Columns

Several years ago I learned an important distinction about positivity. For a long time, I had thought that positivity meant ignoring what was upsetting or not going right so that you could “pretend” to be happy. I had always thought that was somewhat ridiculous, because pretending that the negatives don’t…

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. As part of my job as a college counselor, I’m working with high school seniors to help them make college decisions. As someone who lives and works on a farm, spring is, of course, when chores multiply. May is always exceptionally busy…

I know I write frequently about my massages, but that’s because they are the only treatment available to me, and they keep my pain level under control. This is one reason I find it so frustrating that massage is rarely covered by health insurance. Because my rare disorder doesn’t…

The initial pandemic shutdowns last spring brought my family’s very busy schedule to a grinding halt. We decided to use the time to improve our emotional and physical well-being. We worked on our relationships with one another and inducted a new member into our family. During the spring and summer…

After almost six weeks of being unable to get a massage because my therapist was injured, I finally got back in last week. I really needed it, as I’ve been dealing with a pain flare from getting stuck in the mud at the farm where I live. Most of…

I haven’t been sleeping restfully this week. I’ve been doing that whole wake-up-and-roll-back-over thing seemingly a dozen times a night. I’ve been dealing with a pain flare since I got stuck in some thick, deep mud in a pasture at the farm where I live and nearly pulled my…

Last week, I went to the dentist for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. I had my regular cleaning just before everything shut down last year, and then dentists were either closed or working at reduced capacity for months. After my fall appointment was canceled, I joined…

Throughout the past week, the weather has been gorgeous. After weeks of seemingly endless rain, terrible mud that’s taken a real toll on me physically, and generally depressing weather, it’s been a true mood-lifter to see the sun and milder temperatures. I love many things about winter, such as soups…

This week has been busy. After all the rain we’ve had in the mid-Atlantic region recently, the ground is soaking wet, but we’ve finally had a few days in a row without rain, and the sun has been shining. It’s been amazing! I’ve tried…

After recently honoring Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28, I’m contemplating the obvious: A person is not defined by a diagnosis. This usually means they don’t allow a condition to limit their enjoyment of life or their accomplishments. But that’s not what I’m talking about — not directly, anyway. I’m…