Why Didn't We Do This Before?

If there’s one thing we all have more of right now, it’s time. Whether you actually have more time or just more time to use in different ways, there’s more time to think, time to be, time to connect. And I can’t help but think — why didn’t we do this before?

Why didn’t we prioritize slowing down?

Why didn’t we have proper meals and spend time making good, wholesome food from scratch?

Why didn’t we sit down, kick up our feet, pull from our bookshelf that’s collecting dust, and read more?

Why didn’t we bake loaves of bread and share with our neighbors?

Why didn’t we proactively watch out for each other?

Why didn’t we prioritize our health, regularly getting outside (while practicing social distancing, of course) for some vitamin D, fresh air, and exercise?

Why didn’t we prioritize mindfulness and build a home yoga practice?

Why didn’t we facetime with our out-of-state family and friends on a regular basis?

Why didn’t we prioritize what we love to do, building and crafting with our hands?

Why didn’t we prioritize sustainable, minimal living?

I think we’re now realizing more than ever the importance of connection. Connection to ourselves, our families and loved ones, our communities, our world, and our universe.

If there’s one thing I’d love to see happen as we come out of this global pandemic, it’s that we don’t lose these new habits we’re forming. These habits of meaningful connection and intentional living.

What are the new habits you’re forming that you hope to carry on when life goes back to “normal”? I’ll leave you with this quote from Dave Hollis:

“In the rush to return to normal, consider which parts of ‘normal’ are worth rushing back to.”

Season 2 Episode 02 Show Notes: What it's Really Like Living with Anxiety

In this episode, we dive deep into what it’s really like to live with anxiety, from my perspective and personal experiences. We chat about what anxiety feels like and the ways we can combat the presence of it in our daily lives.

Defining Anxiety

For me, anxiety can hit anywhere, anytime. It doesn’t matter if I’m comfortably at home or at work scrambling under an intense deadline. Sometimes I just wake up with a tight chest and I can’t even identify what might be causing it.

anxiety.org states that an anxiety disorder results when the fight or flight response becomes triggered too easily and too frequently. The human brain responds identically to both real and unreal danger using our fight or flight response, which causes a surge of adrenaline to assist with either fighting or fleeing. While we experience physical reactions to the surge of adrenaline (like heart rate and blood pressure increases and senses becoming hyper-alert, it is also up to our brains to determine whether the trigger is real or the trigger is unreal. Both anxiety and fear produce virtually identical physiologic responses, so our mind is in charge of making sense of it all to react appropriately (which it doesn’t always do perfectly).

When our fight or flight response is triggered too frequently, the brain starts to perceive the world as more dangerous than it actually is and the body overreacts to stressors that are not life-threatening, like traffic jams, work pressure, and family difficulties.

That has been my experience — that my body and mind overreact to both existing and perceived stressors. And I believe this stems from my need for perfection. I’m constantly trying to do the very best I possibly can, even at a detriment to my relationships and mental and physical wellbeing. And I think that’s the key — I don’t think doing my best is inherently negative; it’s when it becomes obsessive and wreaks havoc on other aspects of my life that it becomes a problem.

Anxiety is Not One-Size-Fits-All

The symptoms I’ve experienced living with anxiety have run the gamut — sometimes I can easily tame them and other times all I want to do is veg out in bed or on the couch. But that’s the reality of living with anxiety — I just take it day-by-day.

And I think that’s the misunderstanding of people who live with anxiety. We can’t generalize that everyone feels and experiences it in the same way, and we also can’t assume that anxiety is debilitating for everyone who experiences it. Affecting nearly 40 million American adults, it’s the most common mental health condition in the country — you may not even realize you know people dealing with anxiety.

A Few Things That Have Helped Me Cope

While I go into more detail about each of these on the podcast, none of the below are earth-shattering. But I think that’s the point. Sometimes it’s the smallest daily habits that are the most impactful — at least in my experience.

1. Working out on a regular basis.

2. Leaning on my person.

3. Eating real food.

4. Practicing self care and yoga.

5. Switching from coffee to Matcha Tea.

Tune into the podcast for more about my struggle with anxiety, and more tips for coping with it from a few great resources. And remember, let’s not generalize the experience of living with anxiety, but rather, let’s offer help and love to each other the best way we know how.

Join me on this Capsule Life journey!

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Until next time Capsule Lifers — keep finding joy through intentional living.

Living In-Between

Do you ever feel like you’re in this state of living in-between? Like you’re not actually really fully living at all — you’re only half living in each of your roles? I 1,000% feel that.

Sometimes I just feel like I’m floating around not really sure of what my next step should be. What I’ve learned is life feels blurry like that at times. What I’ve also learned is that more people feel like this than we realize. We’re not alone.

I was listening to Tara Brach’s podcast this morning while getting ready and she said something that really struck me:

If you let go a little, you’ll have a little peace.

If you let go a lot, you’ll have a lot of peace.

If you let go absolutely, you’ll have absolute peace and tranquility.

Wow. I thought that was so powerful. Here we are trying to control what happens in our lives in order to find peace and contentment, when in reality the best way to find peace and contentment is actually by letting go. Tara recognizes that this isn’t an easy process; that we have to practice this daily in order for it to even start coming “naturally” to us — at first, we’ll even have to let go of “not letting go the right way.” Phew.

No, I don’t have all the answers. No, I’m not perfect. No, I don’t feel like I’m fully living in all of my roles. No, I don’t know exactly what my purpose is just yet.

And what I’m realizing is that is all well with my soul.