Johanny OrtegaStepping Into Softness: Introducing the 30-Day Soft Bruja Challenge and a Little Bit of Me
There are seasons in life when the world feels too loud, too heavy, too demanding. Seasons when your mind is cluttered with a thousand to-do lists. Seasons when you feel stretched thin between caring for others, pursuing your dreams, and trying to hold on to the tiny rituals that remind you who you are. Lately, I have been in one of those seasons. My writing, my family, my career, my creative journey, and the emotional weight I carry all collided at once. And while I kept moving, I could feel myself drifting further away from the quiet parts of my spirit.
So instead of pushing harder, I decided to soften.
I needed a gentle reset.
I needed ritual.
I needed magic.
I needed a return to self.
That is how the 30-Day Soft Bruja Challenge was born.
Before I tell you what the challenge looks like, let me introduce myself to those who are new here, because who I am deeply shapes what this challenge is about.
30 days soft bruja challenge by Have a Cup of JohannyWho I Am and Why I Created This Space
My name is Johanny “Joa” Ortega, a Dominican American writer, indie author, and storyteller who lives at the crossroads of magical realism, psychological horror, and cultural identity. I write for the girl who felt split between two cultures. The girl who grew up with her mother’s stories, her grandmother’s rituals, and the unspoken rules of survival in immigrant households. The girl who felt ordinary on the outside but carried storms on the inside.
That girl is me.
And that girl is Marisol, the main character of my novel The Ordinary Bruja.
I grew up around a particular kind of magic. Not the witchy aesthetic that dominates social media, but the quiet, subtle magic that lives in immigrant homes. The rosaries that hang on door handles. The prayers whispered over boiling pots. The superstitions that become second nature. The spiritual cleansing your mother insists on even when she never calls it brujería. The moments that feel divine and ancestral at the same time.
I write from that place.
I create from that place.
I live from that place.
But somewhere in the last few months, as life became overwhelming, I drifted away from my softer routines. I forgot the power of slow mornings, intentional nights, grounding rituals, and ancestral whispers. I forgot the magic woven into the everyday.
So I created a challenge that would guide me back.
And then I realized… many of you might need that same gentle path too.
What Is the 30-Day Soft Bruja Challenge?
This challenge is a month-long journey designed to help you reconnect with yourself through small, cozy, witchy, culturally rooted prompts. It is not about becoming a witch or practicing a specific spiritual path. It is about honoring the ways magic naturally shows up in your life. It is about softness, self-care, intuition, and cultural memory.
Each day gives you a simple prompt that encourages reflection, creativity, and grounding energy. Some are practical. Some are emotional. Some are nostalgic. Some are spiritual. But none of them are overwhelming. This challenge is meant to feel nourishing, not stressful.
Some examples include:
- your morning ritual
- your favorite protective charm
- your favorite tea
- a superstition you still carry
- a cozy night routine
- your favorite tree
- a one word spell
- a message to your younger self
- a gratitude ritual
Every prompt is an invitation. A moment to slow down and reconnect with your intuition. A pause in your day to ask yourself what you need, what you remember, and what you hope to reclaim.
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Soft bruja energy is gentle and grounding. It is the opposite of hustle culture, perfection culture, and the need to constantly perform. Soft bruja energy says:
You do not have to be powerful in loud ways to be powerful.
You do not have to be fierce to be worthy.
Your intuition deserves your attention.
Your softness is not a weakness.
Your culture is a source of magic.
Your emotions matter.
Your rituals matter.
Your spirit matters.
For many of us, especially those who grew up in immigrant families or culturally mixed spaces, softness was not always safe or encouraged. Strength meant silence. Survival meant hustle. Our mothers and grandmothers didn’t always have the luxury of softness.
We do.
This challenge honors them by honoring ourselves.
It is healing the line by healing the individual.
How the Challenge Connects to My Writing
If you have been following my journey, you know that my upcoming novel The Ordinary Bruja explores themes of identity, ancestral memory, psychological warfare, and the quiet magic that lives in the ordinary. Marisol, the main character, spends her life doubting herself. She feels small. She feels disconnected from her culture and her worth. She feels haunted in more ways than one.
Her journey is about remembering who she is.
Remembering where she comes from.
And remembering the magic she carries.
The Soft Bruja Challenge is not a marketing gimmick for the book. It is a reflection of its emotional heart. A way for readers to understand the atmosphere of the story through lived, gentle experience.
When you light a candle with intention, when you walk a path that grounds you, when you hold an object that reminds you of home, when you speak a word that feels like a spell, you are connecting to the same emotional world Marisol walks through.
This challenge invites you into the atmosphere of the book long before you turn the first page.
An Invitation to Begin
Whether you join every day or only some days, whether you post about it or keep it private, this challenge is yours to shape. You can journal, film, photograph, meditate, or simply take a quiet breath for each prompt. You can move through the days in order or follow them intuitively.
The point is not perfection.
The point is connection.
If you are feeling tired, overwhelmed, spiritually drained, creatively blocked, or simply curious about reconnecting with your inner magic, this challenge is your soft landing place.
I invite you to walk with me for the next thirty days.
To soften.
To remember.
To breathe.
To return.
Your magic has always been there. Let’s uncover it together.
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