In this week's episode, I talk about how this week, 1 year from when we began quarantining from covid, it is so important to pause, reflect, and grieve. To think about the past year, and what we have lost and how we have changed. Action item: what is your "theme" from the past year? Mine is "learning."

In this episode, I talk about my 2-4 week cycle of the past few months of feeling OK and then like everything is horrible. I talk about normalizing NOT being OK, that we are all not OK maybe, and that we should not normalize the pandemic and act like everything is/should be OK or like the only way it's OK is if we have learned 1,000 things during the pandemic. If all you did was survive, that is OK.

This episode is about not over-planning your days and not giving up your self-care 2 dos list when you find that your work 2 dos list has exploded. Instead, KEEP doing your self-care things and think about what you can push back and do another week, and what has to be done now. Work on your calendar before the following week (I do mine every Friday) and actually schedule the things you need to do into your calendar rather than trying to just "fit them in" somewhere, even if it means you can't do all the things you wanted to do that week.

In this episode, I talk about how journaling has helped me during the pandemic, including through the 2 sentence gratitude journal, journaling when I am feeling strong emotions, and using journaling to help me feel better and like this will really be over and I will be there for it. Here is the article I refer to, about journaling being therapeutic: https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/writing-proves-a-therapeutic-outlet-for-pandemic-stress. And the Brene Brown podcast is the Unlocking Us podcast, on Spotify. (I highly recommend it!)

This episode is about thinking about now rather than the future, but also about making some low stakes specific plans for post-pandemic times (even if you have to cancel/change them later). Like, we are not talking buying plane tickets here, guys. And also about thinking about what you do NOT want to change if/when the pandemic is over (for me, it's walking/running and taking care of my mental health more).

In this episode, I talk about how we can use habits to help us keep our decision making bucket more full during the day, which helps both physical and mental health. There is a whole book on habits by Gretchen Rubin called "Better than Before" and I highly recommend it! Also, Lucky Charms for dessert.

In this episode, I talk about just liking what you like and disliking what you dislike and not apologizing for it. Also, I like Taylor Swift. I forgot to say that I also love reading children's literature, so if you do too, that's cool. Also, you are awesome. Have a great week!

In this episode, I talk about how as soon as I posted last week's episode, I kind of realized that I actually *wasn't* OK at the moment. This is my story of how I came up with a plan that worked. But also about how I really did have to be OK with not being OK for a while. Also holding space.

In this episode, I talk about going "back to the beginning" when you feel like/realize that you are actually not OK (which is OK). Try to 1) eat well (healthy) 2) sleep and 3) exercise if you can, and also drink lots of water. *However, also if you realize you are more not OK than this and a little water drinking isn't going to cut it, please do get actual help from not me, since I am in no way a qualified expert on these things.* Air hugs!

This episode is a little all over the place, but so is 2021 so far, so I feel like that's fair. I talk about how to make New Years Resolutions that you might actually keep- spoiler alert, part of my advice is "pick something you actually like" and "pick feasible goals". Happy New Years? I think?