Hey, friend!

I'm... sure it's not December already (yes, I know this is technically the November newsletter 😬--SEE??!). Right? December 2021? I've been having trouble remembering exactly what year I'm talking about when referring to the March the pandemic started really impacting our lives. Was that really two years ago?

But to be transparent, I've had a very rough month, and that means the month has also flown by as I've just struggled to stay afloat. Very little exercise and self-care, email and laundry and dishes piling up while I try to manage the things I've committed to.

But I have to be entirely honest: it's all because of my own decisions. No outside force came in and forced me to be overcommitted and overwhelmed.

I said "yes" to too many things.

This isn't an evil or a bad thing. I have so many things I want to do, so many people I want to connect with, so many ideas for side projects. But I have to remember that I can't stay up until 2am every day anymore. I was never able to fully manage my life when I'm hyperfocused on something. I just now have more responsibilities and less capacity to push my body (I'm 37, and really feeling 40 coming at me.)

But.. this doesn't have to be a deep and sad update.

I like learning about myself. And every time something like this happens, I learn more: about my coping strategies, about triggers that put me into this place, about my behaviors that lead toward those triggers, etc. So.. I've enjoyed learning about myself, processing it with my friends and therapist, and committing to making better decisions going forward.

I had a great podcast interview last week with Beserat Debebe, the founder of Etan comics (full interview coming out later this year or early next year), and we talked about how "all things happen for a reason" can be inverted to be "good can come from every bad thing." I like thinking of it that way. If I can find a way to make that sound a bit less awkward that may become a bit of a mantra... maybe. I dunno. I like it though. I hope you do, too.

What Else?

Laravel Podcast

s5e1: The Laravel Podcast, Season 5

Tighten YouTube

Marje Holmstrom-Sabo & Anna Shevlin: All About On-sites for Distributed Companies

Matt Stauffer YouTube

Things Worth Learning

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That's it for now!

Until next time...

Your friend,
Matt Stauffer