Finding Sanity in a Crazy World

Build the life you want! How many times have we heard that in this lifetime? Easier said than done, right?

A year ago (almost), I quit my day job as a social worker. This is a career path I’d been building for nearly 20 years and it was time to walk away. The stress of seeing what the world does to fellow humans and the constant paperwork, changes, and responsibilities were just too much. It was a side of humanity I could no longer watch on a daily basis and keep my humanity. But that meant falling back on my side job of dog boarding. Now, if I’m honest dog boarding hadn’t been a “side” job in years, it was a second full time job I’d be doing as my only job. For someone who had been juggling for years that slow down felt very strange. This year has become a journey of self-exploration and intentionally finding me again!

So, for those transitioning into a new world of being kinder to themselves, here are some tools I have discovered. Click on the photos for a direct link to a product description.

First, I embraced the hammock! My very favorite place to watch the dogs, cuddle, and read a good book! There’s no better place to spend the summers in the shade relaxing and breathing! These are my three (yes, I have 3) favorite hammock stands!

Next, I embraced painting again and decided to start painting the pups I watch. I love painting postcards. The size is perfect for me to play around for 5 minutes at a time before the dogs need me again.

The one hobby I have struggled to get back to is yoga. It took me 9 months into this change to convince myself to go back to yoga. The discovery of Yin Yoga was the major change for me. I’ve had a lot of tightness in my psoas muscle making my back pain insane, so to strech it I bought my first bolster. This was life changing guys. The slowing down and actually listening to my body allowed all that pent up stress of social work to finally melt away.

I also chose to create a tea garden this year. I had gotten two new raised beds from a friend and as I filled them and considered what I wanted to grow in them I decided herbs for tea. I’m not one for designing where I will plant things. I’m more of an “eww there’s space here, plop it in” type of gardener. The herbs have grown well and I’ve found some new tea mixes for healing my body. My favorite it lemon balm, spearmint, and tulsi. I add a little stevia I grew last year to give it a tiny bit of sweetness.

Life is a journey of discovery and 2026 has been a year of remembering who I am without the daily grind of working two jobs. This has been a self-healing journey for me.

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Have a “Pawsome” Day!

Love,

Wren