From Spiral to Sparkle: How I’m Making Anxiety Work for Me (Not Against Me)
You know that saying, “The only difference between anxiety and excitement is the perspective”? Anyone else heard this? Just me being a psychology nerd again?
Recently, it feels like this is the motto of my new life…
👻 Ghosted My Blog, But I’m Back (Again 🙃)
If you’re just joining me now on this journey, welcome! It’s been awhile for those who’ve been with me for awhile. I know I started this little vulnerability project back in the summer, ramped up in the fall, and then fell off the grid again. Talk about ghosting. #mybad
The thing is, as much as I hate to admit it, the perfectionism came back. Even starting this post took 3 weeks after reactivating my site. That need to do things just right—ugh, it’s clingy like I used to be. But hey, new day, new progress.
🎢 New Job, New Me, Existential Crisis Included
Digression aside, with this new job (yep, 6 months off the market!), I’ve been wrestling with the fact that I’m stepping into a new identity. Graduation didn’t go as planned, life took a detour, and honestly? So did I.
I’m not the same person I was. My priorities shifted. I care more about how my daily life feels, what inspires me and how I can inspire.
Not to make grad school the main character again, but that quote? Pure growth mindset—something drilled into us early on in organizational behavior class.
So against my nurture, I’m here, practicing (on my good days and fighting on my bad ones) acceptance. This is my life right now. Not perfect, not awful. Just… mine. What can I build with it?
Ironically, my newer job has way less in common with my last one than I thought. Kind of like apes and humans—similar DNA, totally different vibes. But boredom? Not a problem. There's plenty of challenges opportunities for growth here… on days I can silence my inner trauma toddler and actually show up.
I’m rebuilding confidence. Finding my footing. And yep—secretly living my mentally-made-up marketing dream. From drip campaigns (in my head), to click rate questions, to writing email copy that (hopefully) lands. Slowly I’m living this little dream of mine to go rouge (aka fully pivot into the marketing biz).
🪄 Finding Fireflies in the Funk
In those tiny inspired moments, I see my past, present, and future careers glimmer together into something sparkly. Forever fleeting, but full of magic. I want to bottle those micro-moments like fireflies—for the dark days when life feels like an anxiety-filled blackhole.
So in honor of the growth mindset (and the idea that anxiety might just be excitement in a poorly-wrapped package), I present to you a framework that I hope helps you (and me) feel empowered to take even the smallest step of acceptance, moment by moment. Make your circumstances work for you, not the other way around.
The 5 Why (Nots): Your Sassier, Sad-Girl-Approved Framework
Presenting ✨ The 5 Why (Not’s)! ✨
A cheeky twist on the Lean Six Sigma “5 Whys,” (business school has ruined me) this version is here to talk back to your inner toxica tia. Grab the freebie below.
And to quote the Florence Welch song: “Sweet nothing…” That’s what life feels like when you're busy crying over split milk. But feelings inform and fade—like sunsets. Let them tell you it’s time for a new stage and accept it’s time to move on. Then step into whatever’s next, one slow, messy, magical step at a time.
TL;DR:
Life life’d hard. Perfectionism kicked my butt. So I ghosted the blog, hit reset, and came back with a whole new mindset (cue: The 5 Why Not’s below).
Now? I’m breaking this “successful blogger” thing into snack-sized steps (if you’re a snacker who actually sticks to the serving size) and shifting gears—from strictly C-PTSD talk to a vibrant, messy, Latina lifestyle + learning vibe.
We’re evolving, mujer. 💅🌈
