Why Anger and Recovery From Chronic Pain Are So Incompatible

As a life-long survivor of severe bipolar disorder, I’ve learned to navigate the shoals of mental illness with some degree of dexterity. I protect my Mental health the way I’d guard a fragile child or animal: vociferously, and with constant attention. I try never to look the other way, lest depression or mania sneak up […]

Could Curiosity Be the Best Medicine for Chronic Illness?

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” ~Henry Ford We’ve all been there: happily ticking off life’s checkboxes, certain we’ve cracked the code, until—bam!—life decides otherwise. Divorce papers, layoffs, grief, or unexpected illness—life’s curveballs don’t discriminate. For me, it was a sudden mystery illness at sixteen. What should have been a […]

Awareness and Self-Compassion: Two Powerful Tools for Chronic Pain

“Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the tangle of emotional resistance against what is already happening.” ~Tara Brach The wooden meditation hall creaked softly as sixty people shifted in their seats, trying to find comfort in the silence. Outside, winter rain tapped against the windows, a gentle metronome marking time. I […]

How to Live a Joy-Filled Life with Chronic Illness

“Living with chronic illness isn’t a life half-lived; it’s an opportunity to redefine what it means to be truly alive, resilient, and whole.” ~Christopher Reynolds I have spent the past eleven years of my life in chronic pain. While this journey has been long, excruciatingly difficult, and deeply lonely, I am beginning to come to peace […]