A Little More Personal

So today I wanted to get a little personal during the post. Yes I still have a an outfit for you, but I wanted to share a bit more about myself with you. Warning: since I’m a writer I can be long winded at times, and I find it nice to be able to really elaborate on a subject that is close to me. This is not one of my shorter posts!

A few years ago, I fell down a flight of stairs and hit my hit pretty hard. I was rushed to the ER and luckily walked away without any broken bones. However, I did hit my head hard enough to cause a minor head injury and had a lot of pain in my neck and back. While I was recovering from the fall, I also experienced my first panic attack. All of a sudden, I realized that panic attacks are real…anxiety is a thing. I had dismissed these types of feelings in the past thinking they couldn’t happen to me (OMG WAS I SO WRONG). Little did I know, the head trauma had kick-started my personal chapter with anxiety.

Now anxiety is very common for people in their late 20’s and 30’s. I am sure you have read about others who deal with it, maybe you have had the experience yourself. Luckily, mine comes and goes. I know that I have moved a lot in the past six years (which can be a factor), but all of my moves have been for something important. I moved back to Dallas after years in Austin for an exciting job opportunity, then a year later was offered a fabulous job in Los Angeles which moved me to California. Only a year later, I was moving to San Francisco to be with the love of my life!! While all of those things were great reasons to move, each time you start over you have to make friends again. This isn’t always as easy when you get older. Moving to Dallas was easy since I’m from the area, so I had a lot of friends there. Moving to LA also came with ease because I was lucky to meet some of the best girls that instantly became my close friends. When I moved to SF, friendships were a little tougher. Each time I would struggle with finding friends that were like me, I would have anxiety. Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Why don’t I feel that instant connection? I would over analyze like crazy. After two years here, I can finally say that I have some friend groups which has been a huge relief.

My anxiety popped back up out of nowhere last month after not having it in a while. Part of me wonders if it might be linked with the migraines I get (which also came back recently) since I can feel anxious after having one. The other part of me thinks I’m just in another anxiety cycle. I feel sad for no reason at times, while other times I just am overwhelmed. I have the most amazing fiancé who understands and is really there for me during this struggle. He is the first to tell me to go down to LA to spend time with my brother (usually includes a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth), or to come up with a fun activity for us to go do. He always puts a smile on my face, which is one of the many reasons I love him so much. As you may know, sometimes that’s not enough to shake the anxious feelings. You have to figure out how to get yourself calmed down.

I have found some tricks that are helping lately, but would LOVE any advice you may have too! Please feel free to leave any comments on this post! For example, I’ve always enjoyed taking baths. Lately, I’m adding different calming essential oils to my long relaxing bubble bath. I have also been working out A LOT. I find running helps to clear my mind, or taking a workout class is a great way to focus on breathing and getting a good sweat in. I have also been making myself stick to my to-do list each week, which includes writing and journaling since these are my creative outlets. I won’t stray too far off of it, because I don’t want to get so behind that it’s overwhelming (which can cause anxiety). All of these things have certainly helped me, but I hate that the anxiety is so unpredictable.

I wanted to write this post to let you know (in case you have struggles with this as well) that I am in it with you. Sometimes just knowing someone else out there feels what you feel is helpful. Whether we realize it or not, a lot of us have similar situations. I hope you have found this post helpful as it wasn’t the easiest to open up about. Thank you all for being such wonderful followers throughout the years, I don’t know what I would do without you. Like I mentioned before, please feel free to comment on this post if you have any tips or thoughts on the subject. Scroll on down to see today’s easy yet chic look. xx

beanie c/o Sole Society (ON SALE)  here, cardigan (UNDER $100): here, tee: here, jeans: here, belt: here, booties (UNDER $100): here, bag: here

photos c/o Shannon Righetti

 

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2 Comments

  • I’ve struggled with anxiety/panic attacks too,Shan! It can be so scary at times – you’re onto something with the consistent exercise. That totally helps. Limiting caffeine also helps me. And then rating my anxiety, doing deep breathing, rationalizing my fears, and re-rating the anxiety helps to knock it down a few pegs 🙂 I hope you can get to the bottom of your anxieties! Xoxo, AB.

    • AB!! Thank you so much for sharing! I am going to start rating it like you do, such a great tip. Hope yours continues to get better as well. I know it’s a tough thing to deal with. Love you girl! Shan

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