When Stress Wins for a While, The Dark Place, Learning to Act Myself Out

This episode almost didn’t happen.The last couple of weeks completely stress-tested my ability to cope. Between our pony Elvis being diagnosed with laminitis, work feeling uncertain, and the general chaos of the world right now, my brain tipped into what I call “the dark place.”A weekend of doom scrolling, junk food, wine, and doing absolutely nothing showed me again how quickly stress can knock me off track.In this episode I talk honestly about what happens in my brain during those stress spirals, why you can’t think your way out of them, and how small actions – not motivation – are what slowly pull me back out.I also share how I’ve been using AI as a kind of thinking tool to help me regain control when everything feels overwhelming.This is not a life guide. Just a real conversation about what it looks like to fall down, get back up, and try again.