01/30/2026
I tell my clients every day: "You can’t pour water out of an empty cup."
You can't give what you don't have, you have to replenish yourself first or you'll run dry, you have to put on your own oxygen mask first, empathy without healthy boundaries is self-destructive...
I've got a thousand and one idioms and metaphors to convey a concept I passionately respect and advocate for because I've seen what happens when you lose balance and consistently rob the Peter of your future energy supply to pay the Paul of your current obligations and survival.
Rest is not welcome or encouraged in a profoundly sick society that has been shaped to be proud of its hyper-productivity, romanticizing the noble martyrdom of the endless grind. And once you finally stop romanticizing it, you realize the tactic is now "Omg yesss, rest is SO important, bestie, it's irresponsible to let yourself go without it! Oh btw, let's keep you in debt so that you end up owing MORE due to your rest days. But you're worth the extra dough, babe! You deserve the luxuries in life, like food and shelter!"
I ask my clients to prioritize themselves and their overall health and well-being. But having lived in some form of poverty for most of my life, I recognize what I'm asking some of them.
A day of rest for your body and mind, or groceries?
A chance to reset your nervous system, or rent money?
Listen to your body's warnings growing louder, or push through "just a little longer" and pray you don't get injured or fall ill because you couldn't possibly even afford the down-payment for that, let alone the compounded interest?
I try to be an honest, practice-what-you-preach kind of therapist in this regard, not perfectly but I keep trying. Unfortunately, the problem more frequently than not is that it's hard to pour water into a cup that has a hole being actively bored into its side.
I have to give up a fully-booked day (and possibly longer) because like most everyone I know and care about, more frequently than can be helped, I had to choose keeping a roof over my head.
I see you. I see how tired and overwhelmed you are. I see you trying. I ask that you keep trying.
Rest is a human right.
Health and wellness are human rights.
No matter how they try to convince you otherwise.
💜🌻✨
