Welcome to the refreshed version of my Substack.
When I started this publication, my work centered the narrative of a career break and what I had learned from that break about motherhood, identity, and work/life balance. However, as I’ve continued writing, my work has evolved to explore love, relationships, identity, authenticity, personal growth, and well-being. I incorporate current psychological science. I critique systems of oppression and cultural defaults. And I hold space for conflicting truths.
Both/And is literally my methodology—the way I think, write, and navigate life. I hold opposing truths simultaneously rather than choosing sides. I refuse false dichotomies. I don’t resolve contradictions or offer simple answers. I’m okay with cognitive dissonance. I honor nuance and complexity. I live for dialectical thinking.
Both/And also tells my approach to exploring these topics, writing at the intersection of science and storytelling. I love finding and sharing current psychological science, and I recognize there are limits to the data we can gather, that there are other ways of knowing. I recognize the value of lived experience. And I think science has to escape the ivory tower and make its way into real people’s lives to be valuable.
We can appreciate the value of rigorous empirical research. And sometimes we also have to trust, and accept, and not overanalyze everything. Sometimes we just have to breathe.
I lead with both my head and my heart.
Both/And is also the way I strive for abundance in many areas of life. Why choose one when you can have both?
I can be both a mom and a whole person outside of motherhood.
I can both be happy with who I am and continually strive to improve and grow.
Alongside this name change, I have started a podcast! I will be recording all of my future articles as podcast episodes. This change reflects two things:
I love talking (hello, I’m a professor)
I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks while I run. This way, you can multitask too!
You can follow my podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and probably several other platforms soon.
I’m really excited about these changes, and hope you are, too! 🖤
My next article (and first actual podcast episode), A Love Letter to Friendship, drops this coming Tuesday.
