Thursday Threads: What makes you feel alive?

Find out as Carissa Potter, Host of "Bad at Keeping Secrets" explores with author Catherine Price... How to feel alive again.

Hello, Lovelies,

So, here’s a compelling Thursday Thread… In times of great darkness and cultural dysregulation, sometimes it's about stopping and tuning into one's own personal rhythms and cyclicality in order to reset and feel any kind of inner life.

During Carissa Potter’s darkest moments of the pandemic, her therapist told her that she had to find joy to keep going. Lately, she’s not sure when it started exactly, but she’s begun feeling trapped in trying to figure out how to dig herself back out to feeling alive again.

Recently, Potter spoke to author Catherine Price as part of her brilliant podcast Bad at Keeping Secrets. They discussed Price’s most recent book, The Power of Fun, in which she breaks down the core elements of fun, why it’s important, and how having fun is actually one of the most important priorities when it comes to long-term well-being. Her book is life-affirming on so many levels and provides an actionable guide for feeling awake and present during our super brief time on earth. Give a listen…

So with this in mind, what one thing wakes you up and makes you feel alive again?

So, true, guttural shared laughter with a close friend is obviously very life-affirming for me, but…

There is one other thing that also does it and it’s singing.

I absolutely love singing with another person or in a group, so when I saw this NPR Tiny Desk Concert, it immediately filled me with all the dopamine a girl could hope for… Yes, I am a theater geek from way back. Try not to cringe too hard. Many of us are already oldsters and don’t want to turn into fossils. (But can you SEE why my neighbor Marlene was practically having kittens during my whole singing-speech therapy phase? Imagine below—but with insanely warped consonants?)

Given the world’s current woes, I thought a little boost might be in order. I’d love to know what makes you most feel alive. For some, it’s cresting a mountaintop. For others, it’s an ice-cold swim. For still others, it’s FLAVOR. Let us all know in the threads.

🤍🤍🤍 - xoxo - gotham girl