In our first podcast episode of April, “Good Form,” we focused on the power and importance of talking more about sex. Not only because there are sexual innuendos all around us, every day, but because having conversations about sex has many benefits such as reducing stigma, normalizing the female perspectives on pleasure, and learning more about how sex and intimacy connect us all.

There has been a lot of intriguing dialogue about self-care lately, which has left me disillusioned by some messages about the true meaning of taking care of yourself. In the era of “treat yo’ self,” we often equate self-care with lavish trips, expensive spa packages, and fancy dinners.  When the reality is, self-care is more nuanced and, simultaneously, more simple than that.

If you’re a person with any marginalized identity (such as female, Black, disabled, poor, non-resident, etc.), you’ve likely experienced a microaggression. A microaggression is defined as “a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority.”

When we first decided to do Finance February, I decided to write about what I’ve learned over the past years while paying off debt. I had guessed an arbitrary number and amount of time, however, when I calculated the numbers, I realized that we had actually paid more than twice the amount ($53,000) in less time (two years.) Yikes!