The first day home is always strange. Not bad. Just… strange. You unlock the door, set your bags down, and immediately realize your house has a smell. Not a bad smell, your smell. You don’t notice it when you leave because you’ve been living in it. Then you spend a week breathing ocean air, mountain…
Sidequests
Nobody tells you it’s the last game you’ll play together or the last comedy show you’ll go to. The last random call. The last inside joke. The last time someone says, “we should do this again,” and you believe them because why wouldn’t you? Life doesn’t announce those moments. They just happen. Regularly. Casually. In…
How art helps us express what words can’t
Art is often described as healing, but I don’t think the healing comes from the finished painting, photograph, poem, or sculpture. It comes from the process of making decisions about something that isn’t measured by productivity. There isn’t a correct answer, a checklist, or a deadline to beat. You’re simply responding to an idea, a…
Self-care is vital
Self-care has a branding problem. Somewhere along the way, it became associated with the softer version of taking care of yourself. Rest, candles, spa days, face masks, treating yourself. Nothing is wrong with any of that. It just leaves out the part where self-care is often inconvenient. Sometimes it is not relaxing at all. Sometimes…
Self-awareness can become avoidance
Self-awareness gets a lot of credit. And it should. Understanding yourself is important. Knowing your patterns, your triggers, your habits, and the stories you tell yourself gives you a place to start. The problem is some of us never leave the starting line. You notice the pattern. You name the pattern. You explain the pattern….