It's been a long while since I have posted. Rest assured, my goodbye letter to Seattle was not a goodbye to this blog.
However saying goodbye to Seattle and starting my long transition toward a brand new state (I'll eventually be landing in Madison WI this winter/spring) has been quite a task. Writing of course has remained a constant but finding time to refine my words has proven a challenge.
I have been putting work into a personal writing project for the past few months. As some of you may now I've been experiencing some health problems lately. The problems themselves aren't new but their severity and frequency have spiked in the last six months. I've been learning how to navigate the world at a reduced capacity and it's been tough. More than just physically.
I made a project out of documenting the disconnect and frustration I felt with my body, the medical industry, and my own conception of self.
I am really excited to announce that in addition to the various hard copies of Symptoms I've been printing out and sending off to my loved ones I finally took the plunge and e published the contents of this collection via amazon.
This is the result.
I wanted to share it with the world. I've wanted to since I finished the project last month.
Hell, it was tough not to immediately publish some of the things that came out of this project right here on this blog.
So sorry to have held out on y'all but it needed to be a collection. As recourse I'll let you taste the preface:
Crafting records, quiet bravery, and beginnings
This is just a beginning.
We all know what it is to want to feel better than how we're feeling. This is a beginning because the work of becoming comfortable in our bodies is never finished. This work deserves recognition. It is my hope that the pieces in this collection offer a safer space to recognize the discomfort of living.
In the following pages I detail my own experience of discomfort, frustration, and conflict within my own body. In doing so I have crafted as true a record as I can of my body's experiences. I, like so many, often misread or misremember my body's signals. So when there are minute shifts in my functions and capabilities it can feel like my body has betrayed me. Having this record reminds me that when it comes to my body there is not a “normal” and that my expectations can always and often should be changed.
Going through uncomfortable body stuff has challenged me to surrender to uncertainty as much as I can. And to really listen for new information about how to live in my body more sustainably. This surrender requires a new kind of bravery. One that is quiet and almost invisible, but a bravery that has become vital to my survival.
On your journey through the words that follow and beyond, I hope that you find this bravery and that it carries you from beginning to a place where you can feel better than you're feeling now.
If you've already received a paper copy of Symptoms buying an ebook version is a great way to show your support of my writing.
If you don't have an e-reader or really really just want a paper copy let me know and I'll send you one by post.
Thanks.
