I’m a firm believer that Tuesdays are the worst days of the week, but nonetheless — happy Tuesday, my friend!

If August sipped away like a bottle of wine, then September went down like a shot of cheap vodka, and October is the $8.50 gin & tonic you end up chugging when you realize your friends are already halfway out the bar.

AKA — I’m straight up not having a good time right now. As most of you know, it’s because exactly four weeks from today is Election Day, meaning work-life balance does not exist for the next 28 days.

I’m being a little dramatic (this isn’t my first cycle, I’m much better at managing my time, etc), but at the same time, I know I am teetering on the brink of complete burnout.

After reflecting on a particularly rough day last week, a quote came to me from a reiki mentor I had when I was first beginning the process to become a reiki healer. (Interested in reiki? I do in-person sessions in the DMV!)

She told me she began learning reiki for the same reason the only sport she ever did was cross-country running:

“I never want my self care or inner peace to be reliant on someone or something other than myself and my own inner gifts.”

When she first told me this, a little over two years ago, I internally rolled my eyes. I am notably not a cross-country runner, and I rarely engage in self care that doesn’t include some aspect of materialism, whether that be working in a new planner (with new pens, of course), taking a long shower with lots of oils and lotions, or cross-stitching with my new queer cross-stitching circle (10/10 recommend, btw).

Of course, I externally critique the commercialism of modern day self care and how capitalism ruins everything. But do I fight back? Or have I just leaned in? My credit card statement would say the latter.

So, as we rush towards Election Day, I’m going to practice tapping into the self care I can provide for myself, by myself.

Are you with me?

Sending love,

Emily

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The Recipe Breakdown

Lemon: Self care for myself by myself. Trying my very best to not rely on other people or things (but mostly the things) to balance out my body, mind, and spirit.

Ingredient #1: Intuitive movement. I know, I talk about intuitive [insert noun/verb here] a lot. But it’s really important to listen to, and then honor, your body! After my surgery, I’ve been going on near-daily walks. Last week on one of my walks, I suddenly got the urge to run. The last time I had a regular walking routine, this same thing happened. I’ve never been anything close to a runner, but suddenly, my body wanted to GO. I had been ignoring that feeling for awhile, not sure if my post-op body was ready. Finally, after a few more walks full of pent-up energy, I started jogging the last half-mile or so. No pressure, no rules, just a little jog. And damn, it felt good.

Ingredient #2: Build in slow time. This is a habit, or maybe more of a mindset shift, that I just began intentionally implementing, but it has made such a difference — extremely basic but something I had never actually done. I used to be someone who would wake up at the last possible minute, catch the last bus to work, get to everything either right on time or two minutes late. With the exception of a few manic periods in my life, this is how I operated on a daily basis. Then, one morning, I woke up naturally 45 minutes before my alarm, and I had a slow morning, on a weekday, for the first time in years. It made all the difference, friend. After experiencing slow, but still traditionally productive, time — again, for like the first time in forever — I began building in those extra minutes throughout my day. Giving myself an extra six minutes to get to church. Setting my alarm for 30 minutes earlier than I need it to be. Even joining a work call a minute early. Giving myself this space to slow down, or at the very least not literally rushing to everything, is a huge self care move for me.

Ingredient #3: Quiet thinking time. This kind of goes along with both of these other ingredients, and similar to what I talked about in the Modern Mindfulness issue. We encounter a lot of stimuli throughout our days, and it’s very rare that most of us set time aside to just be with ourselves. For those of us with anxiety, sometimes it feels like we get too much time in our heads. But this is different, in my experience. Taking the time to sit with yourself, turn off the podcast or TV show in the background, and just allow yourself to think and process whatever thoughts or feelings you have can be really healing. It’s what lead me to this newsletter topic, after all.

Want to talk about your own lemons, ingredients, or lemonade recipes? Feel free to reply to this email!

🍋 Lemon Zest 🍋

The Little Things that help make my days a bit brighter 💕

🎵 I just finished listening to Daisy Jones and the Six, which was read by multiple voice actors instead of one person trying to do 10+ characters. 10/10 recommend for just how fun that was, tbh.

📝 It’s that time of the year where I simply cannot stick to a planner. I’m back to the basics, just listing absolutely everything coming to mind in this notepad.

☕ Dunkies changed their rewards program, and I am among the many who, as Rolling Stone put it, are revolting.

💭 The Cut asked 100 women “Are you okay?” Yes, I cried. (Warning this video is a collab with Hers, so there are sporadic ads for their services, but I think it’s still worth a watch.)

Going with today’s theme, here are 99 Free (Or Affordable) Self-Care Ideas For Your Wellness Routine.

☕ If you’d like to support my work and Making Lemonade, consider buying me a coffee or sending a few dollars my way via Venmo: @emmyfromminny ☕