While there’s a lot of uncertainty ahead, we’re going to get through this week, this month, and this rollercoaster of a year--I promise! To fortify your patience and resilience for the days ahead, here are some suggestions:

I don’t think anyone would disagree that this Year of Covid has been uniquely stressful. But Stress Awareness Month isn’t just about recognizing that stress exists in our lives. It’s about differentiating between the kind of stress that can light a fire under us, and the kind that feels like it’s grinding us down.

I’ve been thinking about the language we use to describe our relationship to time. We spend time. We invest time. If we’re foolish, we waste time; if we’re wise, we budget it. And of course, we long for free time. Notice a theme?

After a long winter and the exhausting pandemic year surrounding it, good things are finally coming. Good things are already here.

When I find myself run down and stressed out, when I really need to get out of my head for a little while, I call on the wisdom of a guru whose voice has been ringing in my head for my whole life: Jimmy Buffett.

This month, our founder, Jon Staff, is passing the mic to Omisade Burney-Scott, founder of The Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause to share reflections on rest and resistance as Black History Month comes to a close.

I was building a campfire at one of our Getaway outposts recently when I started thinking about rituals. Whenever I spend a night at one of our tiny cabins, no matter how cold, tired, or uninspired I am, I always build a fire.

When I think back to this time last year, and all the plans and intentions I had for 2020, I have to laugh—or as the old song goes, laugh to keep from crying. Maybe you also fell short of your 2020 goals, but here you are, still awake and alive. In a year of so much loss, that’s not nothing—it’s actually everything.

Like so much else in 2020, Thanksgiving isn’t going to look like it usually does. With public health officials urging Americans to stay home and avoid gatherings, my partner and I will be spending the holiday in our apartment, eating turkey for two. When so much has been taken from us already, it’s frustrating to face yet another difficult tradeoff between carefree celebration and the safety of our loved ones and communities. At the same time, heading into this national holiday of gratitude, I have to say I also feel more grateful than ever.