Carrie Saum

In an age where we are isolated but still technologically connected, this is important. It’s okay to be alone. It’s okay to be unoccupied.

Occasionally, I get confused about the line between cooking and crafting. Spring rolls are in that category. I give myself a pass, though, because even if they look a mess, they taste legit. They also walk that really gorgeous line between being indulgent, healthy, and fun. That just so happens to be my favorite line when it comes to food… and probably sex.

The amount of mental/emotional/invisible labor that we carry out every day, in addition to kids and regular work, takes a toll. It's okay to be exhausted.

No real measuring, no special ingredients, and it makes cookies that even the snobbiest cookie connoisseur will crave? It might seem too good to be true, but it's absolutely real.

So, when your BFF moves into her first real home and her husband has a birthday at basically the same moment, you bake a cake. And not just any cake but a beautiful thing made of the best ingredients. You aim high, confident that you can come through for your BFF and celebrate her family's milestones with four spongy layers filled with thick raspberry preserves and succulent buttercream.

The shame was overwhelming. Why was my body broken? What had I done to my baby? I began to spiral into self-loathing. Gestational diabetes felt like a failure.

Visiting my family in the Sierra Nevada foothills is one of the great pleasures of my life. I get to work, cook, and play while my amazing folks keep an eye on my kid. My inspiration and productivity skyrocket when I'm able to step away from my version of the daily grind and get a little refocused and centered. The food I make tastes a little better, and I move a little easier without a three-year-old constantly in tow.

Can we talk about self-care for a hot minute?

I kind of hate it.

I can't do this on my own. This life thing, this parenting thing, this figuring out how to make it all work thing? Yeah, those things. I can't. And what's more is I don't think any of us are meant to. It's time to shed the taboo around asking and receiving help.

We are tired and hurting and don't know what else to do.