Even though traumatic events are individual experiences, the feelings they evoke are often universal. Shouldn’t that be the part of the journey we share, and not just the bloody details? — I have always struggled with how to tell my story. Self-doubt, a lifetime of emotional scars, and physical trauma have made it difficult for me to recognize anything of value in that story. To see any value in myself. When you spend your life surrounded by those who compare you…

Death. Over the past twelve years, I’ve dealt with death. The death of my father. The death of my mother. Unrelated and separated by almost a decade, I was just coming out of the effects of my dad’s sickness when the nightmare of my mother’s illness and subsequent trauma began. …

Superblooms are covering California, thanks to the combined efforts of rainstorms and global warming. All the hillsides around me look like they are shimmering in shades of lavender, blue and poppy orange on the endless green grass. …

My weight loss saved my life, but probably not in the way you think — In the past, stress always turned me rail thin. I had struggled my entire life to keep weight on. When my dad got sick, I turned almost skeletal. This latest trauma was different. This time, my body swelled. The specific details of what I went through are complicated and messy…

Death can teach you who people really are. In healthy families that care about each other, death often brings people closer together. Members join together to support each other, to share the burden of pain and the warm memories that keep their loved ones alive. At the other end of…

How do you do that when you are so often the one discarded? You hear it all the time. You should consider your own mental health, your own needs, and what is best for you. …

I’ve always looked younger than I am. It’s been a defining part of my existence. This is in large part because I am short — 5’ 3” on a good day. It is also because I have always been too lazy to wear makeup. My style hasn’t changed much over…