If you’re like me, words like “mindfulness,” “wellness,” and “self-care” might induce major eye-rolling.
But as a disabled person, I also recognize that a good deal of our health and well-being depends upon how we treat our bodies. We can’t let anyone else step inside them completely, so to speak, and we can’t exchange them for another one no matter what plastic surgeons and biohackers may try.
Fact: Our bodies are our career’s most valuable asset. If our minds aren’t working well due to stress or illness, our creative juices dry up. If we have physical injuries, we may not be able to type our stories or even report from the field. Spending time and money on physical and mental health is investing wisely in your business.
The good news is that we don’t have to spend a lot of either to reap benefits.
The three things currently keeping me sane(ish) as I care-give for two elderly parents in home hospice are daily exercise, sleep, and therapy. A 30-minute workout can do wonders, and many are available online for free. (Mine come from an app that costs about $15 per month, but also shout out to Yoga with Adriene and other free options!) A long walk, if you’re able, is free.
Therapy can be expensive, but there are many free online support groups for a number of situations. And never forget the value of a good bitchfest with friends to release stress.
As for sleep, it’s perhaps my most restorative and favorite activity of the day.
The key, though, is to make sure we actively make our health a priority. Unlike career opportunities or restarts, we only get one body and mind in our lifetime. They’re not just our most valuable assets — they’re the only ones we truly can’t live without.
What are your favorite affordable ways to prioritize your mental, emotional, and physical health?
~ Sara
🚨 NEXT WEEK: Meet the IIJ at NABJ!
Connect with the IIJ on August 13 while you’re in Atlanta for the National Association of Black Journalists conference! First, the IIJ’s Shernay Williams will moderate a 1 p.m. ET panel with IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis and journalists Tatyana Arrington and LaMar Holliday on how to maximize your freelance income in today’s media landscape. At 5 p.m. ET that evening, you can then join KRL and Shernay, IIJ leader Benét Wilson, and the IWMF’s Tat Bellamy-Walker at a free meetup co-hosted by the Association of Independents in Radio, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and NextGen Journalism!
🏳️🌈 Join the IIJ at NLGJA next month!
Next month, IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis will head to San Francisco for the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists’ annual conference! Join her at 11 a.m. PT on Sept. 10 for a panel on the reality of freelance journalism today with COYOTE Media’s Soleil Ho and Kae Petrin, co-founder of the Trans Journalists Association. That will be followed by a 6 p.m. PT meetup co-hosted by the Association of Independents in Radio, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Fund for Investigative Journalism! The FIJ’s Eric Ferrero and IMWF’s Tat Bellamy-Walker will also be there.
Pitch Calls and Other Opportunities
🏳️⚧️ TJA offers grant for professional development
The Trans Journalists Association invites journalists to apply for a grant to fund a professional development opportunity — training, conference, etc. — that supports trans and nonbinary journalists and coverage. 💰Up to $1,000. Learn more about eligibility and apply here. Deadline: Rolling basis until Tuesday, Sept. 1.
⛓️💥 MIT Tech Review wants stories on breakthroughs
MIT Tech Review is looking for pitches for its next issue on “Breakthroughs.” Think innovations, solutions to long standing problems, and more. 💰$1 to $2 per word. Review the Review’s pitching guidelines here, and email pitches to [email protected] with “PITCH” in the subject line. Deadline: Friday, Aug. 7.
🛬 BBC Travel wants U.S. stories
Eva Sandoval is looking for late summer stories set in the U.S., including “coolcations” and lesser known aspects of the nation’s oldest cities and landmarks. 💰$600, per Freelancing with Tim’s crowdsourced rates database. Learn more about how and who to pitch from the guidelines.
🕊️ Fellowship focuses on nonviolence beat
The Waging Nonviolence Fellowship is a five-month training program for journalists interested in reporting on nonviolent movements. Editors Jessica Stites and Eric Stoner will provide consistent mentorship. 💰$1,750 for five stories published over the course of the fellowship. Learn more here, and apply here. Deadline: Monday, Aug. 10.
🦮 Attend IRE’s AccessFest with grant
Investigative Reporters and Editors’ AccessFest Conference is a virtual version of its popular in-person meeting. This year, eligible journalists, students, and educators can apply for free registration and a one-year membership or renewal. Learn more and apply here. Deadline: Sunday, Sept. 13.
Interesting Reads
📖 If you are a journalist who relies on Signal for sensitive communications, this article from the Freedom of the Press Foundation will help you ensure your contacts and messages stay safe. As Dr. Martin Shelton points out, no matter how strong Signal’s privacy settings are, “you do need to maintain your account to ensure it is safe and does not fall into the wrong hands.”
📖 If you need a trigger warning before the words “saving for retirement,” you’ll appreciate this post on the subject from Lex Roman’s Revenue Rulebreaker. It covers everything from different retirement strategies to how to cut costs and build a successful habit for saving. But the best place to start may not actually involve doing anything, Roman maintains: “I think maybe the thing to start with is learning how others do it. It's an easy first step. It's free. And it will quickly illuminate which path you want to go down.”
📖 Monica Williams used a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellowship to build a grant database for journalists. But it’s not as simple as searching for the right fit and applying, especially for journalists of color. In this post, Williams provides great tips that include asking for more money and making sure not to undersell your accomplishments. But the most valuable — and, for me, hardest — piece of advice is just to keep trying: “I applied for an RJI fellowship almost a decade before being accepted in 2025. If you’re rejected, reflect and revise, and apply again.”
Calendar
🗓️ NEXT WEEK: Thursday, Aug. 13 - At the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Atlanta, IIJ leaders Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Shernay Williams will join journalists Tatyana Arrington and LaMar Holliday for a panel called “Where’s the Bag: How to Build Sustainable Income on Your Own” at 1 p.m. ET.
🗓️ NEXT WEEK: Thursday, Aug. 13 - We’re also co-hosting a 5 p.m. ET meetup at NABJ with AIR, the IWMF, and NextGen Journalism! RSVP here to join the IIJ’s Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Shernay Lewis, and Benét Wilson, as well as the IWMF’s Tat Bellamy-Walker.
🗓️ Thursday, Sept. 10 - Join the IIJ for a panel at the 2026 convention for NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists in San Francisco! At 11 a.m. PT, Trans Journalists Association co-founder Kae Petrin, COYOTE Media worker-owner Soleil Ho, and the IIJ’s Katherine Reynolds Lewis will present a panel on “The Reality of Freelance Journalism Today.”
🗓️ Thursday, Sept. 10 - Our freelancer meetup at NLGJA, co-hosted with AIR, the IWMF, and the FIJ, takes place at 6 p.m. PT. Come meet IIJ leader Katherine Reynolds Lewis, IWMF leader Tat Bellamy-Walker, and Eric Ferrero from the FIJ! Register here.
🗓️ Friday, Oct. 16 - The IIJ’s Ann Marie Awad will participate in an 11:30 ET panel on what to do if you’re laid off at the National Association of Science Writers virtual conference. She’ll be joined by freelance writers Alaina G. Levine and Elizabeth Pennisi, CNN Senior Science Reporter Kasha Patel, and Vita-Activa’s Luisa Ortiz Pérez.
