Inspiration for Overthinkers
By Meredith Arthur
subscribers
issues
early access to a special project
Dear fellow BVs,When I started working at Pinterest, two and a half years ago, I was lucky to get to spend a portion of my time working on a special project created by a scientific nonprofit organization called The How We Feel Project. Founded by Pinterest CE…
My top 3 recent learnings
Hello beautiful voyagers!I've taken 2022 nice and slowly so far. I've meditated most days and followed my curiosity, letting go of things that aren't serving me (like constant Instagram story posting). I'm doing both less and more.As some ideas have quieted d…
Ignoring inner me
Hello everyone,Super short newsletter today. Just want to share a special podcast episode that launched today from the wonderful podcast Meditative Story. The featured storyteller this week is me.
Putting the pieces together
After my last newsletter, I heard from so many of you about your own experiences with what society tends to call "breakdowns." While I am just at the beginning of my exploration, I'm starting to see that what fascinates me about breakdowns is how much we stru…
Oh, this nervous breakdown?
In my late twenties, after being dumped by a long-distance boyfriend and fired from a job I hated in the same week, I stopped being able to function. This shift happened suddenly, a tremor leading quickly to an earthquake. I stopped sleeping. I didn't know an…
The email that took me by surprise
Dear fellow voyagers,Have you ever have a teacher who stood out beyond all others? Do you know what made you feel connected to or inspired by that particular person?
You wrote me back!
Hey everyone,Remember in my last email (Nov 23rd) when I talked about my struggle to communicate my real feelings about “controversial” topics with others and asked you all to share your thoughts? Well, you came through big-time.
Finding an invisible line
Dear fellow beautiful voyagers,I've never been great at communicating my feelings. Surprising to hear from the author of an email like this, but true. Perhaps I found myself on this path for that exact reason.Maybe it's COVID, or the stress of the country, or…
Our collective exhale
Hello fellow beautiful voyagers,Even though you don't all live in America, I'm guessing you know that we've been in election season over here, the dull rumble of politics growing into a loud roar in the past six months or so.
Have you heard of health anxiety?
Hello dear beautiful voyagers,Earlier this week, I ran a poll for my colleagues at Pinterest to learn which topics would be most useful for our ongoing mental health at work education series. I asked people to choose the topic most relevant to them:Environmen…
What I learned yesterday about my own fear
Hello dear friends,Having been packed into our little San Francisco house for six months together, my family got the chance to escape to Southern California last week. We were grateful for the change and stretched out in our new environment. Heading home yest…
The easiest most-difficult thing in the world
If you can let go, doing nothing is marvelous. I felt this freedom—the freedom of nada—yesterday while laying on my birthday present hammock in the backyard. Michael was smooshed in next to me watching a basketball game on the computer. I was looking up at th…
The time I fell into a black hole
I've been wanting to tell you about the time I lost faith in words. This happened in 2015.Nearly 40 years old, I'd spent two years being tossed around from startup to startup. I was learning new skills, but was also confused as hell. When asked, I tried bendi…
context is queen
Two years ago, at my high school reunion, an old friend told a story about the time she came to visit during my freshman year of college. I was distant, she said. Aloof. I told her I didn't have the energy to do anything and that I needed to stay in bed most …
easy listening just for you
Hello friends,The book is out. That happened. I've learned what it feels like to have a book go from being inside my head to being in other people's (strangers even!) hands. It's an unusual experience, and one I am super grateful to have had.Though I'm no lon…
hello friend
Greetings from San Francisco, where the sky is blue and colorful face masks adorn every passerby. May is momentous in my world. In just a week and a half, on May 12, the first-ever Beautiful Voyager book will land on doorsteps and digital reading devices ever…
Spotting overthinking in the wild
When I was young, I valorized overthinking. I spent hours wandering around the corridors of my thoughts, examining each nook and cranny, scribbling in my journals, trying to make sense of the world.
A fun giveaway you might actually win
Hello fellow BVs,About a year ago, I noticed that brands were starting to send me their products to try out (fun). They wanted me to link to their stuff and get readers like you excited about them. I started to think about how I could share the wealth, and ac…
My latest Netflix obsession
Hello dear BVs,For the past few days, I've been stuck in bed with a head cold. Amidst long sleeping spells and nose blowing, I did what any sick person does when they're well enough to sit up: I found a new Netflix series to binge-watch. Based on a NYTimes Ma…
The selves we guard.
Dear fellow BV,Compulsions always fascinated me. What are we looking for—and what do we get— from engaging in small, private rituals? Why does that certain neighbor sit in the same seat on the bus every day? Why did that former colleague always insist on form…