Some Saturday evening real talk: My anxiety has been out the wazoo these days. Between starting my new job/learning to wake up at 6 am again, triathlon training, planning a wedding (it’s hard enough planning a small vow renewal ceremony and reception — I have no idea how people manage big ones), and trying to stay fit for said wedding without taking it too far (#formerEDprobz amirite), I’ve been driving the struggle bus these past two weeks. I’m keeping it together on the outside, but on the inside, it feels like a fully grown man in crocs is standing on my chest, as @lilymcmanus so descriptively put it. What’s interesting, though, is that the more stressed I get, the more I keep insisting to other people that I’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine, when clearly, based on the amount of stress-relief tea I’ve been buying, it’s not. Why is that? Why is it so easy to forget that NOBODY has it all together, so I have no business pretending I do? Just because my life is beautiful and amazing and I am so filled with gratitude for it doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to find it overwhelming every now and then. As Anne Lamott said, we’re not nuts for finding life a totally mixed bag, unlike what the nice bumper stickers might say -- it can be hard, magical, brutal, gorgeous, unfair, hilarious, sweet, wild and mysterious, all at once. Or, if we are nuts, we are so lucky to be together in this jar; and so delicious. So hi 👋🏻 This is me giving myself permission to say I’m a little overwhelmed right now, and that’s ok. This is also me giving you permission (not that you needed it) to say you might not be fine either, and that’s also ok. Let’s all be not ok together. P.S. If you’re ever in Minneapolis, you should check out the Science Museum of Minnesota. They have a really awesome mental health exhibit (where this photo was taken) that the activist inside me totally fangirl-ed over. (at Science Museum of Minnesota)