Scenic Route through Midlife — Society, Self & Shifting Gears
We think deeply, feel a lot, and we're done pretending mental load, exhaustion and burnout are personal failures. This is Scenic Route through Midlife.
Hosted by sociologist, mental health advocate, and millennial Jennifer Walter, we explore where society meets the self — perfectionism, overthinking, and people-pleasing, but also power, gender, capitalism, and social change.
We're done with self-optimisation culture. Done with the myth that only men age like fine wine. And we believe healing isn't just personal, it's collective.
New episodes every Tuesday.
New affirmations every Friday.
The longest way round is the shortest way home. That’s why we’re taking the Scenic Route.
Scenic Route through Midlife — Society, Self & Shifting Gears
Weekly Affirmation – Rest is not the reward
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This is your Friday affirmation. Let's pause for a breath you didn't know you were holding. Exhale.
This week's Soft Landings affirmation is for the woman who's been spring-cleaning everything except her exhaustion.
Today's affirmation: "My body knows what's good for me."
Every Spring, you're told to declutter your wardrobe, your habits, your goals, your mindset, and if you don't feel the urge, something's wrong with you. But what if the constant push to optimise is exactly what's keeping you from the rest your body is actually asking for?
This week: less doing. More listening.
Save. Share. Come back when you need the reminder. 🤍
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Friday Pause And Collective Exhale
SPEAKER_00Hi. It's Friday. It's your little pause for a breath you didn't know you were holding. Like, this is our collective exhale. Um, and this week's affirmation and self-lanning is for all of us who have been tiptoeing around what we really need. And that for us is rest. We've been tiptoeing around it, we've been busying around, we keep everything, we do everything to be busy. We're kind of like spring cleaning around just resting, just giving us a rest, and not a rest because we've earned it, just because we we do need a rest. So this week's affirmation, it's exhale, put your feet on the ground. You can do like whatever, wherever you can stand, you can sit. If you're laying down, lay down flat. Horizontal is great. Otherwise, keep your feet on the ground. My body knows what's good for me. My body knows what's good for me. So here's what nobody really tells you about the urge to clear your whole life every spring, right? The goal setting, the wardrobe purging, the habit stacking, the reorganizing your entire personality before you even have like a decent breakfast. And it's motion, busyness, and motion, busyness for many of us, raise your hand if you're guilty, has always felt safer than stillness. So if you're moving, you're okay, you're optimizing, you're okay, you're productive, you've earned your place, like you see there's a trajectory and things are going. But are they are they really moving along? And are they moving along in the right direction? Are they moving along in a direction of I am feeling happy? And along the way, the side effect of be of keeping yourself busy is the problem that rest became the thing you kept moving furniture in front of, right? It's not forgotten. We don't forget rest. It's just kind of like, what if I don't like, I don't know, I just put it in and the cupboard and then don't see it, but I still kinda know it's there. So today and for this weekend, instead of finding one more thing to optimize to reorganize the spring chain, what if you just ask your body what it actually needs this weekend? Like not your calendar, not your Instagram, not your partner, not your kid, like your body. It already knows. It's probably been trying to tell you. And you don't have to optimize your way to a slower spring. Like that mud season right now, where everything is kinda like defrosting, it's raining, the seeds are on the ground. Doesn't need your help. It's doing the work on its own, it just needs you to be in it. Okay. So, this has been the new soft landing for this week. A new one will be out every Friday. Safe, share, come back to it whenever you need a little reminder. And if you're craving a softer life, subscribe to Soft. That's my monthly newsletter. Uh share reflections, small insights, and the occasional nudge towards a chantler pace. Like, there is no pressure, no productivity tips, no hacks, no silver bullets, just something you can open when you want a little more space. So I'm looking forward to see you again on the scene ground. Take care.
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