What if you could fall in love with something and not need to own it? What if the story was enough?

This episode is about the strange practice of falling in love with vintage Kodak slides at thrift stores, building entire worlds around strangers' vacation photos, and walking away empty-handed. It's the messy middle ground between wanting and taking, between capitalism's grip on our happiness and what actually makes us feel alive.

Inspired by years of inner work, therapy and the ⁠Science of Well-Being course at Yale⁠, this explores what it costs to train yourself to love without possessing. Not about minimalism. Not about anti-consumerism. Just someone figuring out a weird new kind of math where you can want something AND leave it behind.

If you've ever felt that flutter when beauty hits, if you collect feelings instead of objects, or if you're tired of turning every moment of joy into something you need to optimize or own, this one's for you. Stream-of-consciousness meets emotional archaeology.

⁠Read the full essay that inspired this episode.⁠

This is Audio Spells from ⁠The Blue Algorithm⁠: a voice-note series exploring emotional truth, nervous system wisdom, and the gap between who we think we should be and who we actually are.

Song featured: "safety scissors" by @melissageurts

Created by ⁠Melissa Geurts⁠⁠, Group Executive Creative Director at Good Housekeeping and founder of The Blue Algorithm.

Follow, save, comment, and rate (it helps!) for more episodes.

If this cracked something open for you pass it on. Or don't. This one might just be for you.

Connect: Follow @melissageurts on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ | Subscribe to ⁠⁠The Blue Algorithm⁠⁠ on Substack | Listen to more emotional storytelling at ⁠⁠melissageurts.com⁠

Topics discussed: happiness research, consumer psychology, mindful consumption, thrift store finds, vintage photography, emotional attachment, letting go practice, savoring experiences, anti-consumerism, capitalism and happiness, nervous system regulation, love without ownership, collecting stories, minimalism, detachment theory, gratitude practice, mindfulness meditation, emotional archaeology, consumer culture criticism, well-being science, possession vs appreciation, vintage Kodak slides, thrift shopping psychology, material attachment, conscious consumption, emotional regulation, inner work, people pleasing recovery, judgment anxiety, decision fatigue, object storytelling

Why do you know exactly what you should do when you're triggered but still find yourself doing the exact opposite? Why does understanding your patterns perfectly not stop you from repeating them?

This episode is about that maddening gap between intellectual knowledge and actual behavior change. It's for everyone who's read all the therapy books, saved all the Instagram quotes, and still finds themselves people-pleasing, avoiding conflict, and running from discomfort like their life depends on it.

Not a how-to guide. Not five easy steps. Just someone else stuck in the same messy middle, figuring out how to be gentle with herself while still showing up to do the inner work.

If you've ever felt like you should be further along by now, or like everyone else got the manual on emotional regulation and you're just winging it, this one's for you. Voice journaling meets vulnerability.

Read the full essay that inspired this episode.

This is the second episode of Audio Spells from The Blue Algorithm: a voice-note series exploring emotional truth, nervous system wisdom, and the gap between who we think we should be and who we actually are.

Song featured: "safety scissors" by @melissageurts

Created by Melissa Geurts⁠, Group Executive Creative Director at Good Housekeeping and founder of The Blue Algorithm.

Follow, save, comment, and rate (it helps!) for more episodes.

If this cracked something open for you pass it on. Or don't. This one might just be for you.

Topics discussed: emotional regulation, behavior change, inner work, nervous system wisdom, trauma patterns, people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, therapy books, self-help fatigue, emotional truth, vulnerability

Connect: Follow @melissageurts on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube | Subscribe to The Blue Algorithm on Substack | Listen to more emotional storytelling at melissageurts.com

What if you didn't need anyone else to validate you? Just a mic. And a moment of emotional truth.

This episode is about that feeling. The one where you finally hear yourself say the thing, and your body goes: yes. that happened.

Not applause. Not praise. Not someone else telling you you're valid. Just your own voice, telling the truth back to you. And your nervous system recognizing it as real.

If you've ever been told you're dramatic, sensitive, crazy, too much, this is for the part of you that still wonders if you imagined it. Voice journaling meets self-acceptance. Spoiler: you didn't.

This is the first episode of Audio Spells: a voice-note series exploring emotional truth, nervous system wisdom, and nonlinear storytelling from The Blue Algorithm. Read the full essay that inspired this episode.

Song featured: "safety scissors" by @melissageurts

Created by ⁠Melissa Geurts⁠⁠, Group Executive Creative Director at Good Housekeeping and founder of The Blue Algorithm.

Follow, save, comment, and rate (it helps!) for more episodes.

If this cracked something open for you pass it on. Or don't. This one might just be for you.

Topics discussed: self-validation, emotional truth, voice journaling, self-acceptance, nervous system wisdom, inner voice, authentic expression, emotional processing, vulnerability, trauma healing, gaslighting recovery, highly sensitive people, emotional authenticity, personal narrative, raw honesty

Connect: Follow @melissageurts on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, and ⁠YouTube⁠ | Subscribe to ⁠The Blue Algorithm⁠ on Substack | Listen to more emotional storytelling at ⁠melissageurts.com⁠