iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I didn't leave America because I gave up. I left because I finally chose myself. The grass really is greener on the other side of the world — and I haven't looked back once. Read my latest Substack post: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I've never woken up in Palermo wishing I were back in America. Not once. Not on hard days. Not on holidays. I miss my people — but hustle culture stole them from me anyway. Full essay: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Somehow we’re all supposed to close the laptop and slide into an ordinary evening as if your whole system has not just spent the day metabolizing other people’s catastrophes. I am a witness to a moment in history that is genuinely heavy. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Everyone has a different answer to the question of how we're doing, but most of us aren’t really feeling it when we give the standard automatic answer of "fine" and move on. Nobody should be "fine". Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I've evolved in my relationship to work. I try to be intentional about the mental + emotional distance I have from the news. I had to learn that I was the only one who could put up a boundary between my wellbeing + the dumpster fire of the news Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

This week's mini practice came out of a Friday night in Palermo that could have gone very differently. I have a rule I repeat to myself every day here. It sounds like a joke until you watch how this city actually moves. Recently, I learned why I say it. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/paying-att...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My friend's first lesson when I moved to Sicily: the green light is a suggestion. Stop anyway. Look anyway. Your attention is the only thing keeping you safe. That became my daily practice. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

There is one rule I repeat to myself every single day in Palermo: "Don't get hit by a vehicle." It sounds like a joke. It is not a joke. And somehow it led to a bigger life lesson. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

A quick reminder for you. Some things are best left in private.

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I live in Sicily. The pace is slow, the sea is close, the tomatoes are incredible. And I am still emotionally destroyed by the U.S. news cycle within 20 minutes of starting work. Some of us cannot look away. Read more on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I moved across the world to find peace. And somehow Donald Trump still manages to ruin my morning espresso. The news cycle is relentless. There aren't enough weekends or guided meditations when the world is completely batshit. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Rest isn't the reward for the work. Rest is what makes the work possible. It took watching my mom pass away young for me to finally understand that. She never got to enjoy the retirement she worked so hard for. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I told my therapist: "I just need to get through this week and then I can breathe." She said: "Zerlina, you have said that exact sentence to me every single week for 10 years." Read more over on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I told myself I'd rest after. After the election. After the campaign. After the next deadline. After inauguration day. I made that promise to myself for 18 years. There was always a next thing. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Living abroad strips away the propaganda. Without it, the truth is plain: we aren't the best. Not for Black people. We were never great. Not for Black women. I carry that heaviness even as I build a softer life in a country that actually lets me rest. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I’ve held tension in my body all week. The pull between rest + resistance. Between protecting your peace + a democracy that's never protected us. I’m tired. But I know my effort + engagement is needed. So is yours! Soft life and civic engagement are not incompatible. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Mental health and politics aren't separate topics. Everything I write is with full awareness of the moment we're living through. This isn't toxic positivity. It's a radical reframe of how to take care of yourself when the world is a dumpster fire: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

My grandfather + my 17-year-old aunt marched in Selma. They fought for the multiracial democracy promised by the Reconstruction Amendments. We are watching that same progress be erased in real time. And it hurts. Because it wasn't supposed to be this way. zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/mental-healt...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

What are you willing to do to change your life? How far are you willing to go to improve your mental well being? These are the questions I had to ask myself everyday at my lowest point. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I watched my beloved mother die up close. It didn’t happen quickly. I watched her day in + day out become weaker, wither away. She always told me that I needed to enjoy the journey of life and not suffer. Read more about why I decided to move to Sicily: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I wanted to share with you the very first post in my Mental Health Mondays series from Feb 2025. This post about changing my life in the wake of my mom's death is still so raw to me. This is why I moved to Palermo. Read more about my soul care journey: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

They stopped asking if you're okay because you convinced them you always are. The strong friend trained the people around her not to check. Read more on Substack: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

This one is for the strong friend. The woman everyone leans on. The one who answers the texts, holds the family together, shows up at work, runs the group chat, and still ends most days wondering if she did enough. Visit zerlinamaxwell.substack.com to listen to this moving meditation.

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

My mother was sick for 4 years. The number of people who asked if I was okay? Less than five. The performance of strength is so convincing people forget there's a person underneath it. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I'm writing to the strong friend tonight. The one who answers at 11PM. Sends the Venmo. Writes the eulogy. Calms the room. Whose name is in everyone's prayers but not her own list. I know you because I am you. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Distance didn’t erase my connection to America. It made me more aware of how deeply connected I still am. And here's a new perspective: the only way I can contribute to making this world better is if I am whole. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

To love America in the way I did required holding two truths at once: America is capable of beauty. But America is also capable of harm. And somehow you're supposed to live inside both those realities without breaking. Read more: zerlinamaxwell.substack.com/p/mental-hea...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

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-...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

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-...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

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...

zerlinamaxwell.substack.com

Mental Health Mondays #13: The Weight of Living in Our Current World

We need space to be open about how this is all impacting us.

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

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-...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

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-...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

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!

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

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

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

"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...

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Zerlina Maxwell @zerlinamaxwell.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

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...

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