yet.
i found myself reaching for scent.
not to become someone else.
but to remember.
to remember home.
to remember togetherness.
to remember that i belonged before i entered the room.
only later did i understand what i had been creating.
i wasn't simply blending scents.
i was blending companions for remembering.
everything that followed—the scents, the blessings, the reflections—grew from that practice.
because in a world that so often asks us to move faster, forget sooner, and leave pieces of ourselves behind,
i wanted to continue remembering.
to continue carrying.
to continue sharing what had been carrying me all along.
this is black self wellth.
black
black is not something i carry because history handed it to me.
black is something i honor because Allah created it.
it is not a reaction.
it is not an apology.
black is a beginning.
a belonging.
a remembering.
a carrying forward.
to say black is to remember that we have always been more than the stories told about us.
we are family.
we are memory.
we are tenderness.
we are humanity.
we belong to one another.
self
the self in black self wellth is not the self we are often taught to pursue.
it is not a self separated from everyone else.
it is a self that belongs.
a self shaped by family.
by neighbors.
by friendship.
by faith.
by ancestors.
by children.
by community.
the self does not exist apart from these relationships.
it is formed within them.
held by them.
responsible to them.
to care for ourselves is also to care for what we carry together.
the self is never carried alone.
wellth
wellth is more than money.
money can build a house.
wellth makes it a home.
money can purchase objects.
wellth gives them meaning.
money can be counted.
wellth is carried.
it lives in family.
in memory.
in belonging.
in tenderness.
in humanity.
in faith.
in laughter shared around a table.
in names remembered.
in stories told again.
in hands held through difficult seasons.
these are the things we refuse to lose.
these are the things worth carrying.
why scent
there are many ways we carry what matters.
we tell stories.
we gather around tables.
we pass recipes from one generation to another.
we speak blessings.
we remember names.
black self wellth chooses scent as one of those ways.
not as the only way.
simply one gentle way.
not because scent can replace what we carry.
but because it can accompany us as we carry it.
a familiar scent can help us remember home.
a blessing can steady us.
a memory can become tangible again.
we scent what matters so we can carry it with us.
an invitation
you do not have to become someone else to begin this practice.
you do not have to earn your belonging.
you do not have to arrive with certainty.
simply begin with what matters.
carry it with tenderness.
carry it together.
and when life asks you to forget...
may you remember.
when life asks you to hurry...
may you pause.
when life asks you to leave parts of yourself behind...
may you carry what matters.
peace be with you.
—
chriseithia
founder, black self wellth™