Image credit: Photo by Amar Yashlaha on Unsplash

Am I losing resiliency?

Musings from a work-from-home, introverted empath

It’s been a little over two years since I made the break from outside employment to work from home. I was absolutely floored by how being able to manage my own environment transformed my health and well-being.

The ability to determine the temperature of my home office, wake up most days without an alarm clock or a stressful commute in rush-hour traffic, has been a God-send. Some weeks, I’ve realized I hadn’t gone anywhere for 4–5 days. Give me the Internet, a nice cup of tea, a view of the forest and a couple of tarot decks; I’m good to go.

I often choose to work in complete silence, which has brought about so many meditative insights and I believe, greatly enhances my skills as a coach and writer.

Lately though, I’ve noticed when I do go out in the ‘real world’, I’m not nearly as resilient as I used to be. Because of the contrast, I feel bombarded by the sounds, smells, stressful pace and in-your-face advertisements splashed across billboards or shouting out from the local radio station.

I feel overwhelmed by the stress radiating from every car sitting in traffic, from every person at the grocery store. Granted, it is right before Christmas when for whatever reason, our society decided it’s the best time to ramp up the…