Note: This is a story that was written for and published on Latina.com in August 2014. However, the site has since shut down and my story has disappeared… But the internet gods allowed me to find it in its entirety, so I am re-posting it here since a) I feel very strongly about this topic & b) this piece was really important to me because I believe we need to talk MORE about mental health and end the stigma — especially in light of the Anthony Bourdain news this morning that has me crying all over again. So, I wanted to continue to share it. Enjoy! I remember feeling shocked over the news that Heath Ledger…
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Why I’m glad I dislocated my shoulder for the 15th time
Please subscribe to my newsletter to get writing news and updates. Last October, I was taking an aerial yoga class when I dislocated my shoulder for the 15th time. Picture this: I was lying on the floor with my butt in the air and my thighs floating in one of those silk things. My back and shoulders were on the floor and, as the yoga teacher tried to help me reposition for the next pose, POP! Out went my shoulder, and the class was over for me. It wasn’t the yoga teacher’s fault, though. My shoulder has been dislocating roughly once a year since I turned 18 years old. In fact, my…
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How this night owl is going to attempt to become a morning lark
Please subscribe to my newsletter to get writing news and updates. I spent a good amount of time last night researching ways to become a morning lark instead of the night owl I naturally am. And today, despite going to bed later than I planned to, I am up again at 6 am, trying to form a habit that I hope will stick in the long run. We shall see. When it comes to being a night owl, which is what I have always considered myself to be, I don’t know if that’s actually true. Yes, I feel active and not even remotely tired in the hours before bedtime, but does that…
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How moving out of NYC was great for my mental health
Please subscribe to my newsletter to get writing news and updates. When I was younger and growing up in Southwest Florida, I got it in my head that I wanted to live in a big city because I was SO very bored with my life back then. I set my sights on New York City (the biggest city in the U.S.) and moved there for college with the plan of staying there forever. Everything was going according to plan until, almost twelve years after I moved there, I left New York City for good. Although there were some weird parts about moving out of the city I loved, I know that I…
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On writers… and our middle-of-the-night insomnia
Please subscribe to my newsletter to get writing news and updates. Writers all have those nights, don’t we? I know I do. It starts out innocently enough. I get up to go to the bathroom. I quickly check my phone. Then something happens in my brain… and I can’t seem to turn it off. I’m writing this at 4 in the morning because I haven’t been able to fall asleep again since somewhere around 2:30am. I’m starting to realize that these nights happen to me once every couple of months. They come, and they go, and then they disappear again. But they always come back. It wasn’t always like this, however. In…
