Permission slip

Sometimes, when you’re kneecap-deep in NOT GOOD, you have to create your own moments of relief. Because honey, we all need relief sometimes. For me, drinking, smoking, drugs, and legit junk food are off the table. So, what’s a Dirty Girl to do?

Here are 16 things I’ve been doing lately to get a little relief:

1. Watch Sex and the City.
2. Bake these cookies and enjoy every bite.
3. Put on music and dance. Elton John is my go-to right now.
4. Go for a 30-minute walk early in the morning (not really relief, but I feel a noticeable difference in my mental health on the days I walk).
5. Go to the library and enjoy being surrounded by free books and the kind of people who go to the library.
6. Pull out the sofa bed in the living room, pile it high with cozy blankets and all the pillows in the house, make oil-free air-popped popcorn, and watch a movie.
7. Nibble on 70% dark chocolate.
8. Paint with flowers and plants. I saw it on Instagram, and mine turned out hilariously nothing like the IG one.
9. Read The Comfort Book by Matt Haig.
10. Walk to the beach, pretend I’m on psychedelics, and watch the sunset. That is to say, I try to really see the sunset, not just stare in its direction.
11. Have a cup of really good drinking chocolate made from 100% roasted cacao (like hot chocolate but not). This is my current favorite.
12. Watch reels by the poet Andrea Gibson.
13. Go to a coffee shop and sip on a matcha latte with oat milk while catching up with someone I love, or go solo with a journal.
14. Lay down in the middle of the day, visualize the outcome I want, and drift into a nap.
15. Take a dose of Bach’s Rescue Remedy. I don’t know if it actually helps, but it’s better than nothing when the world feels really damn heavy.
16. Drink sparkling water from a wine glass.

Feeling all the feels and embracing the challenges that life hands us is helpful, especially when you balance it out with some intentional distractions that don’t cause harm.

I didn’t always know how to do that. For a big portion of my life, I went straight to the bottle to find relief. And yes, it was actual bliss in the moment, but as soon as it was over, it made the challenges even more challenging.

When I got sober, I didn’t just remove alcohol from my life, I got to know the parts of me that turned to alcohol for relief. Those parts are still there, I just care for them differently now.

May this be your permission slip to take a break from the hard, the hurt, the worry, and the sadness. And a reminder that you can choose to do that in a loving way that supports and honors your beautiful self.

Let’s discuss this in the Facebook group. Post one thing you can do to help yourself in hard times using the hashtag #Permission, and let’s encourage each other to heal through the hurt.

Also, I want to say THANK YOU to all the Dirties who stopped by the Clean Food Dirty Girl booth at the Planted Expo in Seattle last weekend. Seeing photos of all your beautiful faces with Brittany and Tamie (and even me! lol) made my whole weekend and lifted me up in all the ways. I appreciate your love for me, this team, and this company. This community is in-fucking-credible, and I hope you know that. Check out more pictures of the event on our blog.

Molly