Posts in Health
The Bravery in Quitting
The Bravery in Quitting

Refusing to quit has undoubtedly served me well in my 24-years. It is the reason I can sing now even though I was described as a tone-deaf child. It is responsible for the 60 pounds I have lost and kept off in the last three years. It has been the backbone of healing and strength and the two Whole 30s I have completed, but it has also been harmful. I become faithful to a fault, unable to walk away from things, like a sport I am not good at, because I have something to prove. Because I think it makes me weak to leave something instead of toughing it out.

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Life, Health, Career, DreamsChelsey SatterleeFeaturedComment
The Benefits of Choosing to Stay Behind
The Benefits of Choosing to Stay Behind

“I want you guys to go, I’m just going to take a breather and hang out on my own for a bit,” I say. It’s the truth—when I feel myself getting into one of these moods all I want to do is be alone, not tear anyone down with me. But even in knowing that, I can’t pretend this isn’t a version of myself I don’t get along with. I spiral myself further down the rabbit hole, feeling awful for letting my friends down, berating myself for not being fun for them.

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Health, RelationshipsAmanda BeadlescombFeaturedComment
The Fear of Discomfort
The Fear of Discomfort

I have a small poodle named Bella. She is scared of most things, and I do mean most things—the wrinkle of a grocery bag, the sound of her collar tag clanging against her food bowl, men—all these and more send her into a fit of shivers. Though the clinking of dishware doesn’t send me into fight-or-flight mode, I can relate to this pup saturated like a soggy sponge with fear and anxiety.

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Dreams, Life, HealthAlly WillisFeaturedComment
The Importance of Daily Rhythms
The Importance of Daily Rhythms

Since graduating in May, I’ve felt tossed around more than a few times. I know what it is to let circumstances dictate the kind of friend I’ll be and the kind of day I’ll have. Things that feel urgent constantly rise up and demand my attention, from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed. For the past few months, nearly every day has looked different, and I hid behind my jobs to excuse myself from the hard work of discipline.

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Life, HealthAlexa JenkinsFeatured Comment
The Point of Birthdays
The Point of Birthdays

I turned 24 on Tuesday.

My first instinct was to look at the people around me. The ones posting on social media.

They’d written books, were writing articles for magazines I still only dream will send me an acceptance letter one day. They’d started podcasts. Spent two years living in Asia. Found the loves of their lives. Wore diamond rings on the fourth finger of their left hands. Spoke at the United Nations. Worked in refugee camps around the world.

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Career, Dreams, Life, HealthAmanda BeadlescombFeaturedComment
When You're Burned Out
When You're Burned Out

It feels like I haven’t taken a breath since February. Five months since a job hunt began, since stress took over, since I spent every hour of every day trying to figure out where I wanted to live, what I wanted to do, trying and failing, and failing, and failing to make things work. To get hired. To try the freelance lifestyle. To cook meals with nutrients instead of trans fat and to get my body moving. To finish a passion project while my time was unrestricted.

I failed at so many things, and from the outside it looked like I was barely moving. But it felt like I’d never worked harder in my life.

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HealthAmanda BeadlescombFeaturedComment
On Giving Yourself Permission to Rest
On Giving Yourself Permission to Rest

But I think it helps me to go through the events of the last couple of months and remind myself that it was a lot, that it was busy and stressful and took a toll emotionally as well as physically. To remind myself that it’s okay to be tired, even after two weeks of doing very little. To remind myself that there’s a process of recovery to take place now, after four years of studying are over and my identity is shifting away from "student" and into something new.

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Graduation, HealthIssy DaviesFeaturedComment
Post-Grad and Anxiety
Post-Grad and Anxiety

“I am so anxious.”

Every May, thousands of graduates adopt this mantra as their go-to response to the incessant question pf “so, how are you?” As someone with a close familiarity with anxiety, I am hyper-aware of its sudden increase in use in daily conversations. This is the phrase I hear countless friends use, and very aptly so. We are anxious in every connotation of the word: we are excited, nervous, shaky, unsure, ready to get it over with, and ready to begin. We are all caught in the uncomfortable company of this ambiguous agitation, some struggling to get past it and others simply living in it for all it’s worth.

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Health, GraduationC. CarrollFeaturedComment
Addicted to Attention
Addicted to Attention

I have craved attention from dating apps and from boys I meet in bars. I have craved attention from social media followers on a picture I like of myself. If it didn’t get enough attention I didn’t like the photo anymore. I have craved the attention of employers reading my resume and of readers of my blog.

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Career, Life, HealthAmanda BeadlescombFeaturedComment
I Am Independent and I Am Okay
I Am Independent and I Am Okay

Growing up, I was terrified of codependency. I never wanted to rely on anyone for anything. I didn’t want to look to someone else to give me self-worth, and I never wanted to let another being have the power to dictate my happiness. I wanted to be able to take care of myself. Perhaps this is something I was born with, or maybe I picked it up somewhere along the way.

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Life, HealthHannah ReedFeaturedComment
The Magic of No
The Magic of No

Despite the fact that I am oddly aware of all of this, I love making plans. The idea of a full social calendar has always been appealing. I'm the quintessential "extroverted-introvert" who lives for the opportunity to be a party girl, yet craves serious alone time. By Monday, I have plans for a mid -week dinner and by then, Friday night plans are brewing. Meanwhile, all the while, I’m thinking, “Shit, I just want to do nothing in peace, yet have an ongoing conversation via text with my best friend.” All of this mental anguish is because I said “yes.”

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Health, Life, RelationshipsOlivia PannoFeaturedComment
The Year of the Girl (and Quinoa)
The Year of the Girl (and Quinoa)

I didn’t make a New Year’s resolution for 2017. I was over setting myself up for failure, so in the spirit of self-love, I decided to challenge myself in more productive ways. I set short term goals, like not getting too drunk to remember the ball drop (failed) and not crying at midnight (allegedly failed). 

I did, however, develop a theme and set of rules for the new year. My mantra?  “2017 is the year of the GIRL.”

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Health, RelationshipsKaroline McKaigComment
It Doesn't Have to be Forever to be Good
It Doesn't Have to be Forever to be Good

Have you ever done that thing, where you see someone cute from across a room and before you’ve so much as exchanged names, you’ve pictured all the ways they’ll make you fall in love with them before they eventually break your heart, and then all of a sudden they’ve picked up their coffee and left the building before you even said hi? I am a master of that game.

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Health, LifeAshlee LatimerFeaturedComment