Headspace Studios.

Hey, welcome to Radio Headspace, it's Dora.

Today, we're taking a walk down memory lane about five years ago.

I had just gone through the breakup of a five-year relationship, the kind that wasn't

dramatic or explosive, just over.

I'm sitting in my friend's kitchen and she's making me tea while I'm having what I can

only describe as an identity crisis. Because for the first time

in years, I had no idea what I wanted. My friend starts listing all the things I should do.

You should travel, you should date, you should focus on your career, you should cut your hair,

he should redecorate your apartment. My mom calls later with her own list. He

should take time to heal. You should go to therapy. You should definitely not date anyone for

at least a year. Then there's my coworker. You should get back out there immediately. You should

download all the dating apps. You should show him what he's missing. And I'm sitting there with all this advice swirling around me like a tornado,

and I realize I can't hear my own voice anymore.

I don't know if I want to travel or stay put, date or be alone, cut my hair, or grow it out.

The noise had gotten so loud that I had gone completely silent inside.

And you know that feeling when you're trying to have a conversation in a crowded restaurant

and there's so much background noise that you can't make out what the other person across from

you is saying? That's what happens to our inner voice sometimes. Life gets so loud.

From other people's opinions, social media messages,

cultural expectations, our own racing thoughts,

that we lose the ability to hear ourselves.

...