When I started singing classes, the first thing I had to learn was how to breathe. I always thought singing classes were scales and sight reading, but not with my friend Emily. With Emily it was learning how your instrument worked. We spent most of our time experimenting to get me aware of my body…… Continue reading Breath is Life
You know, in all my years of being a patient full time, the only doctor who ever asked about my sleep was a psychologist during treatment for depression. I would ask my physicians, but the best they could suggest was a melatonin gummy and less screen time. They would never bring it up. Ever. Meanwhile,…… Continue reading Your Right to Rest
Living with chronic disabilities means that your body often feels like your greatest enemy. Living with neuro disabilities or mental health conditions means that you can’t always trust your body signals to be accurate. So for decades, whenever I would hear messages about loving your body or trusting your body, my reaction would be: “Why…… Continue reading Take Your Body’s Side
Once upon a time maps were so valuable that pirates would count them as loot. If a ship captain had a quality map, it made the journey much smoother through faster arrivals, fewer expenses, and a lot less risk as they sailed around the hazards. Wouldn’t it be great to have a map for the…… Continue reading A Map for your Journey
I left high demand religion in 2015 and started the long deconstruction and deconversion process. It is a challenging road with a lot of heartache and doubt. The foundation you built your life on, all your relationships, your career and plan for your future, the way you see the world, all have to be untangled…… Continue reading Deconstructing Bad Advice
When I was a traumatized teenager I thought the only way to be safe in the world was to close off all emotions and fight off attachments. Never let anyone in, take care of myself, hypervigilant hyper independence. If you never need anyone, they never have a chance to let you down. This strategy prevented…… Continue reading Security comes from community
It took me a lot of life experience before I started to internalize the idea that care was something people are entitled to. I was raised in a way that made me ashamed and embarrassed for needing any help or care, and by a family that also gave me age inappropriate responsibilities to provide care.…… Continue reading Care is our birthright
My big health crisis that started this new approach came right on the heels of leaving the high demand religion I was raised in. I was deconstructing everything I’d ever been taught about the world, holding it up to the light, and examining if it was still worth keeping. The faith community I come from…… Continue reading Diet and Exercise should feel like care
During the subscription box boom of the mid 2010’s, I was an entrepreneur. My business partner and I launched a subscription box themed around self care supplies. We had bonded over some shared traumatic calamities and knew how important self care was to our survival, so in the girl boss theme of the time, we…… Continue reading Self care isn’t for sale
Parenting always brings the dilemma: is it time to push my child more, or is it time to leave things be and let them figure it out? Is it time to push, or time to glide? My son was born with multiple disabilities and high support needs, so my version of this question often came…… Continue reading When to Accept and When to Fight