Preparing and packing for your vacation can feel overwhelming. It shouldn’t—it’s a break in routine after all, an experience to enjoy and look forward to, but the planning and decision-making can feel intense. With over 70% of Americans feeling stressed when packing for vacation, what are the secrets to effortless packing?
I love the month of June—from ushering in the official start of summer to Pride and Juneteenth celebrations filling the New York City streets with joy and community to warm weather and more time spent outdoors, it feels like a natural time to re-energize, lift the spirits, and look forward with a sense of purpose and hope.
We’ve all heard it before: 7-8 hours of sleep a night is important for our health and well-being. So is rest, self-care, and eating balanced, nutritious meals, but when my to-do list is a mile long, and it seems like each time I check off one thing, I add two more, well cuts have to be made somewhere. There are, afterall, only 24 hours in a day. And all too often it’s the sleep, rest, and self-care that are first on the chopping block.
Here we are folks, April—famously known as National Internship Awareness Month. Well okay, maybe not famously, but as it turns out, it is indeed National Internship Awareness Month, and I thought the best way to celebrate would be by, well, raising awareness about the many benefits of interning.
Well, here we are at the tail end of March 2023, and I can’t help but feel reflective. Yes, after several weeks of “Get it girl!!!!” and “Treat yo self queen!!!” marketing emails, you’re likely well aware that March is Women’s History Month. The fervent tone and saccharine sentiments feel at odds with the moment in which we find ourselves.
As a staunch feminist, nothing makes my blood boil more than women being denied access to education. Women deserve equal rights to men. Period. While that should be the end of the discussion, the reality is that women are still being denied this singular, fundamental, basic human right. And it frustrates me that more needs to be said. But it does, so I will.
You should know what you're risking when you give up your financial independence. When I was young, I determined I would never depend on anyone, if I could help it, for my financial wellbeing. And so, I started working as soon as I could, taking any job I could get my hands on: from delivering newspapers to babysitting to dog-walking to working at a dry cleaners.
Osnat (Os) Benari is author of the upcoming book, Starting from Scratch, which is about managing change and making smart career choices. She is a product creator and active mentor and is grounded in her belief in the power of women supporting other women.