Every time I make plans further out than a few weeks it gives me pause. Especially during a year like 2020. It just, well, reminds me of lying in the hospital knee-jerking to my defense mechanism of making lists and reciting my work schedule. One of my nurses told me…
Category: personal
Category for personal observations and writing.
This is not funny at all. In fact, I’m walking myself back from yet another panic attack flare up as I write this. My husband had stomach upset and sneezing fits today. While we’ve talked about how we would be careful in general, at length, this year. I don’t think…
So I have a habit of snapping videos of these weekly campfires of mine. Partly memory markers. Also, part, sharing with friends who can’t experience this with me for any number of reasons. It’s my physical way of sending out good vibes as the saying goes. Honoring those who can’t…
2020, yeah, everyone gets it. Personally, I am waiting for frogs to rain from the sky. Any minute now. Here they come. But in the meantime, tonight, I am thinking about all my solo camping and local hiking trips from this summer. One of my colleagues calls these “micro-adventures.” I’ve…
Everyone is in the same boat this year, at least those of us lucky enough to still be floating, precariously, above water. 2020 has been a sinkhole of emotional despair for me, however. Mainly from the sheer isolation of it all. I canceled all of my backpacking trips this year…
This year has been difficult for all of us. While I have spoken about struggling with anxiety before, what does that look like? How do I recognize it and then walk away from it? This post is about a few tools I use to diffuse anxiety when it surfaces. Well,…
Well, Ohio, specifically my town, seems to be leading the wave of new infections, and face masks are now required in public. So I’m adjusting my outdoor plans again. For the foreseeable future, I am going to stay inside the borders of my home state and do my hiking/camping totally…
This past week brought a bank of welcome positive experiences. Honestly, the return to backpacking probably has a lot to do with much of these changes. Just the sheer aspect of being behind the wheel again on a long road trip or being out under the full moon in a…
It was after dinner this past Wednesday evening when I found myself pulling out my phone scrolling through Twitter and Instagram. Something I have not done in, well, over four years now after I made the choice to leave the polarized noise bubbles of the platforms. I honestly don’t know…
Well, after a good deal of thought, and quite a bit of help from my friends and colleagues, I have made the choice to come back from the brink here. Not the edge of disaster mind you, but the decision to retract inward. That desire was strong in the face…