social media

First, let me put your mind at ease: Feeling sad when a celebrity dies is completely normal. You’re not weird for crying when an actor, athlete, or musician you’ve never met passes away. Look at the collective grief over Catherine O’Hara, Robin Williams, Kobe Bryant, or Betty White. The sadness…

In today’s fast-paced world, we’re constantly juggling endless to-do lists and feeling pressure from both society and social media to keep up. Amid all this hustle, a new self-care trend has taken off online: bed rotting. To “bed rot” means to spend the day resting in bed, perusing social media,…

We’ve all felt it—that slightly fried feeling from too much screen time, too many notifications demanding our attention, and too many apps pulling us in every direction. It’s overwhelming, and sometimes the best remedy is a good, old-fashioned break, or a “digital detox.”  This purposeful time off from screens and…

Trauma dumping refers to a situation where an individual shares their traumatic experiences in an overwhelming, often boundary-violating manner without the listener’s consent. While it’s not  always intentional, trauma dumping typically crosses interpersonal boundaries and may cause the listener to feel overwhelmed or trapped.  Learn more about how to spot…

Hello Black women, my name’s Laura, and I’ve been certified Black since the ’80s. The title of this article reflects my intention for the distressed reader to shift their perspective to a more helpful focus to support mental wellness. This is intended to occur through analogies and tips. Let’s begin!…

In late 2010, Steve Jobs was still at the head of Apple and had recently unveiled the first iPad. Jobs was well known for his personality and would often call reporters to let them know how he felt about their reviews. At times, these conversations would involve a pat on…

168 hours. That is how many hours are in each week. Did you know that? I certainly did not; I never thought to do the math. Someone recently recommended the book, “I Know How She Does It” by Laura Vanderkam. Truthfully, it is written for a specific group of people…

During election season, headlines and ads about candidates fill our feeds. Emails about voter registration swarm our inboxes. Political opinions dominate our conversations. Arguments flood our social media accounts and more importantly, our relationships. And whether we like it or not, politics are on our minds. There are some people…

You’ve read it a thousand times: Social media apps can wreak havoc on our mental health. Many of us (if not all) have heard that distant “ding” that resonates off the kitchen counter and experienced the sudden surge of curiosity — only to discover it’s a spam message, or worse,…

In case you missed it, there’s a place on the internet called r/AmItheA**hole (AITA) which aims to determine which party should be blamed in ethical disputes. For example, someone posts the following (paraphrased) moral quandary on Reddit’s AITA forum: “My friend’s baby was crying, so I gave her a sip…

On January 3rd, a snowstorm pummelled the East Coast, and Fredericksburg, Virginia (my home) got the brunt of it. The first couple hours of snowfall were idyllic. I enjoyed the white, winter backdrop in the window behind me, as I sipped my coffee and completed the day’s journal entry (hello,…

Some shoppers have nightmares about arriving at the big box store 5 minutes too late to snag the Black Friday doorbuster they came to buy. For other shoppers, a nightmare scenario is the Black Friday shopping itself. Consider this [Trigger Warning]: You walk through the automatic doors of a megamall…