Today I’m re-publishing an updated version of this article I originally wrote and published with The BeZine in September of 2019, and have also cross-published in my blog Yopp. Enjoy! When we think of activism to further social justice, most people would think of things like petitions, protests, lawsuits, calls…

This piece was originally published on YoppVoice.com as “Color” in March 2017 and has recently been republished as “Why I Stopped Taking Gabapentin”. CN: extensive discussion of the experience of anxiety, chronic pain, medication side effects, and medical neglect. The first pain medication my doctor ever prescribed me was duloxetine…

CN: detailed discussion of chronic pain, PTSD, doctor neglect, and ableism; mention of emesis. When you meet a new doctor, you’re allowed just a few sentences to communicate everything about who you are, where you’ve come from, and which details of your health history are the important ones. In such…

There’s a very unique feeling that I’ve come to associate with our new normal now that we’re social distancing long-term and I don’t seem to be alone in this feeling. It’s the feeling of continuously large, emotional reactions getting squished into a manageable package so that I can function in…

I live in Eugene, Oregon, and as of the writing of this post, Covid19 isn’t here yet, at least, not on paper. Between how easy it is for the virus to go undetected and how limited our access to testing is, statistically, it’s probably already here. Oregon currently has 38…

This article is not about Warren. It’s also not about Sanders or Biden, or even, this election. One of the things that systemic oppression does to you regardless of where you are in the system is warp your sense of what is normal. We see everything through a filter that…

Focus is precious and elusive and it seems to be something that everyone is pursuing in order to streamline our time management. For some of us, clarity of mind is harder to access than for others. Being part of the chronic illness community, “Brain fog” is a term that’s thrown…

But I have to make a choice between scrutiny and erasure. — CN: general discussion of chronic pain, casual ableism, and specific details of health problems If you met me in person without any prior introduction and I told you I was disabled, you would be confused. Even if you were somewhat familiar with the range of disabilities that exist, which many…

A note from a coworker made me wonder if EDS was the reason my body acted differently. — This piece was originally published on YoppVoice.com as “The Blue Book” in May 2017. content notes: chronic pain, ableism, images of mild body contortions I sat down at the bus stop. There were still a few minutes before my bus was due to arrive so I grabbed the book my…