Stop the Doom Scrolling. It's Time to Breathe.
Hi from Maternity Leave! Every other newsletter that has gone out since the end of September I prepped ahead of time, but I knew that the one that went out this week couldn’t be planned.
This morning I woke up with baby Vidalia (V-Eye-Day-Lee-Uh) at 4:30am. I fed her and put her back to bed. Hiccups and a fart that I couldn’t believe came from an infant woke her up about an hour later, but by that time, I was wide awake. I had read what felt like the entire New York Times and was on to scouring other news sites. None of it was helpful information (or at least not new information) and none of it was helping my mental health.
Thank goodness for hiccups and farts!
While part of me wanted to continue down my sad news spiral, I didn’t get the chance. Instead I was up with Vi -- chatting, changing diapers (you would not believe the number of diapers this child goes through, or perhaps you would - maybe I was the only one under false pretenses there), doing tummy time, feeding her again, and finally getting her back to sleep.
Now it’s 9:00am and even though a big part of me wants to go back to my scrolling I’m going to resist. Baby Vi gave me the opportunity to get out of that spiral and, at least for now, I’m going to take advantage of the break and try to stay out.
I know a lot of you are probably walking into similar spirals and I hope that this newsletter acts as your own personal hiccup-fart. No amount of scrolling, wishing, or pulling your hair out is going to make any of the sitting and waiting for information go any faster.
And, as my amazing partner in coaching, Marguerite, says: your mood won’t impact the election.
Instead, I encourage you to find something to do that will help get your mind off things. Here are a few ideas:
Read a book that you loved as a kid -- preferably one with some good juicy chapters or a fantasy that can completely take you out of your head. I recently re-read this series and loved it.
Doodle. I particularly like closing my eyes and making a random squiggle and then trying to turn that into a picture of something.
Have a money date with yourself! Go through your recent transactions and ask yourself if they are aligned with your values and goals.
List out all the ways that you can impact change and create positivity in your life/community. Often we get so caught up in national politics that we forget that most of our day-to-day lives are impacted by decisions made much closer to home.
Move your body! Find an old mix CD (am I dating myself?) from high school, turn it up really loud and dance out all of that anxiety.
Spend some time journaling on your short-term and long-term money goals. What do you want to achieve? Why do you want to achieve it?
And, if all else fails, let yourself doom spiral. Who knows, I bet for some of you that is what feels best today.
As always, I’m here for you and your money journey. I’m still on maternity leave, but please don’t hesitate to schedule a time to chat with Marguerite here, or reply to this email to ask me questions or share comments. I’m not being very speedy at return emails, but I promise I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Now off to change another diaper :)
XOXO
