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Hi there,

As a 90s teen, the movie "Free Willy" had a major impact on my life.

The premise was pretty relatable: a boy named Jesse, around my age, living on the Pacific Northwest coast, is fond of animals, and takes an interest in a captive orca whale. And like Jesse in the film, I also had seen orcas up close in a tank and been moved by their size and intelligence.

Watching that film led me to learn more about orcas and the problems of holding marine mammals in captivity, and when I was 13 years old, I asked my mom to drive me across town to a protest outside the Vancouver Aquarium.

That spark of activism continued throughout my youth across a range of issues. I felt called to help others, saying "yes" to nearly all causes that I came across, without considering the time and energy costs of each.

I kept this up for years, until one day I just. couldn't. any. more.

For many years, I disengaged. My world got smaller.

Getting through that chapter took time, rest, therapy, and a lot of things that helped me to "recharge." Slowly, I found my way back to being able to engage again.

I'm better at choosing when to say "yes," partly because I now know when to say "no."

As a therapist, I now have a deeper appreciation of "burnout." And I view the years of disengagement that followed as a necessary part of my own recovery from it.

I also have better tools now than I did when I was younger, which help me to recommit to select causes. And I'm always on the lookout for signs of burnout. 👀

These days, I hope you are doing the best that you can with what you have. (And if you need more than you have, there are resources that can help.)

How are you coping with the world around you?

What I'm Doing About It

I don't believe that my journey with "getting through" is a unique one. Many of us have been down this path before. Some are deep in it right now.

Part of what helped me was learning more about myself, how the mind works, and what tools I can use to help support myself.

To help others and give back, I'm excited to be offering 3 new workshops to support people with getting through.

Here's what I'm launching in 2026:

Do you need a grounded, compassionate space to understand why the world feels so hard right now and what we can actually do about it? This workshop is for you. We’ll examine the impact of living through collective and ongoing crises, why our nervous system responds the way it does, and how grief shows up in unexpected ways.
Tech companies have teams of engineers devoted to making our devices as addictive as possible, exploiting the same brain mechanisms that make us vulnerable to slot machines and drugs. But once you understand those mechanisms, you can start to take back control.
Preparing for a baby means more than stocking up on diapers and picking out paint colours. This workshop addresses the conversations many expectant and new parents don’t realize they need to have until they’re in the thick of it. Parents-to-be are presented with the important questions that will help them to align before those late-night disagreements happen.

If one or more of these topics interests you, hit "reply" and let me know! I'd love to come and host a workshop for you and your colleagues, classmates, or collaborators.

And if you know of any groups, organizations, or companies that you think I should be talking to, please click here to tell me about them!

Elsewhere on the Internet

Here's what I've been reading lately:

Nearly one million Canadians suffer from climate anxiety caused by real environmental threats. As this reporter explores, talking about these feelings and connecting with nature can help people cope and feel less alone.
While the "5 Love Languages" offers people a clear and practical way to understand their own needs and communicate them to others in relationship, one professor and researcher explores how rethinking this metaphor can help us to co-create more fulfilling and responsive relationships.
And look no further for a story that is somehow both cute and fascinating: "Even in the Wild, Mice Run on Wheels". I first heard about this on the podcast The Rest Is Science where the hosts Michael Stevens (Vsauce) and Professor Hannah Fry speculated that our natural distaste for boredom might not be unique to humans (video).

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider sharing it with someone else in your life. ❤️

Warmly,
Jason

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