A New Project: Summer-Long Work-Less Challenge

In the age of Lean In, particularly where I live in California where the pace seems to keep increasing along with real estate values, it can feel nearly impossible to stop and take a breather. I’ll admit that this is a first world problem. I’m very lucky I have the option to take time off. A few years ago, I didn’t have that option. Over the past decade, I’ve been on a rollercoaster that began with the severe nerve injuries from pregnancy and delivering my daughter that I’ve written about at length here and elsewhere. I had planned to take off two months before my daughter was born, two months after she was born, and then work part-time until she was school-age. That didn’t happen. Continue reading

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Out-of-Shape, Into Mind

Over the past few months, something unusual happened to me. While I still suffer from ongoing pain and flares knock me flat on my back for 2-3 weeks at a time, I started pushing myself to do a little bit of exercise even in certain kinds of pain. I knew I could always stop, I took it slowly, but I knew I needed to exercise for general health. Somehow I passed a point where the pain and inflammation was so bad that exercise only made it worse. Instead, it started helping me feel a little bit better, even while still in pain.

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