Hey {{first_name}} !

How was the rest of your 2025? Can you believe it's already January?! I know, I can hardly believe it either!

Back in August, I hit a year of writing this newsletter—a huge achievement for me. I had written newsletters in the past, but nothing in the scale and commitment that was The Purposeful Pause. Each issue was a blend of neuroscience, pop culture, and sustainable energy management in life and business.

As I hit one year, I really struggled with what the newsletter should become. Should it be more marketing-focused? Should it become a paid product? Should it not change at all?

I tested formats—shortening, condensing, combining.

And every part of me rejected it.

It felt as if I was trying to be what I should be, instead of what I am.

It got me thinking.

There has been a big cultural push to remove the word “should” from how we speak about what we need to do. Because it layers on expectations that are heavy, draining, and often not based in our own (sustainable) needs.

This shift was good.

But what happens when you remove the word without changing the underlying expectations?

You end up with covert "shoulds." The kind that don't sound like "should" but still operate like one.

"I need to make the newsletter more strategic."
"I have to optimize the format."
"Good newsletters are supposed to be shorter."

Same pressure. Different words.

Like a true Year 9 and Year of the Snake that 2025 was…
It became a year of completion, shedding, and ending of a cycle.

I stepped back, re-evaluated a lot, and put my head down to build the foundation I needed for 2026.

With that comes a change, a rename.
I’d like to re-introduce you to the newsletter: Welcome to A Cozy Ruckus!

Because above all, that's what this space has always been.

A place where we question inherited productivity patterns (ruckus) while honoring our actual energy and needs (cozy).

We make noise about what's not working.
And we build gentle alternatives that actually fit how we're wired.

What's changing:

What's NOT changing:

Why "A Cozy Ruckus"?

Because I believe we can challenge broken systems and make a ruckus while building sustainable, energy-honoring alternatives that support a cozy life.

We can make noise about productivity culture that's killing us AND create gentle spaces for ourselves.

We can question everything we were taught about work AND design systems that actually work for how we're wired. 

That's the ruckus.
That's the cozy.
That's what we're doing here.

And honestly? This covert "should" pattern isn't just about newsletters.

It's January 4.

I'll be honest, I haven't been on social media in months.

And even without it, there is still this underlying feeling that we're supposed to be optimizing, leveling up, becoming someone new.

"New year, new you." Right?

But what if the problem isn't you? What if it never was?

Productivity culture and advice doesn’t tell us the systems we are comparing ourselves to today were designed during or based in the designs of the Industrial Revolution.

For factory workers…
Operating machines…

Then in 1959, Peter Drucker coined the term "knowledge work." That's barely 70 years ago. Betty White was 37 when knowledge work became a thing.

And we're STILL figuring out how to do work that lives entirely in our brains without burning out our bodies.

And yet we treat exhaustion like a personal failing.

Like if you just had more discipline, more willpower, more...
Well, more... then you'd be fine.

I have this voice memo I recorded back in 2017 while driving to work before all my diagnoses. I was trying to process why I felt so broken. Why I couldn't keep up. Why everything felt so hard.

I used the phrase "self-loathing" to describe how I felt about myself.

I compared myself constantly to this imagined version of Hannah—the able-bodied, neurotypical version who could work 60-hour weeks without chronic pain flare-ups. Who could context-switch without brain fog. Who didn't need to build her entire life around managing limited energy.

I thought the problem was me.

It took another six years, three chronic illness diagnoses, a fifth burnout, and discovering my neurodivergence to realize: I wasn't broken. My systems were.

Today, I have the same chronic illnesses. The same neurodivergent brain. The same physical limitations.

The difference?

I stopped trying to force myself into systems designed for someone else's body, someone else's brain, someone else's life.

I built systems around how I ACTUALLY work.

And here's what I learned: When you stop fighting your patterns and design around them, something shifts.

👉 You stop needing willpower to maintain basic boundaries.
👉 You stop feeling like you're failing when your brain works differently.
👉 You stop hating yourself for being exhausted when you're doing everything "right."

Now every January—because new years and seasons bring new challenges—I sit with these questions:

What if your exhaustion isn't because you're lazy, undisciplined, or broken?

What if it's because you're trying to operate in systems that were never designed for you?

Not "How do I become someone different?"
But "How do I build systems around who I actually am?"

That’s the shift.

Same you. Better systems.

That's the ruckus I'm making this year.
Let’s be real, every year… lol.

But that's what we're doing here, together.

I’m so excited to be back with you and I'm glad you're here! 🫶

This week, notice:

Where have you found ways to stop saying "should" but still carry expectations that don't actually fit YOU?

Not what works for your best friend, your favorite productivity guru, or that person on Instagram who seems to have it all figured out.

What system, routine, or standard are you still holding yourself to—that consistently doesn't work for your brain, your body, your life?

Examples:

No fixing or changes. Just noticing.

Later this week, I'll be sending a quick email to help me make sure you're getting exactly the content you want. If you have strong feelings about what topics you want to hear about or how often you want to hear from me, keep an eye out for it!

It'll include a 2-minute poll, and your input will genuinely shape what topics land in your inbox.

(And if you ignore it, that's fine too. I'll assume you're happy with Sundays and whatever I feel like writing about. 😊)