The Emma Blog

It takes intentional focus and hard work to be strong. Mental wellness is no different than achieving and maintaining physical wellness in this way, and people are seeing it more and more.

Some long-term solutions and one that’s a little faster

Self-Care can be hard, and it's anything but a selfish act

We live — for better or worse — in a meritocracy. We live and breathe in a screened-in world. We represent ourselves on social media. We interview for jobs on Zoom calls, often from the isolation of our bedrooms. We race from traffic light to traffic light, just trying to make the next appointment. On and on we rush.It really should come as no surprise that stress is a common occurrence that affects literally everyone. All ages. All backgrounds. Stress is very democratic that way.

Epiphanies are great. We all want those “peak experiences.” We celebrate moments of Flow. But true self-development requires us to confront and integrate the darker, hidden parts of ourselves — the shadow self.

Procrastination is something we all experience, but it doesn’t make us “procrastinators” by nature. The act of procrastination is often misunderstood as a sign of laziness, but it’s far more complex. It’s not merely a time management issue. It’s an emotional regulation challenge that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background. Understanding the different types of procrastinators and the underlying emotions that drive procrastination is crucial to overcoming it.

Changing your relationship with alcohol is a deeply personal journey, and it’s one that requires both courage and self-compassion. It’s not about being perfect or never drinking again (unless that’s your goal). It’s about making conscious choices that align with the life you want to live.

Your ego and your calling in life can look surprisingly similar. Both pull you toward the realization of your desires. Both can completely consume your waking (and sometimes sleeping) hours with frenetic thoughts and sparks of brilliance. They can also manifest very similar outcomes--money, fame, and power. And they can both leave you feeling exhausted.

This is about more than just being honest or real — it’s about understanding the complexities of your inner life, confronting the parts of yourself that you often ignore, and integrating those aspects to live in congruence with your values. The very pursuit leads you into purpose, and away from chronic stress and resigning yourself to suffering. It leads out of less healthier behaviors, and into relationships and higher levels of mental health.

This is me in deep burnout in 2017. On vacation. 😩 It took over a year to fully recover and find myself again. The work to heal and confront deeply held (and mostly unconscious) beliefs around my worth, identity, and values was the most important part of my recovery. I think that's true for all healing and recovery -- the emotional and mental work is the most essential, but the hardest to figure out, especially without help. That's why I'm building Emma -- to be an ever-present guide for your inner exploration.

It's high time we innovate on our understanding of mental health. That includes how we approach it, which is a lot like we think of approaching our physical health. The two are inter-related after all. Without a healthy approach to our mental health, it's like seeing the world with one eye.

Mental health doesn’t require searching endlessly for answers outside of yourself. The truth is, the answers you’re looking for are already within you