Mental Health
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Mental Health Is a Human Right, Not Just a Hashtag 💜
We talk a lot about mental health awareness, but are we actually practicing compassion when it matters most We live in a world that constantly tells us to speak up about mental health. Ask for help. Set boundaries. Take care of yourself. It’s okay not to be okay. We see these messages everywhere. On social media, in workplaces, on inspirational posters, and throughout mental health awareness campaigns. And don’t get me wrong. I think these messages are important. As someone who lives with my own mental health struggles and advocates for mental wellness, I’m glad we’re finally having conversations that previous generations often kept behind closed doors. But there’s something…
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Anxiety Doesn’t Look the Same for Everyone — And No Two Panic Attacks Are the Same
The messy, misunderstood reality of living with anxiety and why my experiences don’t always fit the stereotypes. When someone mentions anxiety, what comes to mind? Worrying? Overthinking? Panic attacks? Nervousness? Maybe you picture someone breathing heavily, shaking, crying, or struggling to calm themselves down. And yes, anxiety can look like all those things. But here’s something I’ve learned through my own mental health journey: Anxiety isn’t always obvious. And even when you live with it every single day, it doesn’t always show up the same way. Sometimes my anxiety is loud, overwhelming, and impossible to ignore. Other times, it’s quiet. Almost invisible to everyone around me. And sometimes, I don’t…
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Am I a Night Owl, or Does My Brain Just Come Alive at Night?
3 AM Thoughts From a Millennial Living With Anxiety, Schizophrenia, and a Very Creative Mind There’s something about nighttime that makes my brain come alive. During the day? I’m exhausted. Sometimes I struggle to find motivation. I overthink everything, worry about things that haven’t even happened, and feel like my brain is running a thousand different tabs at once. But then nighttime arrives. Suddenly, I want to write. I want to create art. I want to redesign my website, work on my business, brainstorm new projects, or start something completely random at 11 PM. And I’m sitting there thinking… Where was this motivation six hours ago?! Seriously, brain. We need…
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The Side of Anxiety Nobody Sees
Just because I look like I’m functioning doesn’t mean my mind isn’t fighting a hundred invisible battles. One of the hardest things about living with anxiety is that people don’t always see it. They see me going to work. They see me helping customers. They see me smiling, having conversations, completing responsibilities, and doing everything I’m supposed to do. They see someone who appears to be functioning. Someone who is capable. Someone who is managing. But what they don’t see is everything happening inside my head. The constant worrying. The overthinking. The imaginary conversations. The fears that don’t always make sense. The mental exhaustion that comes from trying to act…
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Protecting My Peace Doesn’t Mean I Stopped Caring. It Means I Finally Started Caring About Myself.
On people-pleasing, anxiety, outgrowing relationships, and learning that being a good person doesn’t mean being available to everyone all the time. There was a time when I thought being a good person meant always being available. Answering every message. Listening to everyone’s problems. Saying yes when I really wanted to say no. Giving people chance after chance because I believed that’s what kindness looked like. And honestly? I think part of me was afraid of what would happen if I stopped. Would people think I was selfish? Would they get upset? Would they stop talking to me? Would I somehow become the bad person simply because I started putting myself…
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I’m Still Learning to Take My Own Advice About Self-Care
Sometimes the reminders we give others are the ones we need to hear ourselves. There’s something strangely vulnerable about being the person who reminds everyone else to rest… while secretly forgetting how to rest yourself. And if I’m being completely real, I do this more often than I’d like to admit. I spend so much time writing about self-care, mental health, healing, boundaries, and learning to be kinder to ourselves. I create comforting reminders, write reflections, and make little pieces of art that I hope help someone feel less alone. But here’s the funny thing. Sometimes I’m the one who needs those reminders the most. I’ll write about slowing down…
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I Lost Pieces of Myself, but I’m Slowly Rebuilding 💜
Sometimes starting over isn’t about getting your old life back. It’s about discovering who you’re becoming. I’ve been thinking about how much my life has changed over the years. And honestly? Sometimes I barely recognize the person I used to be. There were moments when I felt like I had lost so much. My confidence. My motivation. My sense of direction. Even parts of my creativity that once made me feel like myself. Between anxiety, grief, mental health struggles, mistakes, and unexpected setbacks, there were times when I wondered if I’d ever feel like me again. And the hardest part? Life doesn’t exactly come with a reset button. Believe me,…
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I’m Learning to Make Myself Proud Instead of Everyone Else 💜
Because maybe I don’t need everyone else’s approval to feel like I’m doing enough. Can I admit something? I’ve spent a lot of my life worrying about making other people proud. My parents. My boss. People online. Even complete strangers who probably don’t think twice about me. 🙃 And somewhere along the way, I started measuring my worth by how other people saw me. If someone complimented me, I felt good. If someone seemed disappointed, I immediately wondered what I’d done wrong. But here’s something I’ve been asking myself lately. When was the last time I actually felt proud of myself? Not because someone told me I did a good…
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Maybe Finding Myself Means Going Back to Who I Used to Be 💜
Sometimes healing isn’t about becoming someone new. Sometimes it’s about remembering who you were before life got so overwhelming. I’ve been thinking about something lately. What if finding yourself isn’t always about moving forward? What if sometimes it’s about going back? Back to the things you used to love. The hobbies that made you happy. The little pieces of yourself that somehow got lost between anxiety, responsibilities, and trying to figure out adulthood. Because honestly? I think I’ve lost touch with parts of myself along the way. Not completely. But enough to notice. Somewhere Along the Way, I Forgot to Just Create I’ve always loved being creative. Photography, drawing, digital…
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“You can do anything—but not everything.”
“You can do anything—but not everything.” Honestly, I think a lot of us forget that. We try to be the strong one, the dependable one, the fixer, the helper, the person who always says yes. We stretch ourselves so thin trying to prove we care that we forget we’re human too. Lately I’ve been realizing that exhaustion is not proof of kindness. One of my coworkers said something that stuck with me:“You can’t always be the hero. They can still count on you if you say no once.” And maybe that’s what healing looks like sometimes. Not becoming cold.Not stopping caring.Just learning that being a good person does not require…