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...

The world is heavy, but you still have a life to tend to. Holding these two truths is difficult, so you default to “coping” strategies that come with a cost. And you can't live your life only on cortisol and vibes. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

A question that feels impossible: “How’s your week going?” How do you answer that right now when you’re struggling to keep up with the fire hose of bad headlines while still showing up to your actual life? Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I'm 44 yrs old. It's a number that comes with reactions. Especially as a single woman who's never been married + doesn't have/want children. It gives people an opportunity to judge, even when they know nothing about me. Read more zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/im-44-and-...

I saw an IG reel the other day and this line struck me: The alternative for not aging is dying. Despite this truth, we're conditioned to fear getting older. If only we understood that it's a blessing, not a privilege. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/im-44-and-...

A lesson I learned after living in Sicily for a year: knowing Spanish didn’t help me learn Italian. It's a humbling lesson. I finally stopped believing learning Italian was going to be easy and became a beginner again. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/i-didnt-mo...

When I moved to Sicily, I thought I understood what I was in for. What I didn’t have was any real understanding of how much it would change me. A year later, I can tell you this: Sicily rewired the way I live my life. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/i-didnt-mo...

For some reason, there's a lot of articles about mental health challenges in America, but there aren’t enough spaces for journalists themselves to talk about how we're feeling as vessels for fact-based storytelling. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I built the kind of career people spend years trying to achieve. But something inside me started asking a question I couldn't ignore: What if this very visible, shiny version of success is not the life I actually want? Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/i-had-the-...

You’re probably following me right now because of my ability to get my point across to the masses. TV and American politics reward that. From the outside looking in, that performance looked like success. Read more on my Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/i-had-the-...

I love talking about K-pop, especially with newbies. I realized I haven’t ever told the full story of how I fell down the K-pop rabbit hole in the first place. It happened during one of the hardest periods of my life. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/finding-br...

I’ve been a K-pop fan since 2020. The choreography, the visuals, the drama of it all. I love explaining the groups, the lore, the concerts. At 44 yrs old, when I talk about K-pop, I start to sound like I'm 13. It’s fun! Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/finding-br...

Looking back at my photos in a month is one of my favorite ways to see how I'm LIVING my life. I'm not surviving. I'm doing the damn thing. Check out my photos from February by visiting my Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/photo-jour...

Survival mode is deceptive when you're high functioning. It looks like someone who is doing everything right. But surviving and designing aren't the same. Surviving is reacting to everything. Designing is intentional. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/from-survi...

I’m so good at achieving while exhausted. I used to pride myself on being articulate while my nervous system was raging. But life isn’t supposed to feel like a struggle. You're supposed to be enjoying the journey! Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/from-survi...

TODAY is the day! Author, speaker, and political organizer Shannon Watts will be joining me on Substack Live at 10:00AM EST. Head over to my Substack at zerlinamaxwell.substack.com to hear our conversation about taking action without burning out, you won't want to miss it!

Visibility scares me. I know it seems counterintuitive for a media personality like me. When you operate at your highest level, people notice. And with that comes judgment, criticism, expectations, hate, and pressure. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/the-gear-i...

Author, political organizer, speaker and founder of Moms Demand Action, Shannon Watts will be joining me on Substack Live on MON, MARCH 2nd at 10:00AM EST. We'll be chatting about encouraging women to be more active in politics without burning out. Follow along at zerlinamaxwell.substack.com

One thing I know about myself is that when I am productive, even if it’s doing tasks that don’t really matter, I feel accomplished. There are days where I do nothing and then if I work out, I feel like a million bucks. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/the-gear-i...

"You're allowed to cultivate joy. In fact, you need to because our job is to build the world that we want. And if we don't allow ourselves to... be happy, then we're not reminding ourselves of why we’re doing any of this. We can't be joyless people." -AOC zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

I’m making progress toward my goals. I’m doing the things I need to do to stay regulated and pointed in the right direction. Even this foundation for greatness is something to be proud of because it took years to build. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/the-gear-i...

There was a time when just getting the basics right felt impossible. I’m in a different place now, fully present in my life again. But I know there’s another gear. I know I have it in me but something is holding me back. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/the-gear-i...

How has living so much of our lives online changed who we are at our core? That question has been living in my body for years now, especially after working in politics, media, and the news cycle. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/why-you-ne...

I’ve been thinking a lot about who we're becoming in this digital age, not just politically divided, but also the impact on all of us psychologically, spiritually, and relationally. It's personal for me. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/why-you-ne...

Sign up for our free workshop today at noon ET luma.com/c0i4dfm5

Curious about moving out of the United States? I’m so excited to tell you that Kirsten Powers and I are hosting a workshop on exactly this topic. Join us Tuesday, Feb. 10th for a 90 minute conversation on how we moved abroad, with plenty of time for Q&A. Sign up to join us here: luma.com/c0i4dfm5

If watching the news feels too heavy right now, I see you. I get it. That reaction makes complete sense. What I'm trying to learn right now is how to live my life in a world that has never actually known peace. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/trying-to-...

You’re not avoiding the news because you don’t care. It’s because you feel depleted by it. The problem is that you are being asked to metabolize nonstop crises without relief, resolution, or rest. That isn’t healthy. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/trying-to-...

When I’m not working, I rest. I create space for quiet and joy. Not because I don’t care about what’s happening, but because I care too much. Self-care isn't a distraction from activism. It's what makes activism possible. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/learning-h...

I left the U.S. in Feb 2025 because I could feel what was coming. Being across the ocean allows for clarity in seeing how dangerous this moment is for the future of American democracy and global stability. I can see the emergency very clearly. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/learning-h...

I cannot afford to live in a constant state of depletion. If I don’t seek out joy, I will burn out. This is something I understand now in a way I didn’t before: joy doesn’t just happen anymore. You have to intentionally choose it. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/theres-a-b...

A year ago, I noticed something outside my apartment balcony. There’s a boat docked there. On the side of it, in big letters, is the word JOY. It felt like a clear sign for me to remember why I’m even on this planet. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/theres-a-b...

If you’re in a season of transition, and you don’t yet know what comes next, know this: the presence of fear doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. It usually means you’re telling the truth about how you feel. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/a-note-for...

A year ago, I moved to Sicily. It was hard, but now I’m thriving. From the outside, you see the curated version of my life and you'd probably assume that the courage I have is due to the absence of fear. But it's not. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/a-note-for...

Do you know what's worse than being sick? Being sick when you're alone with no one to take care of you. And even more, being sick and alone when you're in a foreign country. Read more about what I learned about taking care of myself: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Every year, we all set our goals. And by mid-January, most of those big goals are sitting untouched, staring back at us like an accusation. Then the guilt creeps in. So this year, I’m doing something different. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/im-not-sta...

Every January, we do the same thing. We set big goals for the year ahead. But one thing that we all have in common is sometimes we set our goals only to break our own promises on the first Monday of the new year. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/im-not-sta...

This is how my goal setting begins for the new year: I start with the feeling. Do I need to create a life with more peace? More joy? Do I need to cultivate more strength? More financial security? Do I want to tap into my creativity more? Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/my-soul-al...

Happy Friday! Joining @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social: @adamsmith.house.gov of WA-09, @duckworth.senate.gov of Illinois + Author of the book 107 Days, @kamalaharris.com! ☎️ 866-997-4748 📻 @siriusxmprog.bsky.social Ch. 127 siriusxm.us/Zerlina

Every December, I plan for the year to come. I review my goals and I compare it to a list of things that I actually did. It's not about beating myself up, but an accounting of what I accomplished (and didn’t) and apply the lessons to next year. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/my-soul-al...

I’ve always wanted to speak multiple languages and I spent many years studying Spanish. I almost double majored in Spanish because I really wanted to put in all of the work I could to become a bilingual person. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/moving-to-...

November is my birthday month so you know I had to make it memorable. I tasted world famous Marsala wine, went out to a fancy dinner for my birthday, and took a spontaneous, absolutely magical trip to Paris. Keep reading to see my November photo recap: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/photo-jour...

There’s a line from the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar that resonates with me: “We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.” If you’re a Black woman born and raised in America, you feel that poem deeply. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/palermo-th...

I just celebrated over 5,000 subscribers for my Substack, The Inner Work Dispatch. I started it back in February, to document my journey to Sicily and to talk about mental health. If you haven't joined, you can subscribe for 15% off until the end of November. Head to zerlinamaxwell.substack.com.

We live in a country that's collectively grieving, and yet we're on autopilot. What the heck is the point of the grind if not to feel joy?? My move to Italy came from a desire to experience happiness every day. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

Birthdays are equal parts gratitude and grief, especially since my mother passed. She was always the first person to call on my birthday. Now the silence is deafening. I wake up on my birthday knowing she won't call. And I always cry. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/its-my-bir...

Every year, my birthday sneaks up on me, even though I know it's coming. And every year, I tell myself I’m fine. That I’m living the life I intentionally chose and I’m leaning into joy. But every year, I wake up, and I cry. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/its-my-bir...

I had an interaction with a celebrity recently in the streets of Palermo, Sicily, and it sparked so much joy. It made me remember to look up from my phone, because that’s when the magic happens! Read more about glimmers of magic: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...