About a year ago, I was an online student. I would wake up, open my computer, and that was it; that was school for me. Education was confined within the four walls of my bedroom, and I did this nonstop for a year. 

Now that I attend school for six hours a day, I have definitely noticed some changes within my day-to day-life, one of them is my routine. I now wake up, brush my teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and go off to school. Although this routine is more time-consuming for me, I have a more structured life that’s easy for me to follow. 

One of the things that this transition has taught me is to really be mindful. This can be hard for someone who’s always working to finish their homework or study for a test, but one of the things that have made it easier for me was this podcast that I came across: On Purpose by Jay Shetty. 

We all have stressors in our life whether that may be work, family, or for me personally, school, but with On Purpose, it’s like every time a new problem arises in my life, Jay Shetty always has a solution. 

Every time I sit down to settle in and listen to one of his new episodes, I am always excited to see what advice he has to give me because his entire podcast revolves around the topic of mental health. 

What makes Jay’s podcasts unique is the way he begins them. His podcasts are almost like movies; Jay will play a snippet from the episode at the beginning of the podcast, almost acting like a trailer that sets the scene for the entire podcast. 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of celebrities is that they have it easy and that there’s nothing that they ever have to worry about simply because they’re famous. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In one of Jay’s later episodes, he interviews singer Demi Lovato on their experience with finding themself and learning how to heal. 

In the episode, Demi covers everything from their experience with depression and bullying, to being engaged to a man she didn’t love, to finding out they were non-binary. Their healing process included multiple components, but one of them was being mindful through meditation. At first, Demi thought meditation meant that it had to be silent and sitting still, but quickly realized that it can be anything that you want it to be. 

Demi reminded me that just because people are famous doesn’t mean they aren’t human, but also that mindfulness can come in many forms. What may work for you may not work for others. For Demi, mindfulness meant meditation because it was something that helped heal rather than hurt their mind. 

This episode really spoke to me because it reminded me that no matter what you’re struggling with, you are never truly alone, which is one of the main reasons why I continue to listen to Jay’s podcast. No matter what your social status is, there is always someone who’s constantly fighting a battle that you may have no clue about.