I didn't leave America because I gave up. I left because I finally chose myself. The grass really is greener on the other side of the world — and I haven't looked back once. Read my latest Substack post: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I've never woken up in Palermo wishing I were back in America. Not once. Not on hard days. Not on holidays. I miss my people — but hustle culture stole them from me anyway. Full essay: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Somehow we’re all supposed to close the laptop and slide into an ordinary evening as if your whole system has not just spent the day metabolizing other people’s catastrophes. I am a witness to a moment in history that is genuinely heavy. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Everyone has a different answer to the question of how we're doing, but most of us aren’t really feeling it when we give the standard automatic answer of "fine" and move on. Nobody should be "fine". Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I've evolved in my relationship to work. I try to be intentional about the mental + emotional distance I have from the news. I had to learn that I was the only one who could put up a boundary between my wellbeing + the dumpster fire of the news Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

This week's mini practice came out of a Friday night in Palermo that could have gone very differently. I have a rule I repeat to myself every day here. It sounds like a joke until you watch how this city actually moves. Recently, I learned why I say it. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/paying-att...

My friend's first lesson when I moved to Sicily: the green light is a suggestion. Stop anyway. Look anyway. Your attention is the only thing keeping you safe. That became my daily practice. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

There is one rule I repeat to myself every single day in Palermo: "Don't get hit by a vehicle." It sounds like a joke. It is not a joke. And somehow it led to a bigger life lesson. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

A quick reminder for you. Some things are best left in private.

I live in Sicily. The pace is slow, the sea is close, the tomatoes are incredible. And I am still emotionally destroyed by the U.S. news cycle within 20 minutes of starting work. Some of us cannot look away. Read more on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I moved across the world to find peace. And somehow Donald Trump still manages to ruin my morning espresso. The news cycle is relentless. There aren't enough weekends or guided meditations when the world is completely batshit. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Rest isn't the reward for the work. Rest is what makes the work possible. It took watching my mom pass away young for me to finally understand that. She never got to enjoy the retirement she worked so hard for. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I told my therapist: "I just need to get through this week and then I can breathe." She said: "Zerlina, you have said that exact sentence to me every single week for 10 years." Read more over on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I told myself I'd rest after. After the election. After the campaign. After the next deadline. After inauguration day. I made that promise to myself for 18 years. There was always a next thing. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Living abroad strips away the propaganda. Without it, the truth is plain: we aren't the best. Not for Black people. We were never great. Not for Black women. I carry that heaviness even as I build a softer life in a country that actually lets me rest. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I’ve held tension in my body all week. The pull between rest + resistance. Between protecting your peace + a democracy that's never protected us. I’m tired. But I know my effort + engagement is needed. So is yours! Soft life and civic engagement are not incompatible. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com

Mental health and politics aren't separate topics. Everything I write is with full awareness of the moment we're living through. This isn't toxic positivity. It's a radical reframe of how to take care of yourself when the world is a dumpster fire: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

My grandfather + my 17-year-old aunt marched in Selma. They fought for the multiracial democracy promised by the Reconstruction Amendments. We are watching that same progress be erased in real time. And it hurts. Because it wasn't supposed to be this way. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/mental-healt...

What are you willing to do to change your life? How far are you willing to go to improve your mental well being? These are the questions I had to ask myself everyday at my lowest point. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I watched my beloved mother die up close. It didn’t happen quickly. I watched her day in + day out become weaker, wither away. She always told me that I needed to enjoy the journey of life and not suffer. Read more about why I decided to move to Sicily: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I wanted to share with you the very first post in my Mental Health Mondays series from Feb 2025. This post about changing my life in the wake of my mom's death is still so raw to me. This is why I moved to Palermo. Read more about my soul care journey: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

They stopped asking if you're okay because you convinced them you always are. The strong friend trained the people around her not to check. Read more on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

This one is for the strong friend. The woman everyone leans on. The one who answers the texts, holds the family together, shows up at work, runs the group chat, and still ends most days wondering if she did enough. Visit zerlinamaxwell.substack.com to listen to this moving meditation.

My mother was sick for 4 years. The number of people who asked if I was okay? Less than five. The performance of strength is so convincing people forget there's a person underneath it. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I'm writing to the strong friend tonight. The one who answers at 11PM. Sends the Venmo. Writes the eulogy. Calms the room. Whose name is in everyone's prayers but not her own list. I know you because I am you. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Distance didn’t erase my connection to America. It made me more aware of how deeply connected I still am. And here's a new perspective: the only way I can contribute to making this world better is if I am whole. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

To love America in the way I did required holding two truths at once: America is capable of beauty. But America is also capable of harm. And somehow you're supposed to live inside both those realities without breaking. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

There is a version of this story where I say I left America because of politics. That would be the clean and easy answer. The one that doesn’t require too much explaining. But the truth is more personal than that. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I live in Italy now, but I still feel the same anxiety about the U.S. starting another war of choice in the Middle East. When the news gets bad, I ask myself: Am I resourced enough to carry what I’m carrying? Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

When was the last time you gave yourself permission to just be in the middle of the chaos, without figuring anything out? Your first Inner Work Dispatch moving meditation is here, made specifically for this moment. Listen now: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/you-dont-h...