Take A Chill Pill…But Make it Compassionate
You ever have one of those days where your brain is a hamster on an espresso drip, running in circles and getting nowhere? And then—just when you’re already hanging on by the last frayed thread of your patience—someone hits you with:
“Take a chill pill.”
Oof.
Not only is that phrase peak ‘90s energy, it also has a way of making you feel like you’re being extra for having totally normal, human emotions. Like… excuse me for feeling things?? I didn’t realize this was the emotional Hunger Games.
Burnout Bonfire: Setting Fire to the “Shoulds”
Enter the burnout bonfire. Think of it as a little symbolic ritual for your nervous system. You don’t need an actual fire pit (though, like, live your best witchy life if that’s your thing). This is your chance to check in with yourself before the pressure of New Year’s “glow-up” culture hits. You get to decide what you're leaving behind now — not in January when the self-improvement machine revs back up.
A Soft Launch Into The Next Season
Here’s the thing about change: it doesn’t wait for you to be ready. It just… shows up. Like that one friend who always brings their new situationship to brunch without warning.
And for a lot of us millennials, especially those of us healing from not-so-great pasts, change can feel less like a fresh start and more like a personal attack. We like knowing things. We like predictability. We like routines, even if our executive dysfunction keeps us from following them.
But over the last couple of years—and through many, many therapy sessions—I’ve started learning how to prepare for change in a way that doesn’t trigger my inner alarm system. Whether it's the shift into a new season, a job change, or just the chaos of the new school year energy in the air (yes, even if you’re 37 and not in school anymore, we still feel it), there are ways to meet change without falling apart.
Know Thyself…Don’t Play Therapist.
Let’s set the scene: You’re three hours deep in a Bravo rabbit hole, your TikTok FYP is filled with videos like “Why Your Attachment Style Is Ruining Your Life,” and you’ve just ordered three self-help books, a weighted blanket, and a chakra-aligning face mist off Amazon—all while binge-listening to your favorite crime podcast.
Hi. Same. Welcome to the club.
We’re tired. We’re healing. We’re trying.
We are the messy millennials.
If you’re like me—an overachieving, overworked, people-pleasing perfectionist who’s constantly oscillating between burnout and bold life plans (travel! concerts! Ways to elevate!)—you’ve likely dipped your toes (or, let’s be real, taken a full-body dive) into the self-help and mental health space.
But here’s the tea no one’s serving on IG carousels and productivity podcasts: Self-help and self-diagnosis are not the same thing.
Booked, Busy, and Broke: The Millennial Summer Dilemma
Look, I love to travel. It makes me feel human again. It quiets the endless tabs open in my brain. I’m at my best wandering aimlessly through a new city, armed with questionable Wi-Fi and a half-charged phone, chasing the next unexpected moment. But let’s be honest—this whole “European Summer” thing feels more like an aesthetic now than a vacation.
Every summer, the same thought creeps in: “How the hell is everyone affording this?”
Who is the Messy Millennial?
There’s a moment—maybe it hits while you’re scrolling through your phone at 2am, or while staring blankly into your fridge hoping dinner materializes—that you think, “Is this just... life now?” If that question rings even slightly familiar, congrats. You’ve met your inner Messy Millennial.
No, not the beige-loving, glassware-matching, morning routine fanatics (one day I will have matching glassware). We’re talking about us—the tired, emotionally-aware, overstimulated but attempting to be functional humans raised on Disney Channel and Lunchables, now trying to untangle adulthood with a combination of memes, mindfulness apps, and caffeine dependency.
So, who is the Messy Millennial?
