It’s been a full year. A full 356 days of standing up for what I believe in, fighting for what’s right, and bracing myself for the next New York Times notification.

Many of the things below are not necessarily new to my life – some have been around for at least a decade – but they have taken on new meaning to me. Here’s a fairly exhaustive list of what I’ve been doing to resist (in no particular order).

1. Reading

Books are powerful. Written language carries weight and meaning beyond the letters on the page. There’s a reason the current administration doesn’t want anyone reading newspapers or getting their right to free education.

Newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books illuminate other perspectives and immerse you in someone else’s experience for a brief moment. They add context and gravity to the things happening around us and help us better understand the real stakes. While I think any reading can be an act of resistance (and self-care!), here are a few of the books I read in the past year that fired me up or gave me much needed understanding:

• No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
• Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times
• Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It
• Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
• Hope in the Dark
• We Were Eight Years in Power

The first two are must-reads.

2. Supporting Real News

It’s vital to support valuable sources of truth with money. I have a NYTimes subscription, but just remembering to turn off my ad blocker and spending more time with their content can make a difference for newspapers and journalists.

3. Riding My Bike

Every time I pick up my helmet instead of my car keys, I’m giving this repulsive administration a massive middle finger. Oil money has bought them off, and I refuse to put any back in their pockets. Instead I make every effort to ride my bike and pay for public transit. Each time I buy a ticket for the local train I am voting with my dollars and insisting that we need more funding and investment in our shared resources and sustainable transit. Riding my bike improves my community’s air quality, reduces traffic and road congestion, (hopefully) inspires other people to bike, and makes it safer for everyone. It also makes me really happy.

Who knew riding could feel so damn satisfying.

4. Calling My Representatives

I am lucky to live in a state/region that has politicians who are fighting for equality and justice. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need to hear from the people who support them. Actually calling makes me nauseous (and I totally cried once while talking to a staffer about health care and how much the Affordable Care Act has helped me), but I always feel better when I do.

5. Eating My Values

I’ve been vegetarian for more than a decade. This year we’ve made an even bigger push to eat local foods by skipping the grocery store and getting our produce at our farmers’ market instead. Our veggies are from fields around the area and our money goes straight to the farmers instead of filtering through Amazon’s pockets. I refuse to give Monsanto or other massive agro-companies my money. We buy organic to protect our local environment, the workers, and ourselves. We’ve also been paying attention to foods with big carbon or water footprints and trying to eat them less.

6. Working Toward Zero Waste

In general packaged foods don’t fit my values or come from companies I feel good supporting. Even more so, I can’t stand the idea of sending chip bags and granola bar wrappers to a landfill where they will either end up in the ocean or be buried in other plastic junk longer than I will be alive.

Reducing our trash has pushed us to support local business and farmers, discover new resources around us, reuse what we already have in different ways, and slowly cut down on our environmental impact. (You can see more about the changes we’ve made here.)

7. Refusing to Support Companies Who Support Hatred, Racism, and Sexism

A simple Chrome extension let’s me know when companies support the current administration. Before I purchase anything I do a quick search to make sure that the company ethically produces their goods, has sustainability practices, and aren’t in favor of the current regime. (Here’s a good list to get you started, compilations of dirty donors, or dive into the ultimate list of people and companies to boycott.

8. Keeping an Ethical Wardrobe

Creating an ethical wardrobe is about more than just buying from ethical retailers. Instead I have been taking good care of the clothes I already own. I have refused to buy from companies who don’t use sustainable materials and practices, don’t treat their workers fairly, and don’t pay fair prices for their raw materials. For much of the year, I just didn’t shop at all. When I did need something, I checked for used options first.

9. Reducing Online Shopping

 10. Supporting Independent, Ethical, Environmental Business

11. Staying Off Twitter

12. Ignoring Clickbait

13. Listening to New Voices

14. Talking

There have been some falling outs in the last year over social and political beliefs within my extended family. But that hasn’t stopped me from seeing how important it is to talk to the people in my life candidly about what’s happening, how it’s affecting everyone, and what we can do to help one another.

15. Supporting Public Services

16. Refusing Greed and ‘Me First’ Attitude

This obnoxious, toxic behavior is what got us here. We’re all trying to grab what’s ‘owed’ to use before the next person can, and it’s destroying our societies and our happiness.

I’m actively working on not getting mad at people who cut in front of me when driving, being mindful to hold open doors, wave other people through at stop signs, and generally reassess whenever I feel like I have to have something before someone else gets it. This also includes not chasing after the latest and greatest things and instead being thankful for the things we do have.

17. Recognizing Humanity

American society is weird. We pride ourselves on giving each other personal space and being self-reliant individuals. And yet we close ourselves off from others and ignore the humanity in the people around us. I’m all for gliding through the background unnoticed, but there are times when I think it does more harm than good.

This one is as easy as saying ‘hello,’ ‘thank you,’ or even ‘good morning.’ Start with people who hold doors open for you and move on to every service worker who helps you, homeless people, or strangers on your commute. Talk to the person in your office that you’ve never actually met. Get to know the people who take care of your yard or your local park. If an introvert like me can do it, anyone can.

Noticeably Absent:

This year I didn’t make it to any protests. I let my still healing ankle and fear get in the way. 2018 seems like a good year to change that.

For years I have been dreaming about this day, but I always told myself ‘I couldn’t possibly actually do that.’ Well past self, I definitely did.

I haven’t used Facebook with any regularity since college. In the years after I would go on and catch up with people’s lives that I never see or talk to. I don’t know about you, but this left me feeling more like a stalker than a far away friend. Once the timeline updated and stupid videos that acquaintances shared started to take over my feed like virulent mold, I stopped logging in altogether.

It’s been at least two and a half years since the Facebook app was on my phone, but I still couldn’t quite bring myself to delete my account entirely.

Facebook Isn’t for Friends

My account was my ‘binders full’ of friends. I held on to it for so long because I had convinced myself that all of the people who were a part of my life in the past – elementary school classmates, high school friends and lab partners, family that moved away when I was child – were still relevant and connected to my current life. Deleting my account made me face the fact that I never interact with anyone on there. They give me a false sense of friendship when in reality we are strangers with each other’s names on a website.

Facebook has not built my friendships. If anything, it made me feel less connected to the people who are in my life. When I actually used Facebook I would follow along with what all of my high school classmates were up to in their new lives while my college roommates sat in the room with me.

I no longer buy into the idea that social media deepens our relationships or helps us connect meaningfully with new people. Of course you can make new friends via social media, but the real friendship building happens offline.

My Last Straw

This has been building for years. Facebook’s lack of response to harassment, trolling, and blatant hatred toward women was reason enough. I was sick and tired of Facebook using predatory ad practices to market me more things I don’t need. I am still tired of all of the all companies selling my data to other companies who want to get me to give them money. Each and every update to the service feels more and more like it’s for brands and people who profit from the site.

The election pushed me over the edge. From the widespread infection of truly made-up ‘news’ and false events to the hate groups that grew their faithful lackeys to the constant barrage of outrage and poorly thought-out rants, I was done.

Facebook’s complicity in Russia’s hostile attack on our election was my final straw. I want them to suffer for what they’ve done, and deleting accounts and rapidly deflating their user numbers is one way that I can contribute.

No more fake friends.

Twitter and Snapchat were deleted years ago for failing to hold my interest (and taking up way too much of my tiny 8Gs of space). My Twitter account hangs on by a thread due to career obligations (but my do I salivate about cutting it).

Instagram is still on my phone. And I need to do a lot better about using it meaningfully.

From here on out I want to be better at interacting with the people I follow on Instagram. Like many, I follow people who I admire or who inspire me. As long as that’s still true, I think they deserve space in my feed. For everyone else, it’s time I reached out and used Instagram as a way to build our connection, not just watch from afar. An engaged comment on a friend’s posts, a quick text to start a real conversation, or, even better, a request to hear about their recent stunning vacation in real life would go a long way towards what I’m really after – richer relationships in my real (a.k.a. offline) life.

The End of Social Media?

I can’t help but hope so. This article by Nick Bilton in Vanity Fair about the future of social media gave me a little bit of hope.

Looking for a little peace in the digital world? You might like my posts about my Distraction-Free Smartphone, Minimizing Social Media, and a hearty Digital Decluttering.

I don’t talk much in this space about my daily work. It often feels weird to bring up the projects I’m working on or share endless links here. I can never quite figure out how I feel about posting my published pieces (too self-promotional? A nice change of pace? A smart way to share my work?).

But since I’m traveling this month in New Zealand (and am thus in another place), I wanted to give a better idea of what my life really looks like, how I spend my time, and the work I do. I also want to be able to share the words I write elsewhere with you, and this seems to be the best way to do it (at least for now).

There is a lot of stuff here (and it’s not everything I wrote this month. In total I turned in 15 stories, which is far from what most months look like for me). If I had to only pick one, I’d suggest:

Let Me Tell You What It’s Really Like To Be A Minimalist

Includes more pictures of our tiny space : )

Hello, Holidays

October is often a crazy month for publishing. It’s the last big push for holiday content before everyone turns there gaze to New Year’s. I spent the month fully immersed in Christmas, and it’s been weird to say the least. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to working on holiday stories and gift guides when it’s still 80 degrees outside and I have yet to even eat a bite of pumpkin-flavored something.

15 Gifts Your Friends Will Love – Sunset Magazine

16 Great Gifts for Your Coworkers – Sunset Magazine

11 Gifts Your Parents Will Love – Sunset Magazine

13 Gifts for the Bon Vivant – Sunset Magazine

12 Gifts for People Who Love Camping – Sunset Magazine

15 Gifts for the Garden-to-Table Cook – Sunset Magazine

7 Gifts with Stylish Desert Vibes – Sunset Magazine

Gluten Free Gift Guide – Healthline

Always On the Go Gift Guide – Healthline

Essential Gifts for the Outdoors Adventurer – Healthline

Oh, hello. My story on the best West Coast breweries to visit this fall is tucked into @sunsetmag's gorgeous (rose gold) October issue.

A post shared by Mandy Ferreira (@treading_lightly) on Sep 7, 2017 at 9:04am PDT

Other Things

Let Me Tell You What It’s Really Like To Be A Minimalist

25 Ways to Fix Oily Hair

Even More Things

October was an exceptionally busy month for me. I was trying to squeeze in as much as I could before going on a longer trip. Even so, the things you see above weren’t the only things I was working on. I also do website production in house for Sunset, copywriting for a local startup, editorial work for an amazing book producer, and in theory, write here for you.

In hindsight, I don’t know how I did it all this month. But I’d say it was worth it.

Life is creeping back toward normal, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Four months post peroneal tendon surgery I’m sleeping without mummifying my leg. I am just starting to get back into squatting again. I got the go-ahead to finally leave the brace behind for daily life. I’m physically moving on.

In the day to day it’s hard to see the progress I’ve made. And it’s even more difficult when my pain and mobility fluctuate wildly. Some days are great, others feel like I’ve lost weeks of progress overnight.

But I’m slowly slipping toward normal and my obsession about my progress is going with it.

A video posted by Mandy Ferreira (@treading_lightly) on Jan 5, 2017 at 2:14pm PST

I was wrong.

My expectations about my recovery were woefully incorrect. I was under the impression that I would be back to where I was before surgery after three months. At four, I’m still not there. But I’m also not worrying about it anymore.

My outlook on my recovery post peroneal tendon surgery is heavily skewed by the nine months I spent desperate to get better before anyone realized I needed more than physical therapy could offer. I feel like this has been dragging on forever, that I will never actually get better. But when I can set all of that aside, it’s clearly not true. I’m making strides, I’m inching forward and the steps backward are much less frequent.

Healing is slow. Connective tissue like tendons is particularly sluggish. I’m doing what I can, and I’m not worrying about the rest.

I’ve stopped comparing myself to Lauren Fisher, the CrossFit athlete who had her surgery within days of mine and has shot past me. We aren’t the same person, we have different goals, and frankly, it just doesn’t matter.

2017 is my year.

I’m so excited to start the new year feeling a bit more like my old self. I can throw on my sneakers and head out the door (for a walk, but still). I am working on my leg strength and aggressively building my balance. When it stops raining I can ride my bike outside instead of being cooped up in the gym. My physical therapist has given me a great deal of space to try things out on my own and decide what feels right for my body right now.

I don’t want to be too bold, but I have a feeling I’ll be running in the next month. I’ve already done some really short jogs on the Alter-G treadmill at 80 percent of my bodyweight. If things keep moving like they have been I think I’ll see pavement soon.

Yoga has brought back my sanity (and some of my flexibility). I’ve left each class with a huge sense of relief and space in my body.

My body is forever changed, and it still hasn’t quite figured out what that’s going to be like, but I’m starting to get a hang of the way things are now.

In Case You Missed It:

I thought I could still play basketball
One Month Later
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Eight
Nine
10 months and surgery
11 Months + Surgery
What I learned from a year of being injured
Three months post peroneal tendon surgery

I’ve tried a few different techniques to stay organized and productive, but by far writing things down by hand in a planner is best for me. It helps me to break down big tasks into smaller to dos over a few days. I can visually see all of the things I need to get done and feel like I have a grasp over them all. Plus, you just can’t beat the feeling of physically crossing something off your list.

After at least 15 years of using a planner, I finally have a system that works for me. What started as a place to keep track of my homework has morphed into how I organize my entire life. I use my planner to keep track of my work tasks, daily errands and chores, habits, and personal goals.

How to Use a Planner

1. Plan Big Three

Each day I set aside my main three (or fewer) tasks for the day. These are my main priorities that need to be done before I can call it a day. If I only do these three tasks, my day is a success. My last work task for the day is writing out what needs to be done the next day.

2. To Do List

Laundry, quick emails, and other lower priority tasks go to the side of my big three. In theory I should do my big three before diving into these quick to dos, but in general I tend to sprinkle them in between.

3. Monthly Editorial Calendar

For years I would hand draw a calendar for my blog in a lined notebook. It was tedious and didn’t make it easy for me to actually sit down and plan out my posts for the month. Now all of my tasks are in one place, and I can quickly flip to the front of my planner to see what I have coming up for the blog.

4. Deadlines and Dates

Meetings, appointments, and deadlines all have a home (and a symbol) in my weekly planner. While I also have all of these in a digital calendar, I find it really helpful to have it written out. I can easily take them into consideration when I’m planning my tasks and priorities.

5. Habit Tracking

There are so many great ways to track habits. But I find I won’t actually mark it as complete (or do it at all) if my tracker isn’t front and center. Each week I hand draw my own habit tracker right into the weekly spread. Lately I’ve been tracking habits related to my ankle physical therapy including how often I contrast bath, do scar tissue massage, eat or drink foods high in anti-inflammatories, and other ankle-related tasks.

This is a great way to track multiple habits, but there are so many ways you could do it. You could highlight the days you completed your main habit (or New Year’s resolution), put a mark on each day, have a symbol you draw on the day when you’re done, or create a little logbook style like I have.

6. Sketch It Out

In college I got into the habit of planning out my priorities and to dos for an entire week at a time. While this was helpful for me to plan out when I needed to get started on things and to space out my workload, it was terrible for actually getting it done. If I didn’t finish something it caused catastrophe.

After years spent working off of yesterday’s (or last week’s) to do list, I finally learned how to frame out my big projects and take it a day at a time. These days I will take a big project and break it down into individual tasks that have to get done. I then add them to do my to do list one day at a time so I have room to move them from one day to another if things aren’t chugging along perfectly.

This technique is key for my freelance writing assignments. I will have anywhere from 5-10 articles due in a month. At the start of the month I sit down and roughly sketch out when I will do each step for each article so I don’t get overwhelmed or miss a deadline.

Because this process is messy and constantly shifting, I use a piece of scratch paper so I can cross things off as I go and rewrite them as necessary. My rough frame lives in the back pocket of my planner, but you can also include it in the notes section. Or you know, use a pencil.

7. Move It Forward

Any main priority tasks that don’t get completed are automatically the top priority for the next day. Sometimes I just don’t realize how long a task will take me and my top three for the day are really more than I can tackle. Instead of feeling like a failure for not getting it all done, I just move it forward to the next day.

There are exceptions to this rule. I will always meet hard deadlines. Typically I have it all planned out so I’m not doing anything last-minute, but things happen.

8. Set Yourself Up for Success

Like most people, I could easily write out 20 things that I want to get done each day, but that’s never going to happen. I am strict with only having three top tasks for the day. No matter how many times I try it, four isn’t realistic. I just can’t get it all done.

There are days where three is way too many as well. Know what your priority will take (time, effort, energy, focus, someone else’s time, etc.) and plan accordingly. If something is going to take you six hours to complete, don’t add two more priorities to the list under it. You’ve already filled up your day with your main task.

9. Set Goals or Intentions

I put my goals for the week front and center so they are always on my mind. Sometimes these goals are big projects I want to tackle that week or my general focus for the week (like reflection, goal planning, inspiration gathering). I don’t always have an explicit goal for each week outside of just getting my normal tasks done. On those weeks I just leave the space blank.

Planner

The planner I use isn’t special. I searched for hours (I wish I was exaggerating) for a sustainable, ethical notebook that did everything I wanted, but I ultimately came up short. I’m currently using Moleskin’s 18 month, weekly planner. In the past I used a handmade, 100 percent recycled paper planner from Etsy.

Related:

I haven’t tried bullet journaling, but I am fully intrigued by it. I mean look at these examples! The colors and perfect penmanship make me happy. If only I knew how to draw (and could write legibly).

How to Get It All Done

In the Company of Women is everything I want in a book – inspiring, informative, reflective, and eye-opening. This book is the perfect answer to “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

The book features 100 women and their thoughts on their work, lives, mistakes, and inspiration. The gorgeous spreads are loaded with encouragement and the reminder that everyone starts somewhere (not to mention some massive studio/workplace eye candy).

Grace Bonney, the founder of Design*Sponge, interviewed so many insightful, diverse, and intelligent women. I loved reading about all of the different jobs these women were drawn to or created for themselves. Their bravery and tenacity shone through. Painters, illustrators, writers, interior designers, musicians, furniture makers – these women do it all.

While a few familiar names popped out at me–Hi, Roxane!– there were so many creative women to get to know. I loved hearing so many perspectives and seeing bits of myself in these successful, goal-chasing women.

In the Company of Women Quotes

“You have to be willing to be bad at it to get good at it.” Mary Going

“Throw hesitation and insecurity out the window.” Jasmine Wright

“Success to me is when I am feeling purposeful, authentic, and of service to others.” Christy Turlington Burns

“You can’t sit there and wait for things to fall into your lap. You’re in charge of your life, so go after what you want.” Joy Cho

This book is perfect for anyone who wants to work for themselves, start a business, or strike out on their own. I will definitely be borrowing it from the library again when I need a little pick me up or a push forward.

In the Company of Women could not have come at a better time for me. I have been freelancing from home for almost a full year now, and it gets incredibly lonely. Without coworkers to bounce ideas off of or brainstorm with, I start to feel stagnant and like a broken record. While it won’t ever replace real live humans and their brilliant ideas, In the Company of Women still gave me some much needed insights and inspiration. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

I’ve finally made it to the point where I forget for hours at a time that I’ve had surgery.

It took me three months to get here.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours on my feet in the kitchen making granola bars and heavenly gluten-free ginger cookies. Right as I was about to put my first batch in the oven I realized my ankle hurt.

Now you could blame the cookies for blinding me, but in reality I had finally made it on my feet for an extended period of time without pain. I finally made it past the threshold where that pain is always right around the corner, always on my mind.

3 Months Post Peroneal Tendon Surgery Progress

These days I’m walking. Big news over here. I can now tolerate walking around a mile and a half before the pain starts to set in. While I’m starting to get sick of the brace, I’m overjoyed to ditch the damn boot. Also, it helps that I only wear the brace when I’m out of the house.

Sleeping has gotten so much easier since I had to sleep in the boot/ the night splint made from my (smelly!) old cast. Unfortunately my side-sleeping habits still put too much tension on my tendon at night. Pro tip, a couple stiff pieces of tape can fix this right up. Tape from the center of your arch up the outside of your foot and ankle so the tape holds your foot in slight eversion and you are good to go (to sleep).

The gym has gotten more exciting. I can finally weight-bear which means not only can I carry my own equipment, but I can also start doing some light deadlifts, air squats to parallel, and standing arm exercises. (Also, another important tip. Do not try to crutch with 20lb dumbbells in each hand. Does not go well. You’re welcome.) It’s to the point where I don’t mind sweating it out on the bike instead of freezing on a winter run. Timing is everything.

I can drive! Okay, technically I can drive, but someone backed into my parked car the week I started being able to drive again. So you know, I can drive when my car is back from the shop.

I got the okay to try kicking, but it’s way too cold to even think about swimming. So that’s on hold until I get braver, it gets warmer, or I find a comfortable indoor pool.

Up Next

I’m still quite a ways off from running, but I’m working hard to strengthen my feet, ankles, and hips so the rest of me is ready when my tendon is. I’m finally getting into heel raises and balance work, which is both exciting and acutely painful.

Yoga is my next goal. I think I’m about ready to heavily modify my favorite power yoga class. A couple blankets, two blocks, and a ton of tape is all it takes.

And hopefully my ankle and foot will stop turning purple soon too.

The prospect of sitting down to write every day can be daunting. When viewed as a whole it feels insurmountable, too big to even start. But when you break it down into what it really is, a short (or not) break with your thoughts each day, it’s not so intimidating.

You don’t have to be a writer or a master diary keeper to write every day, and it certainly doesn’t have to be A Thing. 

How to Write Every Day

Create a simple daily writing habit with these tips.

1. Start small.

A single page. Five minutes. A short list – all great places to start. There’s nothing like the pressure of a blank page. Make your goal achievable without excessive struggle and you will actually build and keep your habit.

This month I’m doing 15 minutes of writing every day. It’s achievable, and even on the days where I can’t find words I can still get it done. Experiment to find what time/format works best for you, but always aim low. Set the bar at five minutes and pat yourself on the back when you write for 30.

2. Get inspired… or fake it.

Opening a blank page is like standing in front of an audience and forgetting your entire speech (I speak from experience). My brain freezes and my palms start to sweat. What am I supposed to say? Where did the words go? How much longer?

If coming up with your own topics feels overwhelming, there are a lot of journals that come with their own short prompts to get you started like the Five Minute Journal (also an app) or you can check out lists of prompts online (there are loads if you Google “Journal Prompts“).

3. Make time.

Once you decide how long you are going to write for each day, make room for it in your schedule. Even if you are planning on writing for five minutes, set aside the exact time you are going to write and make sure you hold yourself to it. Claiming you will just write when something comes to you or when you have a bit of extra time in the day will derail you (trust me) and make it difficult to actually do the work.

I’ve had the best luck with staying consistent (and remembering to write) when I add writing into my daily routine. Try writing as part of your morning or evening routine to start. It’s a great way to remind yourself that it’s time to write, and it makes it easier to stay consistent.

4. Sit down.

The hardest part is showing up. The first step to writing isn’t putting down words, it’s sitting down (or standing up) to write them.

5. Track it.

I’m a sucker for a good goal tracker. I love crossing off days or adding tick marks. Visualizing your progress can be powerful. It’s a nice reminder to get the work done. This doesn’t have to be fancy. A tally on a piece of scrap paper, a mark on your calendar, a habit app or notebook – whatever works for you.

6. Be accountable.

I get it – holding yourself accountable each day is exhausting. We all have so many things on our minds and even more on our to-do lists.

If you really want to write every day, make it a priority and hold yourself to it. Even better, team up with a friend and hold each other accountable. It’s a great way to stay motivated–you don’t want to let the other person down– and connected. You can also join already existing communities of daily writers like 750 words and NaNoWriMo.

7. Turn it off!

Put away the phone, turn off the Internet, cut the distractions. It’s hard enough to stay focused and actually write, don’t make it harder. If you do decide to write on your computer and need the Internet (be sure you aren’t lying to yourself here – Google Docs and Evernote both work without a connection), make sure you only have one tab open and don’t let yourself click away. Make it easier on yourself and turn off your notifications or close out of your email while you’re at it.

8. Come back.

Missing a day is not the end of the world. It’s also not an excuse to give up entirely. So you didn’t write for a day or two – shrug and move on. Pick up your notebook (or computer or typewriter or microphone) and get going. Today is a great day to write.