Day 3- Alchemize That Sh*t

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Welcome to DAY THREE of our new 30-day project where we make something with our hands every day to improve mental health during difficult times. We all realize that creativity heals...it's time to put that knowledge into action.

I'm going to publish an episode to follow along with several days of each week (I'll take breaks on Fridays and weekends in order to give you time to catch up as needed). These episodes will exist here, marked with the days numbered, in order for you to follow along at any speed that you like. Miss a day? Doesn't matter. Just pick up right where you left off and keep making things. These episodes will give us all some accountability, but if you need more, pair up with a partner. It really does help!

Join our creative community by making something today, whether it's for five minutes or several hours—your brain will thank you. Let's do this thing together and turn all of this sh*t into something beautiful!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You cannot stand high atop a mountain of suffering
souls and proclaim yourself tobe free.
Freedom is not an individualcondition.
It is a collective caring, asustained devotion, a subtle
symphony of interwovensoulfulness.
Freedom weeps by Jaya John.

(00:24):
Today has been an interestingone.
I woke up, grabbed my phone,got on social media in exactly
the way that I've promisedmyself that I would not wake up.
So then I proceeded to forcemyself into the shower, get my
clothes on and go for a verylong walk with my dog, and I do

(00:44):
believe that saved my day.
I've made a promise to myself Ido not begin my day with social
media or news and I do not endmy day with social media or news
.
When it comes to social media,I have pretty tight regulations
and I've been breaking a lot ofthem lately, which I need to get

(01:06):
better at.
But the walk helped turn mythoughts around and get focused.
So after that I sat down, Iread a passage from Salekha
Juwad's book, the Book ofAlchemy, then I did a writing
prompt that she has at the endof each passage.
I really like the book becauseyou can just take it in small

(01:28):
bites and work on writingprompts, and that's my activity
for the day.
That's my project for the day.
I'm making it short and sweet.
Sometimes you have a littletime, sometimes you have a lot.
You make it work.
Transform this stuff intosomething else.
I'm also going to make thetidbit that I release about my

(01:50):
life over the last several years.
I'm going to make that shortand sweet and I'm going to tell
you something that I've beenwanting to say for so long, but
I haven't been here.
If you've been listening forsome time, you heard me going
through so many issues with myhormones.
I was going to a functionalmedicine doctor.
I was going through acupuncture.

(02:11):
I was changing the things thatI was eating.
I was changing anything I couldto fight the horrendous things
that were happening to me withperimenopause.
I believe it was near the endof 2023 when I was just
physically and mentally at mybreaking point.
I finally sought help with myhormonal issues and I went on

(02:35):
hormone replacement therapythrough a company called Midi
M-I-D-I.
It's the best decision I haveever made in my life Well, one
of the best decisions I've evermade in my life and within I
would say, a month less than amonth probably of being on the
HRT, the hormone replacementtherapy.

(02:57):
It's a patch that I wear on mystomach and then I take
progesterone at night.
I will say with every fiber ofmy being that HRT has changed my
life.
My mental health was in the red.
My physical health was in thered.
Hrt changed everything.

(03:19):
Dr Mary Claire is the one whorecommended Midi.
Now I think she sells her ownstuff, so she's not recommending
other people, but the onlything I can say is that MIDI
takes insurance and theyspecialize in hormones.
If your general practitioner isgiving you this stuff, they are

(03:41):
not specializing in this.
If your endocrinologist isgiving you HRT, they are not
specialists.
I would highly highly recommendthat you would find specialists
that only deal with hormones togive you your HRT.
Plus, this place takesinsurance, and I know there are
other companies just like thisthat do it, but I can't think of

(04:04):
their names.
You can look it up very easilyand they take insurance.
The costs are lower than whatyou would ever guess and it's
all done on Zoom.
I'm going to leave you with thisparagraph from Salaika Jawad's
book the Book of Alchemy acreative practice for an
inspired life.

(04:25):
Journaling as a process isutterly alchemizing, with
practical applications in everyarea of one's life and work.
The journal is like a chrysalisthe container of your goopiest,
most unformed self.
It's a rare space in this ageof hyper-curated personas, where
you can share your mostunedited thoughts, where you can

(04:48):
sort through the raw materialof your life.
Day by day, page by page, youuncover the answers that are
already inside of you and youbegin to transform.
And yet, at the same time thatit offers transcendence, there's
nothing more humble than thejournal.
Same time that it offerstranscendence, there's nothing
more humble than the journal.
Make something, write something, clean something, cook

(05:09):
something, take part in theproject today in whatever way
you can, and also stay curious.