PERSONAL PROTECTION & INTROSPECTION
There comes a time when even the most exciting personal news shouldn’t be broadcasted, and this may be that time.
As 2020 came to a close and I looked back at all I’d endured that year, and in the years before it, I was proud to exclaim that not only had I survived, but at the end of the year, I was thriving! Because of a series of tough decisions that had to be made as my family and I prepared for at least two years of a raging pandemic, racial and political turmoil, and economic instability, we ended the year on an upswing. …
RELATIONSHIP COACHING
This is the perfect time to leave your significant other. Here’s a fresh perspective to help you prepare for this necessary shift.
Whew! 2020 –– what a year! Am I right? The fact that you’re reading this means you made it through the old year and into the new one and first of all, let me say congratulations! Hundreds of thousands of Americans did not make it through, and even though you’ve been playing it safe and following protection protocol, it also feels like the luck of the draw a little bit. It feels as if you’ve won the life lottery, and the idea that “it could’ve been me” might have inspired you to make some pretty significant changes in 2020. By now, depending on when you made these shifts, you may be reaping the rewards of the changes you’ve made, and hopefully, those alterations were good for your overall health and well-being. If you’re anything like me, these healthy shifts include ditching one-sided and unequally-yoked relationships, leaving you to feel lighter and happier than before the pandemic began. …
HOLIDAYS & RELATIONSHIPS
Everyone deserves a holiday gift, even if it’s the gift of nothing.
Buying gifts for the people I love and appreciate has been easy and fun. My son is a music teacher and director at an international music school and a student at one of the nation's top music colleges. So, obviously, music-related gifts are at the top of his proverbial Christmas list. My partner is an art lover and an executive at an online art curation platform that provides a collection of contemporary art for art lovers. So, knowing what to get him isn’t tough. My sister and I are on simultaneous beautification and betterment journeys, buying and trying beauty products and rituals together, and holding each other accountable for our immediate and long term overall goals. Any sort of skincare and planning tools would work well for her. My grandmother, great aunt, and my dad –– they’re all pretty easy to buy for, and for reasons reported in a previous article, my mother gets coal for Christmas. …
WRITING & RELATIONSHIPS
How my triumphant return to writing and one well-meant article became the straw that broke a friendship’s back.
As the story goes, I retired from writing in 2015 after the conclusion of the tour for my fifth book. After three New York Times bestsellers, years of press engagements, and interviews with nearly every highly sought-after outlet in the world, including the Oprah Winfrey Show with its infamous “Oprah Effect,” I was spent. Somewhere along the way, I lost my love of writing and became disenfranchised from the publishing industry as a whole. …
RELATIONSHIPS & HOLIDAYS
These four kinds of people don’t deserve me, much-less gifts this Christmas.
It’s been a while since I've written. What can I say; I’ve been busy being gone. It’s easy work being missing. Since leaving Los Angeles for parts unknown, I have spent my time settling into my new space, getting to know the town I now call home, half-assing my workout routine, trying new recipes, and eating pies –– lots and lots o’ pies.
For the first time since I was a girl, I am looking forward to and preparing to celebrate Christmas, and that means I am also curating my first Christmas gifting list! It’s all very exciting, really. But while in the process of gathering the names of all the people to whom I’d like to send a special gift this holiday season, I couldn’t help but think about the people who can suck it this Christmas. …
SELF-CARE
Do yourself a favor and try just one of these today.
Holy shit. Logging onto social media feels like running onto a busy freeway right now, as we are in the throws of the most stressful election of our time. The anxiety and fear on my Twitter timeline are palpable and it’s all I can do to topline the major news headlines before quickly logging off and going back to my grounding rituals. For me, cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and planning my days are all ways I stay focused on my self-care and the caring of my family. …
PERSONAL GROWTH & CHANGE
Something is changing inside of you and soon, nothing will be the same.
It happens slowly, and then, all at once. For the past many years, you have been growing increasingly uncomfortable with where you are and who you’ve become. Looking around your home, you feel less joy than you did when you first moved in. Too much has happened and there are so many memories –– some you wish to forget and some you’re tired of remembering.
You’re ready for something new.
Talking to your friends has been a chore, and after each forced conversation, you walk away feeling exhausted, and as if you have once again wasted time. It’s the small talk, the redundancies, the same day-in-day-out minutia. Your friends and family never change, no one is growing, and none of them encourage your growth. …
STRESS & ANXIETY MANAGEMENT
Implement and practice these four steps today and see how much of a difference they make!
We’ve all been through a lot and some more than others, but no matter how insane your year has or has not been, it’s always a good idea to take stock of your life regularly, including daily stock of your mental health and well-being. Personally, I find myself doing more rather than just feeling-my-feelings, thanks to my highly functional anxiety. I am goal-oriented and can get lost in a plan without taking a moment to check in with myself at least once each day –– and I know I’m not the only one.
I live with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, as do over 6.8 million other adults, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America. This says nothing about the millions of Americans who suffer from other forms of anxiety, as well as those living with many different forms of depression. The point is, a lot of us were already having a hard enough time making it through our days before the presidential and pandemic scourge of 2020. …
PERSONAL SPACE & PRIVACY
I’m not off the grid, and I haven’t disappeared from social media, but no one knows where I am, and that’s just the way I like it.
If you know you me and you’re reading this, chances are, I’m not where you think I am. But don’t panic; I’m quite alright. I don’t know when it started or why, but I am uncomfortable with too many people knowing how to get ahold of me, whether by phone, email, social media, or in person. For over a decade, I have been an enigma, dodging social events and ignoring phone calls and text messages. …
The saddest Christmas ever turned me against the holiday; the hardest year ever has made me look forward to it
I must have been 12 the year I decided to hate Christmas for the rest of my life. I awoke that particular Christmas morning to the sound of my two younger sisters already ripping the wrapping paper from their gifts. They shouted with delight and awe upon seeing what Santa had brought them that year. They still believed in Claus, with one being just five and the other four. But by 12 years old, I knew where our presents came from — the uncles. …
