[ep 13] am I too resistant to the natural discomforts of life? is that resistance making my life harder than it needs to be? we all know that mindset is everything…but this is a complicated issue when you take depression and other human pains into consideration because we feel we experience discomfort enough. can we make room in our lives to accept that life is inherently uncomfortable? I think this necessary acceptance can allow us to face the inevitable obstacles and mundaneness of life.

modern day life has offered us reprieve from the challenges our ancestors faced and has elevated the human experience…but where there is more pleasure, there is more pain

DM me your thoughts on instagram @thefriendineeded

[ep 12] I’ve been isolating. if you have been too…you shouldn’t feel bad about it. today I’ll share what my isolation has been looking like.

being around people I can’t show my full self to is exhausting. I’m over here busy trying to keep my mental afloat which makes it hard to socialize or listen to other people’s unrelatable and relatively ordinary drama. would I prefer to have close ones to be with? of course! but finding good people that understand you is hard, and I don’t have the extra energy to expend to find them when I don’t even know that it will pay off. people have definitely made me feel bad about myself for living this way, especially as someone in their 20s, but I’m here to tell you that there is nothing wrong with it.

I care about you and I support you.

[ep 11] why are we here? why does anything exist? these questions are something that everyone has thought about and some more often than others. not knowing the meaning of life used to drive me into anxious states of panic. fortunately, i’m at a point where I have gathered enough questions, answers, and theories to form some grounding beliefs about life and the universe. today I will be sharing my thoughts to perhaps give you some answers, reaffirm your own beliefs, plant some seeds for new ideas, and pique some questions within yourself. of course, this will involve discussing the dynamics of modern day life and the human condition

time stamps:  4:11 - my theory on the meaning of life 14:07 - why does it feel like we are chasing something? 43:12 - God? 1:01:26 - a higher power and metaphysics 1:14:47 - existentialism

[ep 8] reading a journal entry from start to finish - no intro or outro.

being in touch with your emotions and thoughts can be perceived as being weak. after minorly opening up to someone about my struggles this person started preaching about discipline and strength of mind. this person is only one of many with the same out-of-touch sentiment I've heard so many times and even had myself once...I think this interaction inspired this journal entry

to clarify the part when I say

"our life's work is more easily fulfilled"... I mean that our perceived purpose in life is no longer just focused on staying alive. this objective feels far beneath us now and we are expectant of ourselves to fulfill things much larger than that. this phenomenon among us shifts our reality from feeling normal and healthy. we search aimlessly for meaning when there is none and we use our extra time to search for extra problems to solve. we are here simply to be...but it's hard to be okay with that. our bodies aren't wired to be okay with just existing just as the trees do - an issue of the modern world

[ep 7] receiving a diagnosis can cause a flurry of emotions...fear, embarassment, overwhelm...but you also feel validated and relief. I want to share a little bit of my reaction from my diagnosis with OCD, the thoughts that came to my mind, and how I made myself feel like just another ”normal” human being rather than someone with ”something wrong with them”. what is normal though? no such thing.

I also discuss how my diagnosis has been SO good for me and my relationship with my OCD. it kind of feels like it’s my turn to talk in group therapy lol if you’re enjoying the podcast, please give my podcast a rating and leave some feedback :) it is super helpful to gauge how helpful the podcast is to you. I appreciate it and I appreciate you!!!