Blog Post 74: Reflections on One Year
It’s been one year since we started the Type C Toolbox project! We want to take some time to reflect on where we are, what we’ve learned, and where we’re going. And also to thank our readers and everyone who has helped with this project! We’ve found it so valuable to think about ourselves and the people in our lives within a Type C framework, and to identify decisions and behaviors that are driven by these traits - and to better understand the costs to our relationships and to our health. We’ve put a lot of content out there - 70+ blog posts, 30+ podcast episodes, and 230ish Instagram posts. It’s been very gratifying to hear from people that these messages are resonating with you. Many people identify with these traits, and knowing that we are not alone in our struggles brings much less shame and much more compassion for ourselves.
Some of the more popular topics we’ve discussed have been parenting, workplace issues, narcissism, and accepting our own importance. The latter topic is one that we think is so important for Type C people to explore – we have somehow accepted and internalized the message that other people are more important than we are, and that message is likely at the root of Type C. Slowing down and noticing these stories instead of operating in our default patterns can really help. If we can bring these deeply ingrained rules and stories into awareness and challenge them, we can go a long way toward putting ourselves on a path to good health.
Personally, our Type C project has made us both more aware of when guilt shows up for us, as well as where we place ourselves on the list of priorities - and we’re working to move ourselves higher on that list. When guilt does show up, we aim to sit with it, to not be surprised by it, and to not talk ourselves out of it - to work to drop this tug-of-war in our minds.
And we've learned so much from our podcast guests. We are now both embracing acupuncture after our episode with Jessica Sowards. Our big takeaway from our integrative medicine episode - and so important for all struggling with invisible illness (like chronic fatigue, colitis, fibromyalgia, migraines) - is to trust that you know your body best, to find a doctor who will listen and patiently work with you, to not give up, and to persevere. We can get to a better place.
We’ve had a lot of fun along the way. We've hosted two comedy nights with the intent of a fun self-care night for anyone interested, Type C or not. They've been a blast, and for anyone in the NYC area, we welcome you to come to the next one! Laughter is absolutely the best medicine, and there's nothing like a live comedy show to keep the laughs coming. Our two press mentions have also been a highlight - talking Type C on WPIX and Type C moms on Most Buffalo. Our adrenaline levels were off the charts - live TV is beyond nerve-wracking - but we tried to keep an "excited AND nervous" mindset. We are grateful for the exposure. And we are grateful for our partnership - we feel so fortunate for the opportunity to work together on this effort. Shout out to Kore’s mom as well - who is the world’s best editor and so generous with her time.
We did an entire podcast episode reflecting on year one - please check it out here! And on a final note - we would love to talk to any readers who would like to participate in our book project. If you feel that overdoing it or overextending yourself has contributed to an invisible illness or has led to serious relationship problems, we would love to talk to you. Please email us at typectoolbox@gmail.com.