Ack! This was supposed to go out yesterday - but I forgot to hit public on it. Apologies, my friends! Enjoy this follow up to the last episode - on making adult friendships. RESOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/well/live/how-to-make-friends-adult.html GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT : www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON : www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcast OR WATCH ON YOUTUB E: www.yo...
Sep 20, 2023•8 min
Adult friendships are hard - but they should be fun. Focusing on unstructured "play" can put the fun back into hanging out with the people we interact with. As the sociologist Eric Klinenberg told The Atlantic , “You tend to enrich your social life when you stop and linger and waste time.” RESOURCES : https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/08/childhood-friendship-benefits-play/675158/ GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL...
Sep 18, 2023•8 min
LIEBERMAN SAYS: We live in a world where everyone knows that exercise is good for you, and yet the vast majority of people have a hard time doing it. According to government statistics, only about a quarter of Americans actually exercise in their leisure time. For me, it’s clear we’re asking people to choose to do something that’s inherently abnormal in the sense that we evolved not to do it. Humans evolved to move. We evolved to be physically active. But exercise is a special kind of physical a...
Sep 17, 2023•7 min
We learn about time in such a rigid way. Through hours, minutes, seconds - or schedules and deadlines and timelines. There’s an inherent sense that we need to utilize every minute in order to be happy or reach our highest heights. And that is a stressful way to live - especially when we realize that time is more fluid than that. I’m sure we’ve all experienced the magic that lies in realizing how flexible time can really feel and be. Each of us have felt the fluidity of time - Whether moments tha...
Sep 16, 2023•5 min
ever since childhood we've been learning how to push down our hunger cues, our time out cues, our overwhelmed and overworked cues. it's time we learned how to listen to them again without letting them take over completely. GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT : www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON : www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcast OR WATCH ON YOUTUB E: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions ex...
Sep 15, 2023•4 min
When we get caught up working towards shit, it becomes really easy to forget that THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES. You can feel all the anxiety in the world but it’s not gonna change that tomorrow is coming, but on the other hand, you can feel all the peace in the world, and tomorrow is still gonna come. Wallowing about the past, does not change it - just like stressing about the future can’t either. Stay conscious of the here and now, in this very moment + pay attention to how much of that is n...
Sep 14, 2023•5 min
You can't light yourself on fire to keep others warm. This is a remastered version of Episode 20. GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT : www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON : www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcast OR WATCH ON YOUTUB E: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podca...
Sep 13, 2023•5 min
The Overton window of political possibility is the range of ideas the public is willing to consider and accept. Public officials cannot enact any policy they please like they’re ordering dessert from a menu. They have to choose from among policies that are politically acceptable at the time. And we believe the Overton window defines that range of ideas. - Joseph Lehman RESOURCES : https://www.tiktok.com/@crutches_and_spice and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window and https://conceptually...
Sep 12, 2023•6 min
The Overton window of political possibility is the range of ideas the public is willing to consider acceptable/the norm. It's how Trump went from TV persona to president. Sometimes, it's good! But when it's the strategy of political think tanks, we probably need to pay attention. RESOURCES : https://www.tiktok.com/@crutches_and_spice and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT : w...
Sep 11, 2023•4 min
According to wikipedia: In politics , lobbying or advocacy , is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies , but also judges of the judiciary . Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a perso...
Sep 10, 2023•7 min
If you have never had the chance to be alone - really alone - and you are presented with the opportunity, TAKE IT. Whether it be for only a few hours or over the course of several years, I suggest you take it. There is nothing more valuable than being afforded time to be all by yourself and solely charge of your own wellbeing. You will get the opportunity to return to your sensed of community, eventually but for the moments of solitude you do find - embrace them. Relax and breathe in the feeling...
Sep 09, 2023•6 min
Forgiveness is an essential part in finding your happiness. This doesn't mean to let everyone off the hook for hurting you or crossing boundaries. It simply means you aren’t harboring those toxic feelings about it, anymore. You must come to terms with the fact that people who love you will show love to you in ways that don’t feel like love sometimes. Sure sometimes people hurt us on purpose, but more often people will hurt us even though they love us, because they don’t know how else to show tha...
Sep 08, 2023•6 min
There is nothing wrong with you. If you pursue self help in the search of fixing yourself, you will never be satisfied because you aren’t a car - you aren’t broken and don’t need to be fixed. Self love shouldn’t be an aspiration. It should be the bare minimum. You are a miracle made of star stuff and if the bones and heart beating in your chest isn’t enough to impress you than the fact that you have survived in an often very overwhelming world should be. Stop waiting for others to validate you w...
Sep 06, 2023•4 min
Utilize the asset that is reading energy. Study it. Learn it like a language, because that is exactly what it is. Begin to recognize who your energy shifts around. Notice when it changes and teach yourself how to adapt it. Unfollow anyone that makes you feel weird energy, unless it’s something you feel you should be challenged in. Curate your relationships, social media feeds, and home to reflect the energy that you would like to embody most often. Energy will ebb and flow but it is a valuable s...
Sep 05, 2023•6 min
This may be hard to admit - but you deserve the occasional day off to just relax. To do nothing at all. To binge watch. To sit and waste time. Recharge and replenish. And then practice forgiving yourself for not being productive. We have been conditioned our whole lives to believe that productivity is the only way to be valuable in a society based on capitalism and industriousness. We have never been taught that rest is not a reward. It is work. A thing we must do. Especially if we aim to ever b...
Sep 04, 2023•5 min
I’m not religious, but it isn't lost on me that most religions and even agnostic sects of spirituality center around some form of prayer or meditation or introspection. Regardless of your faith or lack thereof, it’s crucial to offer ourselves the space and time to decompress. Time away from screens, family, friends, work, and even away from your own thoughts. Plans, anxieties, fears can lead us to cycle in our mind and by practicing mindfulness, we’ll notice and can refocus back on our present m...
Sep 03, 2023•6 min
If your inner voice manifested into a human form today, would you be friends with it? I think a lot of us would have to teach our new friend some manners before going into the real world. Which is wild to think about - that the most common voice, our most reliable narrator, our internal operator is kind of an asshole? Is really sad to me. If the voice we live with, and listen to the most, is not nice? What does that mean? Negative self talk quickly trains your brain to believe that the criticism...
Sep 02, 2023•6 min
We really gotta get over the fear of being seen. We should never feel bad for trying. The only people who feel comfortable criticizing others for trying are typically envious of your fearlessness, or washed up from their time in the spotlight, and they have nothing against you but everything against them for not being you at that moment. Excuse my language but FUCK EM. Every professional in the history of professions has failed and begun again and failed and begun again. Its between those failur...
Sep 01, 2023•6 min
UNIVERSAL TRUTH: Just because it ain’t your fault, doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility to deal with it. I think taking responsibility for your trauma gets lost in translation a bit. We often say, “everything happens for a reason” or “there’s a lesson in everything”; and while those may be helpful reframes for a select few, most people won’t benefit from those generalities, especially at a time of need. So yes, dealing with your trauma is your responsibility, in the immediate sense: when yo...
Aug 31, 2023•6 min
Excitement and anxiety fire up the exact same space in your brain, so if we can work on reframing our perspective, we may not even have to shake the anxious feelings at all! You’re not nervous because you’re going to talk in front of a large group of people, you’re excited because you get to feel like Taylor Swift??? The thing we’re nervous about is starting, and a reappraisal can help. If you’re someone who can assess all the ways shit can go wrong, you owe it to yourself and everyone around yo...
Aug 30, 2023•5 min
DAY 9: COMFORT ZONES: Have you ever heard a term so much that it loses all meaning? I feel that way about comfort zones a little bit. Maybe because mine fluctuates from year to year or maybe cuz I’ve read “life begins right outside of your comfort zone” in too many public restrooms, but when I came back to revamp this episode about getting out of your comfort zone - I knew I needed to reevaluate my relationship with the term. According to Judith Bardwick,“The comfort zone is a behavioral state w...
Aug 29, 2023•6 min
A life without any indulgence is just plain sad AF. It’s not just me who says it - there are studies that demonstrate that some indulgence is as fundamental to a happy life as self-control is. Decades of research have shown that self-control is associated with many positive outcomes, including our overall well-being. But as self-control helps us to align our behaviors with our long-term goals (e.g., exercising to stay fit) it can often shield us from conflicting hedonic goals (e.g., relaxing) an...
Aug 28, 2023•5 min
A life without any indulgence is just plain sad AF. It’s not just me who says it - there are studies that demonstrate that some indulgence is as fundamental to a happy life as self-control is. Decades of research have shown that self-control is associated with many positive outcomes, including our overall well-being. But as self-control helps us to align our behaviors with our long-term goals (e.g., exercising to stay fit) it can often shield us from conflicting hedonic goals (e.g., relaxing) an...
Aug 28, 2023•5 min
You’ve showed up EVERY single day. Every shower you’ve taken, every tear you’ve shed, every laugh you’ve had, every connection you’ve made, you’ve been there for. And sure you didn't have a choice, I get that, it seems cheesy but eat up, rat friends. - because we spend so much time showing gratitude for our besties if we’ve got them. And I DO love appreciating a good community moment, it’s also crucial to show up and appreciate you. GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : www.makeyourdamnbedp...
Aug 27, 2023•3 min
seems cliché, but time is by far our most valuable commodity. Money comes and goes but time you can never get back. This is why we often feel so strongly about the things we’ve invested our time or money into - because we’ve invested we feel we’re losing our deserved payout if we bail. But just because we make an investment, doesn’t mean it’s always the right one for you. In fact, we’re often focused so much on recouping our perceived losses that we ignore the wins we could be making had we cut ...
Aug 26, 2023•3 min
People rarely sustain the exact same routine forever, really. Habits are meant to be used as tools, and sure, some of them stick for many years, but more often than not, I drop habits like it’s bath night at the nunnery! Most things I begin, I give up on. Literal obsessions I have had over the years have given way to make space for new/updated experiences. Imagine if we clung SO tightly to everything we’ve ever loved or felt passionate about. Life isn’t one size fits all! Find what fits, feels r...
Aug 25, 2023•3 min
Momentum is far more valuable than motivation. Motivation is inconsistent. Some days I feel like a superhero but most days I just wanna take a nap + eat hot chips. It seems silly to say to “just start” as if it’s easy - sure, starting may be simple, but it ain’t easy. That said, it is easier to stand up + start, than to tack on the additional labor of convincing yourself to stand up + start first, so I truly find the best way to get rid of dread is with action. Sometimes, taking ONE step is all ...
Aug 24, 2023•3 min
Your life is subjective to you. Your friends are THE BEST. Your hometown is THE BEST. Your TV preferences, favorite restaurant, sports team, all the best right? So why not alter your language to speak the same way about yourself? If youre the main character you’re also the writer/producer/supporting character. Energy does beget energy so when we start acting like a main character? We may start receiving main character attention + energy back. This doesnt make anyone else a side character, though...
Aug 23, 2023•2 min
Life is a very nuanced and specific experience, so, I'm aware that some days, some messages might not feel relevant to you. Even if things don’t seem immediately relatable, keep an open mind but remember that even improvement seeking can be a trap. Moderation + balance is the key to creating harmony in ANY aspect of our lives, and everything can be abused if overused, including self care, health, and wellness. Keep your friends, information sources, and your perspectives diverse if you feel like...
Aug 22, 2023•6 min
DAY 1: Why should you make your bed? You have one! Gratitude is a scientifically backed way to improve well-being. Starting your day with genuine mindfulness can change the game. It makes your room look clean! Typically, the bed is the largest, most eye-catching item in your room and it’s a high pay off for very little tucking and straightening. It’s gratifying! A quick first task of the day, done in under 2 minutes? Sign me up. Plus, it sets a tone of ‘accomplishment’ that leads into the rest o...
Aug 21, 2023•5 min
