The Pandemic Backstory

Opening a used bookstore: Stef shares her pandemic backstory—everyone has one. Hers led from journaling to gratitude research to a master's program to a quantitative research project that's now calling her back, even as the bookstore takes center stage. Everyone has a pandemic story. Mine starts with journaling—a simple practice that revealed something unexpected: gratitude was making a big difference in how I showed up each day. I started researching. Curious. Digging deeper. Eventually, I wrote a book during lockdown. That book led me to apply for a master's program in Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania—not just to formalize my ideas, but to see if that would help with the publishing trouble I was having.  In that program, I launched an actual quantitative research project on gratitude and parenting. Real data with real potential to contribute to how we understand parenting, gratitude, and resilience. And now, it's being neglected. The store comes first right now—it has to. But I can feel it calling to me. Saying: It's almost time to come back to this work. The bookstore felt like a calling too. And it is. But I'm realizing there are multiple callings, and some of them are in tension. The deeper work—the research, the writing, the contribution to the field—it's waiting. This episode is about honoring both. The pandemic taught me gratitude. That gratitude led me to study parenting. That study led me to open a bookstore to serve community. But the writing? That's the work I consider my true calling. The bookstore is a place to get started, but my writing is waiting patiently for me to come back to it! Current Book Count: ~15,000+ 🐦‍🔥 Follow along as The Phoenix Used Bookshop continues to rise—subscribe to A Bookshop of My Own and get updates at phoenixusedbookshop.com. Links mentioned: Parenting with Gratitude: parentingwithgratitude.com University of Pennsylvania Master's in Positive Psychology Submit a book request