Episode 43

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Published on:

20th Nov 2025

Disaster Diaries: The One Where I Chase Packages & Lose My Patience

Today’s Disaster Diary is brought to you by fatigue, froggy voice vibes, caregiving burnout, and a Scentsy shipment held hostage in Chicago. I missed my Miracle Morning again, tried to keep fourteen mental browser tabs open, and spent way too much energy wrestling with the reality that I cannot force my mom to care about her own health.

I talk through the emotional exhaustion of watching someone choose decline, the internal tug-of-war between control and acceptance, and why “trying to will someone into wanting better for themselves” is a special kind of heartbreak.

Also on deck: Dateline theories, real questions about why people stay in abusive relationships, a dog who dances like she’s auditioning for Broadway, Financial Peace University panic, and the chaos of surviving on one-third of our former income.

Short(-ish), raw, and very on brand for a High-Functioning Disaster.

🧭 In This Episode

  • Missing the Miracle Morning (again)
  • A Scentsy order stuck in Chicago
  • Caregiving frustration and the limits of control
  • Dateline: murder, manipulation, and too many questions
  • Domestic violence reflections
  • Editing wins + dog dance intermission
  • Starting Financial Peace University while broke
  • Job-hunting in a season that makes no sense

💡 Key Takeaways

  • You can support someone, but you can’t choose for them — even when you’re watching them spiral.
  • Emotional labor is a productivity killer, and sometimes the day is “good enough” simply because you survived it.
  • Domestic violence is layered, terrifying, and far more complex than outsiders assume.
  • Financial stress reshapes everything — goals, routines, survival strategies, and identity.
  • Hope lives in small pockets: a helpful book, a dog being ridiculous, or the possibility of a job lead landing at the right time.

⚠️ Content Note:

This diary includes vulnerable discussion of caregiver fatigue, family conflict, domestic violence, and financial stress. Nothing graphic, but emotionally heavy in sections. Listen with care if you’re in a tender place.

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🏷️ Keywords / Tags

high functioning disaster, caregiving stress, emotional fatigue, family tension, Scentsy vendor life, shipping delays, domestic violence questions, vulnerability, burnout, financial peace university, job search stress, emotional load, daily audio journal, personal growth through chaos

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📌 Standard Disclaimer

This podcast reflects personal experiences and opinions and is for informational and peer-support purposes only. It is not medical, mental health, legal, or financial advice. Please consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to you.

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About the Podcast

The High-Functioning Disaster
High-functioning on the outside. Hot mess on the inside.
You’ve got the color-coded calendar, the competent job persona, the “I’m fine!” mask down to an art—and a mental load heavy enough to throw out your back. Meanwhile, life? That's a hot mess express—total chaos with zero chill and a full tank of emotional baggage. And what makes it even worse? Nearly no one’s talking about it.

Welcome to The High-Functioning Disaster, a podcast for people who are doing their best to hold it together while navigating burnout, grief, trauma, anxiety, caretaking duties, family drama, body image issues, and a to-do list that never quits.

Host Sacha Holder isn’t the disaster (neither are you!)—life is. And this show is about making space for that truth and giving ourselves permission to say it out loud. Every week, Sacha explores what it means to be deeply human in a world that keeps demanding more. Sometimes she’s flying solo, sometimes she brings along guests and friends—but the vibe is always real, raw, unfiltered, and grounded in radical self-acceptance and permission to be human.

We talk boundaries. Body image. Mental health. Emotional labor. The moments where everything feels like too much—and the ones where we catch our breath and keep going.

This isn’t a self-help podcast. It’s a self-permission podcast.
Permission to be exhausted.
To not have it together.
To be honest about what’s hard—without needing to package it as a “lesson.”

Because you don’t need fixing.
You need space to fall apart—and still be seen.
Because some of us are just trying to make it through the day.
And here? That’s more than enough.
New episodes every Monday. Come as you are. Seriously.
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About your host

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Sacha Holder

Sacha Holder is a project manager, podcast host, and bariatric patient who’s not here to pretend it’s all perfect. With over a decade of professional experience and a whole lot of lived experience, she creates podcasts that tell the truth about what it means to live, heal, and grow — through chaos, and curveballs, while keeping it together (mostly).

She’s the voice behind Life in the Bari Lane, a bite-sized bariatric podcast for real people navigating post-op life, and The High-Functioning Disaster, a show about showing up even when everything feels like too much. Through humor, honesty, and zero judgment, Sacha builds community through conversation — because no one should have to figure it out alone.