This week on The Pause: Straight Up, we’re doing two very important things: dancing through the outrage and officially announcing the death of giving a f**k.

First up, I’m over the Super Bowl halftime pearl-clutching. If you’re deeply distressed about Bad Bunny being joyful and wildly successful in Spanish…I have questions. Then, I’m digging into the unqualified midlife joy of simply no longer prioritizing the opinions of others. We're talking things like body image baggage from eighth grade and the radical act of saying, “I’m too tired” and meaning it.

Escape Plan? This week, we’re jetting off to Buenos Aires with a bottomless budget. And in Things I Didn’t Hate: progress on my crochet blanket at long last.

If you’ve felt your tolerance for nonsense shrinking with every passing birthday, welcome! You're among friends.

In this episode of The Pause: Straight Up, I talk about why the killing of Alex Pretti hit so hard and what it’s been like to live inside the emotional whiplash of this moment in the country. I share how I’m processing the fear, anger, and exhaustion so many of us are carrying, especially as middle-aged women who are paying close attention and wondering where we go from here.

In the main segment, I focus on the quiet but essential work women are doing right now to hold things together. From organizing and mutual aid to legal support and behind-the-scenes labor, this episode is about how to help without burning yourself out or putting yourself in danger. I also share concrete resources for anyone who feels powerless but wants to do something, along with a gentler take on escape, rest, and the small signs that maybe, just maybe, the pushback is starting to matter.

Links to help out:

The American Civil Liberties Union--https://www.aclu.org/

National Lawyers Guild--https://www.nlg.org/

Campaign Zero--https://campaignzero.org/

Mutual Aid Hub--https://www.mutualaidhub.org/

United We Dream--https://unitedwedream.org/

Indivisible--https://indivisible.org/

Street Medics (Google for groups near you)

In this episode, I attempt to improve my health in midlife, which mostly involves stretching, lowering my expectations, and negotiating with parts of my body that have stopped cooperating. We are not chasing perfection here. We are chasing basic functionality.

I talk about the small, realistic changes I am trying to make, what is helping, what is annoying, and why my hip flexors are currently my main adversary. This is not a wellness transformation story. It is a status update.

Also in this episode: a minor household frustration that somehow becomes a philosophical issue, a brief but necessary escape to a beach with a drink in hand, and one thing I unexpectedly did not hate this week.

If your health goals are modest, your body is opinionated, and your patience is limited, this episode is for you.