**trigger warning: death by suicide, depression, anxiety For years I've felt reticent to talk or write about my struggles with mental health. I remember sharing some of my symptoms with friends when I was a teenager, and I will never forget the look of concern and consternation in their eyes. That, plus many other reinforcing …
Continue reading A Chemical Imbalance in my Brain, Not a Personal Failure
The last two weeks at work have been a doozy! Woof. I was emotionally and physically worn out, and I desperately needed time to myself to recharge. So when I had the opportunity to take a few hours off work, I got in my car and spontaneously decided I would go for a drive. I …
Continue reading The Most Refreshing Thing I’ve Done in Weeks
A few years ago when the pandemic started, I, like most of the world, struggled with my mental health. I found myself ruminating, thoughts on an endless loop. I couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time, I didn't want to work, all I wanted to do was sit in bed and …
I can’t remember if I’ve shared this video or not here. It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day today and I will be continuing my anti-racism work. Part of that work is taking care of myself. And experiencing awe and wonder play a huge part in my mental health upkeep. So here’s one of the ways …
Being almost three years out after cancer treatment and surgery, writing an update on my health feels weird. Like who wants to read about my health now that I am cancer-free? As you may already know, the more times a person has cancer, the more likely they are to have it recur, which is what …
This is one of my favorite times to do blog posts. I love photographing my decorations, buying ingredients for recipes, and coming up with content that I'm excited about. However, this year, work has been particularly difficult emotionally. There's been a lot of death, collective meanness, and anger in the past few weeks which has …
Almost a month ago now, I stepped off a high curb, misjudged the height and rolled both my ankles. I fractured a few bones in my left foot, fractured my ankle joint on my right foot, sprained both ankles, and tore ligaments in both feet. When I recite that to people who ask what happened, …
Whenever I get stressed out, my perfectionism sky rockets. Which is the worst time to experience this. Throughout school, I was a giant perfectionist who got about three hours of sleep each night because of the many, many clubs and activities I was involved in. Straight A student, all AP classes, drum major, English Honor …
Mae Goes West 