It's been awhile since we've talked directly about mental health, and I wanted to give a personal update about what I've noticed is different about my lifelong anxiety in the last few years. I attribute these changes to aging, and evolving lifestyle, and a few different habits that I have really prioritized since I turned 40.

Ten years ago this summer, I was in one of the lowest points of my life. I had a toddler and a baby, was grieving the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of another loved one, and the near-fatal crisis of yet another loved one. My husband was away making a movie, so I was solo parenting and circumstantially very isolated during a rainy season that had flooded our home. 

And also....I had just started therapy for the first time. 

June is my birthday month, and every year I create a personal episode for the occasion. This year, instead of waxing nostaligic or sharing what I've learned in the last year, I'm taking us on a journey. 

Of metaphors. 

We all have seasons of overwhelm, whether it's a packed schedule, an insane To Do list, or events that require a lot of emotional processing. I've been navigating my own overwhelm in the last few months while juggling a larger-than-normal workload with travel and family obligations. So I sat down to make a list of the things that are helping me handle it. 

The week between Christmas and New Years is one of my favorite parts of the year. I love the reflection, the final Best Of lists, the hope and excitement for the year ahead. 

In the past, I've called this final episode of the year "10 TAKEAWAYS from 20__" but as I was journaling through all that had happened in 2022, I realized that (for me) it was all about the lessons learned.