Third Thursday Third Things — December Edition
How to combat overwhelm
Incredibly late on this Third Thursday Third Things—I realized Friday I’d missed sending this out, and now it’s Tuesday—but I think that’s the perfect artistic reflection of this time of year.
The entire month, I have been crawling across the finish line with the day job, mentally coping with an unexpected multi-thousand-dollar medical bill, and somehow still attempting to be a willing participant of holiday cheer.
If I could describe 2025 in one word, it would be overwhelming.
Each Monday morning, I swore things would slow down the following week, and I just kept on saying that for 52 straight Mondays.
Throughout the year, I caught myself saying the same thing over and over again: I’ll be okay, I just really need a break. But the reality was that even after time off and holidays and resiliency trainings and sitting quietly reading books and long, lazy days of “rest,” I never felt better.
2025 was a tough one. Money was tight. Politics were grim. And the astounding level of dysfunction at my job made me want to disappear into the nearest black hole.
I spent the year accumulating overwhelm throughout the week, only to desperately grasp for “a break” in between the chaos, which often consisted of hermitting up at home for long weekends and feeling no better come Monday morning.
The problem I think with my approach is that the antidote to overwhelm isn’t rest or breaks.
It’s fun.
I didn’t just need a break from work, I needed to go have some fun. I needed to laugh and be silly and whimsical and goof off with my friends. I needed to derp around on bikes and drink trailhead parking lot beers. I needed to paddleboard the Moab Daily and jump off a cliff into the river. I needed to eat a frozen pizza at a surprise mountainside snack shack halfway through a bikepacking trip. I needed to spend a week scuba diving off a tiny sailboat with my mom and 20 strangers in the Bahamas. I needed to dress up in a llama onesie on Halloween and bike through the desert with my friends.
And I DID do those things, but I needed SO MUCH MORE.
The good news is that I feel confident I know how to reclaim fun in 2026.
I’m not the kind of person to define my new year by one word, but I am thinking about 2026 perhaps as one tarot card: The Fool.
Not to be confused with “being foolish,” The Fool in tarot is all about beginnings, spontaneity, fun, and adventures.
“When you draw The Fool upright, you’re being asked to embrace spontaneity and adventure. It encourages you to let go of fear and take a leap into the unknown, suggesting that now is the time for exploration and new experiences. Consider trying something you’ve always wanted to do but hesitated about; perhaps signing up for a class or traveling somewhere unfamiliar. This card also urges you to adopt a fresh perspective; view challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles. Allow yourself to be playful and curious, engaging with life in an open-hearted way. Trust your instincts, take risks, and enjoy the journey ahead without overthinking it.”
“The time is NOW! Take that leap of faith, even if you do not feel 100% ready or equipped for what is coming (who knows what it could be?!). Seriously, what are you waiting for? Do you think you need to have everything mapped out before you can begin? No way! Not with The Fool. He ventures out on his journey with just his essential belongings – and now he invites you to do the same. You don’t need to wait for someone to give you the green light or hold off until you have all the skills, tools and resources you think you might need. You are ready! If you’ve been watching for a sign, this is it!”
If I may offer you one of my many resolutions I’m already mapping out for 2026 (your girl LOVES a resolution), it’s to make 2026 the year of combating burnout and overwhelm with FUN. And it’s to return to this tarot card as often as it takes to make it stick.
So here’s to the year of The Fool. May overwhelm become a distant memory to all, and to all a good night.
—A Freediver Held His Breath For Almost Half an Hour—and Obliterated a World Record
—sorry about your cookies
—”Let people enjoy things” NO.
—How To: Survive Feeling Weird and Sad Every Single Day From 3pm-6pm
—DO IT ANYWAY
—Fay’s 12 Days of Christmas [I share this every year, you’re welcome]
—I Cooked Chicken in REAL Lava
—Why I Stopped Taking Ubers [this was on This American Life last week and had me in tears]
