Hey you,
Welcome back to The Good Things.
I care a lot about being healthy. Super healthy parents, a childhood dedicated to movement and a young adulthood spent as a professional athlete will do that to you, I guess. And truthfully, many of the things I held tight to as a ballerina for the sake of being “healthy,” I’ve let go of.
Not all of those teachings were healthy, even when they paraded as such. Some were made of obsession. Others of rigid discipline. Or the quiet constant little bargain of exercise traded for dessert enjoyed. A sort of mental math I’d venture to guess a lot of us are still doing.
I worked out, so can I have this? I ate well today, will this dinner with friends undo it? And bah! What’s all this about microplastics?!
Lately I’ve been wondering if some of the unhealthy wasn’t the pastry, or the late night, or the nightcap, but the guilt I attached to it. The constant accounting for. All of the measuring. The way joy would get an internal audit before, during, or after I’d allow myself to feel it.
And sure, some of the lessons from that earlier life stayed with me for the better. Stretching regularly, as a way to decompress both the brain and the body. Always working to better oneself. Paying attention to ingredients. Really doing my research on products, habits, and lifestyle choices that make me feel good and perform well. I intend to share those favorite findings over the years right here in The Good Things.
But I decided to ask for more. To broaden the definition of a healthy life. Because some of the things that really support us will never show up in a health score. And I tell you what, the whole landscape of my life became greener. More vibrant. More alive. More flowers.
Because a stunning pastry, enjoyed in the sunshine, standing outside of a bakery with a steaming coffee in hand, can bring me back to myself. So can a hard workout. So can eight hours of sleep, or a really good dinner in a restaurant buzzing with life, or a walk with no phone, or a late night bottle of champagne split with someone who makes me laugh hard.
I know we’re not taught to put those things in the same category. But I am of the opinion that it’s time to talk about how small we’ve made the word healthy. I’d argue: health should make life feel bigger, not smaller.
So yes, vitamins. Movement. Sleep. Protein. Water with minerals. The basics that hold a life together, unsexy though they might be. And also, and just as flex-worthy: play, deep friendship, adventure, self-knowing, indulgence, and the way we love.
And maybe we can’t really consider ourselves healthy if we don’t also consider the life happening beyond the metrics. How we treat a stranger. How we show up for the people we love. How we speak to ourselves when no one else is listening.
Let’s be mentally healthy, too.
While we say yes to the fun night. And book the session with our trainer. And go on that walk in the early morning sunshine.
May we remember that joy does not have to earn its place. It’s just part of it. And may we not neglect the parts of us that no app, watch, or supplement can measure.
So that we can go out into life and live it well. Not just for ourselves, but for each other.
This Month I’m:
Listening to: Welcome to the Mood by LEISURE
Summer is imminent. This song makes me feel the way I hope to feel for much of it.
Making: "Green Drink"
I have been consistently supplementing with this for the last four years. It has become an integral part of my daily life, and I feel impressed with the need to share it with more people. I’ve been asked about it at the gym and put people on. I have gotten my friends’ parents on it. I’m all in on this.
It’s one dose of liquid chlorophyll for skin, digestion, blood support, and more, plus a scoop of BodyHealth PerfectAmino Electrolytes. I like BodyHealth because it includes trace minerals, which help support hydration, energy, muscle function, thyroid health, and cellular function. I make it with tons of ice and legitimately feel better because I take it.
Doing: Flowers by the bedside.
When I feel sad, or low, or like I’m struggling, I do things that I know will help. And I’m here to say that a small vase or coffee cup full of flowers by your bedside far outkicks its coverage.
When you get into bed, or open your eyes first thing in the morning, and see one of Earth’s most fantastical expressions of creation and life and beauty, the kind of thing that makes nectar and attracts hummingbirds, you do just live a little lighter.
Buying: Bone Broth Hot Cocoa
I hesitate even as I type the words, because quite frankly, I don’t think it sounds good when you read that. But in truth, this drink by Ballerina Farm is stupidly delicious.
It has become this nourishing, comforting thing to reach for midday or in the morning, and honestly, I’m better for it. Win also loves it at night. Made with grass-fed bone broth and collagen, cocoa powder, organic coconut sugar, nonfat dry milk, French grey sea salt, and monk fruit extract and there are 25 grams of protein in a cup. Look at me measuring ;).
Reading: In Praise of the Useless | Bertrand Russell’s Salve for Hard Times
Maria Popova’s writing has brought me to tears on many occasions. I remember first reading her blog when I was traveling solo through Europe in my early twenties and wondering how someone could string together thoughts so vast and expansive with such beautiful, unexpected words.
She makes you think. And she’ll teach you things. Follow the links and get lost in the richness that is The Marginalian, or just see the article through. Either way, it’s quite the mental and emotional ride.
Alright,
That's it for this month. Talk to you soon.
Sarah