Hi friends -
Well, we made it. As far as I’m concerned, this year is over (classes are done and I’m already traveling as I write this) so this is the last episode of 2025.
It’s Part 2 of the conversation with my friend Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella, the creator of S.A.F.E. — an AI-powered emotional awareness tool. Last episode we used her method on listener calls; this week it’s me using the same tool on myself right before the Chicago Marathon.
I was a mess. Bonking on training runs, ashamed of my pace, terrified I’d finish the race and feel destroyed and never want to run again.
But really, the episode is not about running even if there is a lot of that in there. It’s about showing up to hard things while feeling like a fraud. About shame and hope and all the ways we forget we’re capable. About the reminders we need to see ourselves clearly when we can’t — anchors, tattoos, people who believe in us.
This episode is a little bit different than usual. It goes back and forth between a minisode and an interview, and it includes me reading the actual entries I did on S.A.F.E (think journal entries) about my marathon anxiety as well as my reflection post-marathon. It’s messy, raw, and there’s lots of me choking on my words and crying. You’ve been warned.
But I think this makes for the perfect ending to a year full of ups and downs, stops and starts.
I’m taking December off to be home with my family in El Salvador and to be really present playing with my niece and nephew. There will come a day when they don’t want to play with their Tía, but today is not that day, so I plan to make the most of it.
Thank you for being here this year. For listening, for reaching out, for letting me ramble in your ears every other week. I really appreciate all of your support. 💗
Happy holidays. Happy new year. Let’s make 2026 be the year we remember we fucking got this.
See you in January!
M
P.S. - If you didn’t listen to the previous episode, I recommend you do. We go deeper into what S-A-F-E is which could help give some context.
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