Joseph Jarrett

Well, well, well. I left you all with such an impactful story on Valentine’s Day and ghosted you right after. My sincere apologies for pulling a Taylor Swift on you. I guess you could say I am in my reputation era currently. And honestly, in some ways, I am. You see, I cannot just churn and burn these blog posts, chapters of a new book, or social media posts. At the end of the day, I’m still just a person. I don’t always have it in me.

            I would say that the first quarter of 2026 has been one of the happiest chapters of life that I have lived yet. There’s a lot that goes into that statement, and trust me, I don’t take it lightly. But for the first time in a long time, I actually do feel happy. I also feel confident. I feel like myself again.

            My social life is probably the most active it has ever been. Just before Christmas 2025, my best friend (Holland in Mishaps & Mistakes) finally convinced me to join her at a party with her group of close friends. Rude of her to have people beside me, but that’s what the old me thought, not the current me. Holland tried for two whole years prior to that party to get me to hang out with this group. I always said no because of some weird social anxiety I felt. I also struggled with trying to get my life together after Gabe and leaving the airline life behind. Little did I know that I should have listened to her all along. Four months after that Christmas party, I have now grown an immense love for this group. I probably see them more regularly than I see my family nowadays. While they give me great inspiration for writing, I don’t casually think about it while I’m having the time of my life with them.

            While I’ve nurtured and repaired my social life, I also needed to take the time to nurture and repair my heart and soul. I learned the hard way that you can never force someone to love you, but you can always learn how to love yourself. While I have had some crushes, both legitimate and delusional (And I mean TRULY delusional), making myself my main priority has changed so many things for me. I find myself much more confident than I have been in the last few years. I find comfort in my independence and privacy. I used to hate being alone, but now it does not scare me. I don’t have a guidebook or checklist that I followed to do this and get here. It’s just small choices here and there that end up being incredibly healthy for me.

            Here’s a recent example for you. Last week, my classes were cancelled, and I suddenly had a free day. While I could’ve stayed home and done nothing productive, I chose to spend a couple of hours on the beach. My spring break was rainy and cold, so my plans for a beach day then were totally thwarted by Mother Nature. This was my opportunity to get my baseline tan, clear my head, and just enjoy the sand and water while my music played. My two-and-a-half hours of lounging on a Turkish linen towel were amazing from start to finish. As Tucker Wetmore’s “Sunburn” and Colbie Caillat’s “Fallin’ For You” played on rotation, my skin burned and all the negative energy I had pent up inside left. It doesn’t have to be a big experience or a huge amount of money spent to be good for you. The simple things in life really do it.

            While I have ideas and projects in the works, I won’t just put them out there because I feel like I have to. I want to be proud of what I produce, of what I allow you to read and see. I recognize that stepping back and taking time away is not great for my algorithm, my statistics, or anything like that. But it’s been good for me. It’s setting me up to be successful and is helping me get to a place to produce great content. I don’t want it to be run-of-the-mill entries that you can get everywhere else. That’s not me. That’s not what I do.

            So, how will you be taking time for yourself? What simple yet healthy choices are you going to make to get yourself back on track? Let me know, friend.