This week, what's inspiring Jenni McKinnon, founder of WP Prose and Media Partners Liaison at Big Orange Heart.
A podcast worth listening to:
Sometimes it’s so difficult to be in a good mood to work, let alone laugh with everything going on in the world. That’s why I love Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. His specific style of comedy is self-deprecating half the time, then polarizes to narcissism. It has this effect on me where I relax with compassion for him, then end up laughing when he swoops in the opposite direction. If I don’t have time for a full episode, I love watching clips on YouTube.
A concept worth understanding:
You are worthy just by existing. There are so many facets of society that broadcast a message that our own sense of self-worth and value is tied to things outside ourselves or is otherwise dependent on our productivity, or actions. It’s worth understanding that this isn’t the case in the slightest. To someone, somewhere, your mere presence is calming, enjoyable, fun, exciting, inspiring, electrifying or so many other possibilities. All you need to do is your best and everything after that is the cherry on top.
A Twitter account worth following:
I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’re following everyone in the WordPress community already so I’ll suggest something different. I love reading the Dalai Lama's tweets. Sometimes they’re calming, other times they’re reassuring or thought-provoking. Considering the content helps gently remind me to centre myself, then helps me softly align to it.
An article worth reading:
Definition of Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff is such a good, quick read. It can help you feel better about caring for yourself and others. It has other amazing reminders like how and why you don’t need to be perfect, that self-compassion isn’t self-pity, and offers quick tips and other resources such as how to help keep from judging yourself and others. I think we could all use some self-compassion these days to help us then turn that compassion outwards.
A habit worth forming:
It was a super difficult habit for me to build, but I have to say meditation, hands down. I used to have troubles because I felt like I wasn’t being productive. Once I realized that my worth was not tied to my productivity, that I needed to practise self-compassion and that being calm increases your productivity in spades, it was easier to pick up. To start out, I just listened to one song that calmed me down. Then, I listened to a playlist with a calm, happy vibe. I kept going and made playlists for every mood. Eventually, I graduated to meditation music where I was actually able to sit to meditate.
© 2023 The Repository, a Words By Birds project
