Oct 7, 2022Member-onlyHow I Met My Abuser & What I Wish I’d KnownCN: emotional abuse, abusive relationships Most abusive relationship stories lie in the story of how you left: How did you get out? What was the final straw? How awful did things have to get before you finally had enough? By the time a survivor leaves an abusive relationship, the abuse…Abuse11 min readAbuse11 min read
Jun 4, 2022Member-onlyHow to Create Social Change One Person at a TimeToday 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…Activism8 min readActivism8 min read
Apr 21, 2022Member-onlyWhy I Don’t Take Gabapentin AnymoreThis 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…Disability10 min readDisability10 min read
Mar 9, 2022Member-onlyThe 9 Reasons I Couldn’t Access Medical TreatmentCN: 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…Chronic Illness10 min readChronic Illness10 min read
Published in Invisible Illness·Apr 23, 2020Member-onlyWhy Does Everything Feel So Hard Right Now If I’m Fine?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…Mental Health9 min readMental Health9 min read
Mar 17, 2020Member-onlyWhat’s it Like to Go Grocery Shopping During the Covid-19 Pandemic?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…Public Health14 min readPublic Health14 min read
Mar 6, 2020Member-onlyWhen the Heck are Women Going to Get a Shot at the Presidency?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…Feminism8 min readFeminism8 min read
Jan 15, 2020Member-onlyMy Quest to Beat Brain FogFocus 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…Productivity10 min readProductivity10 min read
Published in No End In Sight·Dec 17, 2019Member-onlyMy Disability Is Sometimes VisibleBut 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…Disability13 min readDisability13 min read
Published in No End In Sight·Nov 19, 2019Member-onlyWait, Does Your Body Do This?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…Health10 min readHealth10 min read