Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all been enjoying your summers and are taking time to relax and reset, I know I have. It’s been really nice to reach out to you all in this way and I can’t wait to continue to connect.

You know me, I have to be real here. Despite taking the summer to reset and reconnect with the world, I’ve noticed that our new “normalcy” is somehow a bit different. Over the past few weeks I’ve run into people who are so angry. They’re so willing to fly off the handle and get mad over the smallest things. It’s honestly upsetting how rude people have become. The other day I watched someone be so unnecessarily rude to a waiter at a restaurant. I brought this up to my sister and she noticed the same thing and shared this article with me. Like what the hell? I really couldn’t agree more. So many of us are still struggling and we just need to be patient with one another.

There’s just so much aggression out there that I can’t help but ask—what happened to humanity here?

This time last year we were so willing to reach out to family and friends we hadn’t spoken to regularly. I was so grateful to make those connections when we were isolated and it reminded me how thankful I am for my family, friends, and NFL community. I feel others have felt the same, but it feels like some of those around us have so quickly strayed away from that. What happened to the humanity and the come togetherness that we all felt this time last year? Remember when we were so grateful to support our neighborhood bars and restaurants and check-in on the community around us? Now we’re so quickly set off by an incorrect coffee order or someone who cuts us off in traffic. Is it really that hard to remember that we’re all human here?

I was recently talking with one of my friends who gave some great perspective. She told me, “It just seems like a lot of people have some built up aggression. They are not dealing with it the way they should.” This is so true! When she’s feeling angry and fed up, she regularly gets on her Peloton and rides it out. Depending on where I am in the country, I like to take long walks in nature – on the beach and in the mountains. I also listen to meditative music to ground and center myself in the middle of a hectic schedule. But more importantly, I think we all need to just remind ourselves to take a mental health moment and never apologize for it.

I really couldn’t agree more. Over the last year I’ve been writing in two different journals; one for recording my daily gratitudes and one for just writing out everything I’m feeling. The good, the bad, it’s all in there as a release for everything I’m feeling at the moment. This has reminded me to always ask myself and those around me: “what are you doing to check-in with yourself?” Whether it’s a gratitude/release journal or maybe daily check-ins with those who care about you, it’s such an important reminder to try and find the source of where this pent-up aggression is coming from and what we can do to release in a healthy way instead of lashing out on strangers and those who don’t deserve this anger.

But really, maybe it’s time to get back to talking to family and building your support system back up. I know we’re all sick of Zoom, but it’s so easy to just pick up the phone and call or even send a quick text. You never know who might be struggling too. Let’s relearn how to get back into society and remember to take a moment to realize that we’re all humans here. So, what are you doing to release? Are you still reaching out to family and friends regularly? I’d love to hear about the helpful outlets you’ve found to get you through this year.

Talk soon,

Erin