What's Saving My Life Right Now

2025 Spring Edition

I made a list like this last year, and I wanted to continue the tradition¹. I especially feel the need to consider the blessings in my life right now, when it’s much easier for me to dwell on all that’s burdening me.

1. Counseling. I am so grateful for my counselor, who patiently listens to me bare my soul week after week (and lets me use up all his tissues). I feel like my sessions literally are saving my life, and while I sometimes resent the time and inconvenience of therapy, I know it’s something I can’t afford to stop right now.

2. My friends. As much as I want to withdraw, I’m trying to resist that urge and stay in contact with my friends. Even though I feel like they must be tired of me asking them to pray for the same things, they encourage me to keep asking, and they keep praying and believing for me.

3. Watching The Middle. Stephen and I started watching this show in January, and while I had seen some of it when it originally aired, I’ve never watched it all the way through. The Heck family is relatable and hilarious, there’s not much in the way of objectionable content (although we’re only in season 2, so take that with a grain of salt), and the comic relief is much needed.

4. Singing in the car. I’ve been singing in the car ever since I started driving, but I have really leaned into my love of this in the past month or so. If I’m alone, I will crank up a song I love to sing—usually something from a musical—and sing as loud as I want. Since no one can hear me, I don’t worry about how I sound or whether I’m hitting all the notes right; I sing for the pure pleasure of it. I have recently decided that I want to memorize all the lyrics of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” so I can sing it with gusto. Now that the weather is warming up, I love pairing my solos with open windows so the breeze can carry away my bad notes.

   

   I would love to drive a car like this, but I would stay in one lane. Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

5. Writing. I’ve loved writing since elementary school and have had some type of blog since 2005, but in the past few months writing has meant more to me than ever. I have over a dozen unpublished drafts in my Substack account, countless notes on my phone, and multiple works in progress in Google Docs. Writing gives me a way to process my life and work out what I truly believe, and it helps me express myself in a way I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

6. Voxer chats. I only have two friends that I talk to on Voxer, but man, I love getting messages from them!² (If you’re on Voxer and want to connect, send me a message!) I like it because I can record a longer message for my friends and they can listen and respond to it when they’re able. If your message is longer than 15 minutes, you get cut off, but there’s nothing to prevent you from sending multiple messages in a row.

7. Taking a break from social media. I’ve been wanting to take an extended break from Instagram and Facebook for a long time (probably over a year), but I kept finding reasons not to do it. However, recently I decided that the noise is too much for me. I can’t handle all the divisiveness and negativity, and I wasn’t doing anything productive on the apps (unless you count viewing endless memes as productive). I never closed the apps feeling better than when I opened them, so what’s the point? I started my break on March 1 and don’t plan to return until September 1. I do log in a couple of times a week for a Facebook writing group that I’m in, but I have no plans to post anything outside of that group or scroll my feeds. After only one week into my break, I already felt lighter, and that feeling has continued. I do occasionally wonder what I’m missing out on in other people’s lives, but the people who really matter to me are ones I’m keeping in touch with outside of social media. If I do come back to IG and FB, I’m planning to drastically reduce the number of people I’m following, and I also want to also focus on providing content that encourages others so I’m not merely mindlessly consuming.³

Thank you for reading my words. I don’t take it for granted. Now, what about you? What’s saving your life right now?

1. For an explanation of the question “What’s saving your life right now?” go here.

2. Voxer is an app that allows you to send and receive voice messages and text messages.

3. Some might argue that Substack is social media, but I don’t view it that way, and my time in Substack is far more productive than time I spent on IG or FB.