Coming Back Before I'm Ready

Coming Back Before I'm Ready

Inspired Questions: Conversations on Self-Worth, Burnout & S... by Ruth Hirshberg, MSW — Grounding with Ruth
E62
May 14, 2026
14:10

Episode notes

After almost a month away, I’m back — and in this episode I’m talking honestly about where I’ve been.

Over the past few weeks, Keith and I have been navigating a flooded basement that turned into a major reconstruction project, weeks without heat and running water, and the anticipatory grief of learning that our cat Gus has cancer.

But this episode isn’t really about the logistics of a hard month. It’s about what came up underneath it all.

I talk about the old beliefs that resurfaced immediately, the nervous system responses that got loud fast, and the difference between knowing the work intellectually and trying to live it in real time when life genuinely falls apart. I also talk about:

  • asking for help
  • boundaries
  • the guilt of stepping back
  • the pressure to keep performing okayness
  • and the strange tension of having a public-facing business built around authenticity while trying not to turn grief into content.

The work doesn’t make us immune. But it can change our relationship to what comes up.

I’m not at a hundred percent. But I’m here.

You can learn more about me and my work at groundingwithruth.com.

Keywords

grief
nervous system
self-worth
burnout
boundaries
authenticity
vulnerability
women's wellness
mental health
coming back to yourself

Where this episode is made