Running Into Joy

Okay, I have a confession to make. For years, I have bemoaned that I don't have the money to "adult" my wardrobe, which is still largely comprised of items from college and grad school. And while I certainly am not making the big bucks, the truth is... clothes just haven't ever really been my priority. I associate shopping for clothes with spirals down into body shame and self-hatred, so I pretty much prefer to avoid it whenever possible. My default wardrobe of choice is "jeans or leggings with a funny or fandom t-shirt." But, it turns out life has dealt me one of those office job things where I'm expected to dress "professionally." Hitting the "less than a month until my birthday" seems to have sparked a sort of clothing crisis situation, wherein I'm overwhelmed to realize I'm nearly 28 years old and have never learned where adult, professional Amanda likes to shop for clothes. Maybe it's a side-effect of working at...

You may have noticed we've done a little rebranding here in this corner of the internet. After a year of disliking the name of this  blog, I brainstormed with some internet friends and finally found a new name that fits. So, without further ado, cue the confetti canons as I re-introduce you to: Running into Joy via GIPHY  (Credit: @bunch_of_fans) This blog will continue to be about self-care, finding happiness, and fitness. The name change, I feel, better reflects the outlook I've grown into in this past year of writing and reflecting. Much brainstorming centered around things like "Chasing Happiness" or some variant, but ultimately I didn't like the implications of that phrasing. To "chase" something implies we're forever trying to reach it, but that it's difficult to catch. That it's a state to be gained and kept, that the chase will at some point end, be finished, concluded. I don't think happiness works that way. In fact, ...

This past Saturday morning, I did something that past Amanda would probably have considered near impossible. I woke up at 5am to have my Superhero muffins and coffee, layered up, stretched, tied up my shoes, and headed out the door to meet a local chapter of Trail Sisters for a morning run. At 7am. In the snow. On a Saturday. Since I started running, I've wanted to try running with a group. While I have a lovely virtual running community, sometimes I feel a bit lonely as the only runner in my IRL friend group (that I'm aware of). So, I spent most of last year finding and following local running groups on Facebook, but never quite plucking up the courage to join them for any of their runs. Sometimes because the distance was daunting, other times because the timing didn't work out, or didn't fit with my training schedule, but most often because I have social anxiety and entering unknown social situations scares the heck out of me. In addition to my social fears...