some fun life updates
it's been a minute!
I know it's been awhile, but I think part of the point of having a blog is for low-pressure sharing of life updates. Much of my life revolves around grad school and trying to not want to die? Perhaps that's a bit too macabre for you all. Right now, I'm in the last weeks of my spring semester of social work school, which was a program I believed I was going to drop out of--until I received a placement (practicum!) that happens to be remote. Which, according to my spouse, is the only realistic way I can work.
He's not wrong.
Even after the hysterectomy, I still experience bouts of pain. Chronic pain, some that gets worse due to random things. Which is why...
a bitch is therapymaxxing!
That is a phrase I made up today.
THERAPYMAXXING: When you are so fucked up in the head (not really, I'm being facetious) that you go to several different therapists at once, maximizing your healing and GROWTH!
No, really. I am therapymaxxing to the extreme. Most weeks, I see two different therapists to address my c-PTSD, which has been an adventure in and of itself. On Mondays, I see my primary therapist who was the person who suggested that I try EMDR (in-person) so that I could get out of my head and become more embodied. On Wednesdays, I haul ass to Union Square after work meetings before painfully exhausting and recounting certain triggering moments.
And every other week, I belong to a c-PTSD and chronic illness/pain group.
I cannot stress this enough:
this shit is so fucking hard.
What a rewarding experience it's been, but it's been exhausting
And I mean exhausting. I pass out for a few days at a time during a three-therapy session week, warning my colleagues and friends that I will not be able to respond to their texts, nor can I fully lean into the spontaneity that my ADHD often affords me. To be honest, the whole point of therapymaxxing is so that I can heal whatever wounds have been open, festering and oozing. This shit is hard.
but it's okay, because it's CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP SZN!
My mentor calls me one of the hardest working writers she knows, but that's because I'm crazy and put myself up for anything and everything. Am I doing too much? Who knows! But one of the things that I'm most excited for is the amount of in-person community building I'll get done this summer!
- McCormack Writing Center Summer Workshop (2026): I've been part of MWC's programming (fka Tin House) before, opting to take short fiction workshops with people that I love. This time, I was accepted for my nonfiction and I find that ironic because I'll be going to my low-res MFA residency this summer, and I switched my concentration from CNF to fiction. This is by far my favorite literary home and the one where I tend to meet the coolest people. (My cohorts have stayed in touch, which is more than I can say for others)
- MFA Low Residency - In-Person Summer (2026): I'm finally going to attend my MFA program's summer semester. I'm nervous but excited, mainly because I'll be meeting new classmates and figuring out who I'll be paired with for the next semester. (It's exciting!)
- Alleghency Workshops (2026): Run by an editor at DK/PRH, I applied for this using my non-fiction samples and didn't get in, but using my fictions samples, did apply and got in. Put my deposit down and I'll be in another cabin in the woods (yay!)
- Secret Workshop Conference that I can't announce because I'm not sure if I'm taking the spot yet: Enough said lol.
Friends, this is what I have to offer for you.
My fun life updates.
Hope you've all been well!
Toodles x
C
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