Sometimes, when a baby tree grows a lot of branches all over and you want to guide its shape, you have to cut off some perfectly healthy ones to yield better results down the road. Right now, this blog is a healthy branch of my tree of projects. As it turns out, time is finite. … Read more
I wrote last week about people being overwhelmed by the systems they’re in, and how “self care” is not the way out. But our immediate space and our mindset within it do have an impact on how we function. Can we pare down? Yes. Is paring down Another Thing To Do? Also yes. We can … Read more
The poem above, found here on Instagram, describes what many people are feeling. Coping skills aren’t the answer to the current problems—at least not in the way that they’re sold. Sure, mindfulness and meditation are useful (and on the aforementioned never-ending to-do list…) and they make a difference, but the problem is bigger than us. … Read more
I hope you spend your holiday with people who leave you better than they found you. I hope you have food you can eat, food you like, and no one gives you shit about it, regardless what you’re eating. (See above.) I hope you’re kind to retail workers always but especially now through the end … Read more
I’ve been having problems with my ankles. “Well, you’re getting older.” It’s not inherently or exclusively an age problem, and I fiercely resist this mindset. Lots of people my age and older—including much older—don’t have problems with their ankles. If it was an age problem, most people my age and older would share this problem. … Read more
If you can’t see the photo, it’s a screenshot of a tweet that reads: Why does the school pick-up line feel like Best Buy on Black Friday? People are rolling in like 2 hours early to be first in line. Calm down—it’s just Aiden, not a 60” flat screen. It’s meant to be funny. I … Read more
“I’ve had a medical condition that’s required me to be taken care of for the last few years and now I’m ready to be taken seriously.” Despite the quotation marks it’s not a direct quote, but it is the story of a person I was in conversation with recently. She was maybe in her 30s? … Read more
“You need to increase your protein and make sure you’re strength training.” -advice from a medical professional earlier this week in response to perimenopausal concerns. She didn’t ask me anything about my diet, and she knew that I’ve been running but no more. She also didn’t tell me how much I should aim for in … Read more
I heard it when I was diagnosed with cancer and in other less-potentially-lethal situations. I hear it said to and about other people in precarious financial positions, in unenviable health crises, in situations with their kids or their siblings or their parents. “It’s God’s will.” Is it supposed to relieve the afflicted of guilt? Comfort … Read more
Still sweating from my run, bent at the hips, fingers touching my shoes, I noticed the artwork on my legs. An old scar from a bike accident. A newer scar from falling while trail running. A pair newer than that from tripping while running up stone steps. And a large bruise from last week. We … Read more