4 days ago5 minCooking through a CrisisThis is a difficult time for us all. But those with mental illnesses are particularly susceptible to negative effects of isolation, disrupted routines, and a...
Mar 242 minMaintaining a Creative Practice at the End of the World"I just can't write right now," one of my students said this week. "I sat at my computer for three hours this morning and couldn't write a word," she said. S...
Feb 281 minWhy I Never Stop Moving"You're like a cat," a friend once told me, "you never stop moving." This is true in both a literal and figurative sense. I'm always stretching, getting up, ...
Feb 212 minTaking StockThis week, I was telling my therapist that I felt stressed and overwhelmed. I've had so much on my plate that I constantly feel behind, like it's never enou...
Feb 142 minI Wrote a Love Letter to a StrangerAs a freelance writer, I've taken some pretty random gigs. I once wrote character and plot analysis for Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. I've reviewed ...
Feb 72 minSlow DownI never stop moving. I'm usually juggling several things at once, moving back and forth between them. My to-do list is always a mile long. Even when I try to...
Jan 316 minAdvocating for Mental HealthThis week, I spent the day in the Vermont statehouse in Montpelier for Mental Health Advocacy Day. I get NAMI's (National Alliance on Mental Health) newslett...
Jan 172 minHow to Say "No"I'm not very good at saying "no." Need a favor? Sure! Invite me to do something? I'll make it work. Want me to work for free or next to nothing? I'm trying t...
Jan 103 minRemember to Do That Thing You Love Last weekend, I went snowboarding for the first time all season. I live about 20 minutes from Sugarbush and would normally be up there opening day and at lea...
Dec 31, 20192 minSo long, 2019, and thanks for all the fish!What a year - wildfires! Hurricanes! Scandals! Impeachment! But 2019 has been a pretty good year for me, even a pretty great year (as years go). 2018 was my ...
Dec 18, 20195 minWhat "Modern Love" Got Right About Bipolar Disorder (And What It Got Wrong) In the opening scene of Episode 2 of the new Amazon series, "Modern Love," Lexi (played by Anne Hathaway) dances through the supermarket dressed as if she we...
Dec 13, 20192 minLonely While Not Alone"I'm not alone, but I'm still lonely." -"Live in the Moment," Portugal the Man Last night I went to my friend Corrine's Open Studio, where she had on display...
Dec 6, 20192 minTake Your Own AdviceThe Golden Rule is "Treat others as you want to be treated," but I propose a new rule - "Treat yourself as you would treat others." I would never talk to som...
Nov 22, 20193 minKnowing What You NeedThis week, a friend posted about someone criticizing her for being on anti-depressants (I recently wrote a post about this happening to comedian Hannah Gadsb...
Nov 15, 20193 minThat Time I Ruined the PotluckTwo of my oldest friends, Ali and Chelsea, and I don't see each other as much as we'd like to, despite living within a half hour of each other. We decided to...
Nov 8, 20192 minWhy Do We Undervalue Art?Seriously, why do we undervalue art? I'm talking all kinds of art from writing to music. We want it free or, at least, super cheap. We (and I'm using the soc...
Oct 30, 20192 minA Tether to the WorldI first saw Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby's Netflix special "Nanette" while sitting on the floor of a friend's cabin in West Virginia with a dozen other w...
Oct 25, 20195 minTelling Your TruthI'm not much for sticking to New Year's resolutions (let's be real; is anyone?), but at the beginning of this year I set the ambiguous goal of being bolder a...
Oct 18, 20198 minTherapy Is Hard Work: My Mental Health JourneyWhen I was thirteen and anorexic, I was sent to the teen psychiatric ward in the Keene State Hospital. It was my first experience with therapy, spending most...
Oct 11, 20192 minReading through DepressionI've suffered from major depressive disorder since I was a kid; it's part of having Bipolar Disorder. Though I'm now on the right combination of medications ...