In this week’s feature, we are going to be looking into the Dear Little One series. Hosted by May Anne Deseo, she gives us the motivation and inspiration to start our week on the right foot. This podcast can be found on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Live Note, and more.
“When we feel good because of that state that we’re in, we’re more likely to be more understanding of what we’ve been through and how we feel.” (Deseo, 2020).
Now, Adulting. A word I never really understood until I began my college journey. Adulting can be found during different stages in our lives and at different times. What does it mean though? In simple terms, it means behaving like a responsible adult through different activities and challenges we encounter.
For one thing, it definitely comes with age. As you get older, you gain more roles and responsibilities you need to carry out, on top of expectations that people and society have for you. Sometimes – and most of the time, we don’t get to choose when we must become adults. Society kind of decides that for us.
The media paints this picture of your twenties – the prime of your life. Movies and shows would create this stigma that your twenties are meant to be fun. It’s the time you get to grow and learn more about yourself and the relationships you build. You discover passions and interests. You can find love in both people, and in the career path you take. Basically, anything can happen in your twenties. For a girl who has grown up watching shows and movies about this, it was something I was definitely looking forward to.
Younger generations would understand the pressure this all entailed. Making sure you study hard to get into your dream school to get your dream job, or even working out and going on diets to make sure you can fit in and be liked by others. It was a lot to take in.
We would invest hours of our time doing things we think we need to be successful or to make it in this world. Running for student council, joining outside organizations, taking on extracurricular activities and projects, and so on. Yes, these things can align with our passions and interests but, sometimes it just becomes too much. We sometimes get overworked and drained and end up forgetting to live our lives. Next thing we know, we’ve grown up. High school is over. College is over. Now, we’re about to enter the workforce.
With how quick things are happening, I sometimes think, ‘I wish I can go back to being a kid.’ Where I had less responsibilities on my hands. Where I could just run around and play. Where I could enjoy the smallest things in life. Sadly, I can’t travel back in time.
Here’s where the Dear Little One Podcast series comes in. May Anne, reminds us to find the little one in us to help us live our lives to the fullest.
Host May Anne Deseo dives into topics like, What to Say to Yourself and Why it Matters, Dealing with Doubt, Living with Intention, Pursuing a Passion Project and so much more. She sometimes invites special guests to engage in these conversations and place their inputs on these matters.
After listening to a couple of her episodes and reflecting on their messages, I realized that life has so much to offer us. There may be challenges but, what matters is how we combat them and learn from them.
Going back to the stigma of your twenties where you have so much time to learn and grow, a lot of what May Anne speaks of would be really helpful to take on the exciting road ahead. She reminds us to keep a positive mindset and that what we say to ourselves matters. What’s more is that we need to remember to take care of ourselves. During times we feel a little overwhelmed with things, we should take a minute to do some self-care and recharge ourselves to get back into the mindset. Also, who says that your twenties need to be your defining moment? You can always learn new things about yourself at any point in your life. Dear Little One reminds us to love ourselves for who we are. To embrace challenges, opportunities, and growth.
I really enjoyed the episode of “Living with Intention.” May Anne Deseo is joined by Iana Ilaya, the owner of Bakey Bou and they talk about how their different experiences have aligned with their intentions. In this episode, they brought out the word of intentionality, meaning you need to do things with good intentions. You have to want to do things that make you happy. From that, you can grow the most, and hone the skills that are most valuable to you. As they say: “Do things with Intentionality.”
This is so meaningful because as we grow up and start doing things we enjoy or on the opposite side of the spectrum, we may be doing something that doesn’t really make us happy, we need to remember our intentions. We need to recall what and who we are doing things for. Are we following what others want us to do, or is it our own will? This calls for self-reflection which is a great tool to help us understand ourselves more.
In another episode, May Anne talks about “Unloading Life’s Pressures.” We all know it; life is full of pressures. We have external pressures from society, our family, friends, and colleagues. We have internal pressures from ourselves meeting our own expectations and standards, and that’s normal. The question now becomes, are we going to let it get to us?
Dear Little Ones tells us it’s okay to feel pressured but we shouldn’t let it get to us. We can use it as a motivator but when we can’t meet our expectations or the expectations of others we shouldn’t be hard on ourselves. What we need is support. That could mean confiding in your loved ones to lift you up when the pressures seem unbearable. Most importantly, we need to be there for ourselves. May Anne reminds us, “Be there for you.” Remember your reason and motivate yourself to get back up when you feel like you’ve fallen. We are human too. We make mistakes – we have our faults. Understanding that it’s okay to make mistakes can help us remove some of those pressures from our everyday lives.
Dear Little One encourages us to have fun with life. To take things one step at a time. To be present and aware of ourselves and the times around us. Let’s all start our weeks right by listening to Dear Little One!
Listen on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7M0KqOndUXA5SnYFUrfRRT?si=KwgKv6UgQPWIPSJJQRT4DQ
Anchor:https://anchor.fm/dear-little-one/episodes/Introduction—Dear-Little-One-eermmd
Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dear-little-one/id1516889104
Google Podcast:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yMzc1NmNiNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Breaker:https://www.breaker.audio/dear-little-one
Listen Notes:https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/dear-little-one-dear-little-one-FIKHwT9c1bC/
To support and for more information:
Support:https://anchor.fm/dear-little-one
Written by Samantha Anciano