Rachel’s Room🛋️

Happy Sunday. Good morning. I hear Milo's pitter patter. Milo, say hello to Cadre. Good morning, everyone. I am so sorry about Thursday. I really wanted to go live on Thanksgiving. I went on Thanksgiving. I went to go see my mom, who lives up on a cluster of islands in Washington. And so we just take a ferry and our ferry was delayed. And as soon as we get on the ferry, there's no service, like, while we're crossing the water. So I was not able to go live, unfortunately. I'm so sorry. And today I'm sick, so please forgive my stuffiness.

I. Yeah, I woke up yesterday with, like, a pretty, like, stuffy nose and, like, a little bit of a chest cough. So luckily, no. No fever or anything. But it's been also been really, really cold here. Like, brutally cold. There's frost on the ground today. I'm sure that there are folks that live in much colder places than I do, but for Seattle, it's pretty cold. So high. Speak wonder. Hi, Rach. I just wanted to check in and see how everyone's. Oh, yeah, this is one of my favorite sweatshirts. I've had this.

Sorry, I just got out of the shower. I've had this sweatshirt for, like, six years. It's covered in stains because I refuse to get rid of it. But I just, like. I just love it so much. And I have sweatpants that go with it that also say empathy on them, which I really like. Yes, I was just sick. I was sick in October before I went to Japan. And this feels exactly the same, which is annoying because I feel like if I've already gotten this, like, why am I getting it again? But literally, this is the same, like, it started the exact same with, like, kind of a tiny bit of a runny nose, a tiny bit of a cough, and, like, some sneezing.

And that one, like, same thing. Like, I didn't have a fever or anything, but I had this just, like, disgusting cough and runny nose for, like, three weeks. So I really hope that's not this. I'm trying to get ahead of it this time. I'm, like, pumping airborne and vitamin C and taking, like, preemptive DayQuil. So I'm really hoping that I don't. I don't have something that lasts that long because. No, thank you. Don't want that happening. But, yeah, I wanted to check in and see how everybody's Thanksgiving was, how everyone was coping with the holidays.

I know. I went live the week before to talk about some ways to cope ahead. I. I feel like this Was like the, probably the easiest Thanksgiving I've had in many, many years, mental health wise. And I think a lot of that is because I'm not drinking. And, and so my, like, I just, I was pretty clear headed, which was helpful. I find that like when I'm drinking I have a harder time like checking in with myself and what I need and taking those pauses. So it was a lot easier for me to like really be mindful of like what I needed and how I was feeling.

And I just also like had more energy. So it was like easier for me to engage with my family and, and like be in good spirits naturally, which was really nice. And I think the other component is like, I've gotten to a point now where my family is so, so aware of like my mental health stuff that like I don't ever feel like I have to explain myself. Like I don't feel like I have to explain if I'm feeling a little anxious and I need to go outside for a minute or like I don't get any pushback if like I don't want to talk about something.

And I set a boundary. Like I've worked really hard over the years to get to a place with my family where they understand and not only just not only understand, but they support me. And that I think is now like paying off in dividends, which is amazing. So. Speak Wonder says, had a good holiday. Started out rough emotionally, but kept improving. I'm sorry it started out rough, but I'm glad that it improved. Was there anything that you noticed that contributed? It contributed, it contributed to it improving for you?

Rachel says, went to my sister's for Thanksgiving and as usual I hung with the kids. Much more manageable than the adults. That's me. I do the same thing. My 13 year old niece shocked me when she mentioned her inner child. Oh my gosh, that's really sweet. I think it's pretty amazing how like some of this language is now like permeating the younger generations and how aware they're starting to be of these things. I think that's pretty like fascinating to observe in real time. Like does she say anything specifically about her inner child or just kind of like casually mentioning it?

That's really sweet. And while you guys respond. So we have December tomorrow. What? No. So the end of the year is gonna happen really, really fast. This is what always happens. Like the end of the year is here and then suddenly like it's January. And I always find that like this month in particular just like flies by and then all Of a sudden, it's New Year's in January. And then January feels like this, like, really, really hard, super slow. So this month for December, I'm gonna try really hard to a, like, go slow.

Like, take. Try and, like, make December feel slower by practicing one thing at a time, which I've talked about here a lot, by trying to preserve my energy and know, like, I don't have to say yes to every single thing. But also, like, I really do want to have some social time. So, like, carving in time to, like, see friends and people I care about, but also, like, creating something in January for myself to look forward to so that when January comes around and that, like, that January lull happens, I have something baked in that I can be excited about and that can kind of, like, break up that really slow January lull time.

Um, so, I mean, that can be anything. Like, for me, I'm probably gonna, like, book myself a tattoo knowing myself, which will be something to look forward to. But it could be something totally different. Like a class you've been wanting to take, like an art class. It can be, like, a small little getaway, planning, like, a dinner party with friends, but, like, kind of trying to bake something into January because oftentimes, because December feels so full of activities and events and, like, my, like, not milestones, but, like, benchmarks, like, around holidays, etc, and it's, like, filled with, like, social stuff.

It can feel. January can just feel incredibly bleh. So, like, putting something into your January ahead of time can be really helpful. She said I was killing her inner child after she. After she said she was getting a little big for the baby slide. We were both joking, but I texted her later to know, no one can do that. She's in charge. Cute. Acceptance. The reason my day leveled up. I'm accepting people as they are. They're always. They will always be who they are. Let them. Beautiful. I love that.

Yeah, acceptance is really, really hard. That was the theme this month. I don't know if you guys noticed that on a Cadre. So there should be a lot of videos on people's pages all about acceptance. And I really believe that acceptance is, like, one of the most powerful ways that we can shift our. Our mindset and our emotional state. I talk about this in a couple of the videos I posted this. Acceptance does not mean approval, right? Like, we can accept something and not agree with it. And I think when I learned that, that was, like, a really powerful shift for me because I was really resisting accepting things because I was like, well, But I don't agree with this.

Like, why would I accept something that I don't approve of? And the reality is, acceptance is not approval or agreeing with. It's just acknowledging things as they are. And it's also not avoiding things, right? So, like, when we say things like, oh, yeah, no, I'm fine, or like, everything's good, or like, I'll deal with that later, like, that's not accepting. That's avoiding. And so I think also recognizing that in times when I was thinking I was accepting things and just being like, no, it's fine.

I don't care. Like, it is what it is, I wasn't actually accepting it. I was avoiding it. And so I think, you know, when we can, like, truly, truly accept something, we really actually get to, like, let go, and it helps us to move forward. So I'm really glad that you were able to practice some of that Speak Wonder. That's really cool. Okay, my loves, I'm gonna go dry this hair because I'm afraid that if I keep it wet, I'm gonna make myself sicker and go pump myself full of some vitamins, because I'm not.

I refuse to be sick this December. Refuse. All right. I love you all so much. I'm so grateful you're here, and I'm excited to see you again this week on Thursday at our regular time. I hope you all have a lovely rest of your Sunday and that you stay warm, stay well, and that you just stay. Okay, I'll see you all very soon. Bye.