This week my debut poetry book, “Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery” comes out. The poetry sequence takes you through my experiences in an abusive relationship, my attempts to heal, my retrospective reflections on the relationship, and the larger-scale insights that came with long-term healing. To introduce it, I wanted to share with you this piece about what it took to write that book in the first place. CN: extensive and detailed discussion of …Read More
Tag: poverty
I Was My Boyfriend’s Servant: The Nightmare of Financial Abuse
CN: extensive and detailed discussion of emotional & financial abuse; discussion of domestic violence; mention of suicide and sexual abuse; overall disturbing content. “When I say, “Good girl,” I want you to say, “Thank you, sir.” “Yes, sir.” “Good girl.” “Thank you, sir.” I handed him the yellow check. When the bank clerk originally asked me what color I wanted my checks in, I picked gold, but it turned out that gold just meant a …Read More
The Problem with Misrepresenting Oppression as Just Part of Life
CN: extensive discussion of the mechanics of oppression, oppression-based violence and discrimination, and racism; brief discussion of ableism, sexism, trans-antagonism. Note: This article was published after the first week of Black Lives Matter protests but it was written back in March. Due to seasonal health issues, from mid-May until September I am rendered almost completely incapable of writing new material which meant that I could not write a response to current events. A guest article …Read More
Adjusting to Social-Distancing & Other Lessons from Chronic Illness
CN: Extensive discussion of the experience of chronic illness, the emotional experience of living during the pandemic, brief discussion of ableism, grief, and financial hardships. The era of Covid-19 has been a strange time for folks with chronic illness. For anyone with pre-existing conditions that make catching the virus more dangerous, it has been a scary time with the already high stakes that surround our health getting even higher. But recently, everyone else’s world has …Read More
How Physicians Can Be Better Mental Health Resources
A note before today’s guest post: Today’s article was submitted and written before the Covid 19 crisis reached the US. At this moment, all medical health professionals are maxed out on what they are giving to the public to keep us safe, and we are deeply grateful to them for the risks they are taking and sacrifices they are making daily. This advice, as most things on this blog are, focuses on looking at longterm …Read More
A Letter to My Local Government Regarding Covid19
CN: extensive discussion of Covid 19 and the structural ways it is impacting society Unusual times call for unusual measures: Twice in as many weeks, I’ve written a “reactionary” blog post, this time, in response to the Covid19 pandemic that’s severely impacting the entire world right now. Institutional activism is not my strength, but for reasons listed below, these issues require a uniquely high proportion of institutional and legislative support. I have written a letter …Read More
It Can’t Be That Bad: How the Medical System Let Me Fall Through the Cracks
CN: Explicit descriptions and in depth discussion of chronic pain, abuse, medical neglect, gaslighting, and oppression through poverty. Discussion of sexual assault, trauma, mental and illness. Mention of genitals. There is a disconnect between the experience of a patient and the experience of a medical professional, one that worsens if the patient’s illness is chronic or not easily explained. As more and more stories of medical neglect as a result of marginalization are brought to …Read More
When Charity Masks Injustice: Thoughts from an Ex-Missionary
CN: in depth discussion of christian culture and religious institutions, othering and neglect of marginalized groups, stigmatization of mental illness, abuse of power. One of the things I love about the Voices section of this blog is that it creates an opportunity to share guest writers’ life experiences that are so incredibly different from my own. I can research a topic, break it down, explain it to you, but I can’t tell you what it’s …Read More
Dear Me Ten Years Ago: Advice for My 20-year-old Self
CN: brief mention of difficult life circumstances including abuse & trauma, general discussion of mental illness. About a month ago, I was dinking around twitter when I saw the hashtag #DearMeTenYearsAgo. Woah. Where was I 10 years ago? When I first saw this hashtag, I was about to turn 30, which is a big deal on its own, but 10 years before, the lead up to my 20th birthday had also been a big turning …Read More
How Lizzo Helped Me Grow into “My Skin“
CN: mention of cancer, racism, domestic violence, and trauma. I first found out about the singer and performer Lizzo on an early episode of Phoebe Robinson’s podcast, “Sooo Many White Guys.” The podcast is an amazing combo of comedy and digging into the important topics and it features exclusively entertainers and activists from multiple marginalized groups, particularly people of color. As such, I had never heard of most of her guests and it was an …Read More