Things have been interesting lately. My health has been very fragile for the last twelve months, much more so than last year. As I approach my birthday, I have been contemplating on my recent experiences. It has been another year between posts. I read an article that blogs are past their zenith, that it is all downhill from here. I agree. I feel like I put all my stuff on Facebook. However, this last week I attended a writer's conference where we talked about social media infrastructure for the emerging writer. You have to have a blog and it has to be updated a lot. "I have a blog," I thought. I have actually been blogging for seven years now. But the last few years it has been pretty sparse. I have a website that is focused on my writing adventures, but I still feel the need to write about my personal life.
So here I am again. In the last year, I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease. It is an auto-immune where the body attacks the thyroid. Add that to the problems I am already having with my liver and kidneys and it has been a tough year. I have worked really hard through diet and meditation to find some balance in my life. My thyroid condition has balanced out, but because of it, my immune system has been even more susceptible than before. I have been sick every month for the twelve months. It has made me very thankful for the weeks when I am well.
The last year my focus has been rebuilding my life on a solid emotional and physical foundation, retraining my body to respond to illness in a different way. Though I have been sick more often, it has been for shorter amounts of time. I feel like that is progress. I have also learned to let people take care of me. It is still hard, but I try to accept help that is so graciously given.
I have also been contemplating the patterns that have gotten me to this point. Teaching is something that I have loved greatly in my life. However, it puts me in constant cycle of stress. Every four months I face the pressure and strain of finals. It has been very tough on my body. So I have been transitioning out of teaching. I have been working more as a writer. Now my goals for this next year are built around successfully transitioning from education to a technical or content writing career. I have also started writing for myself again. I am writing a contemporary YA novel. It is a project near and dear to my heart. My summary is thus:
At 15, Abigail Gordon has gone through some tough stuff: losing her dad to cancer, enduring a chronic illness, and sitting through the prequels to Star Wars. Abby has been out of school for three years after
being diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis.
While she was sick she found her dad’s cache of comic books, science-fiction
fantasy novels, and his DVD collection.
Reading and watching movies was all she could do while dealing with
blood tests, white blood cell counts, weight gain, jaundice, and medication changes. She is now a walking pop cultural reference
library. She feels pretty lucky that she
missed junior high, but now she must face going to the same school as her
perfect sister Georgia. Georgia is everything that Abby isn’t: thin, popular, and
happy. Or is she? Abby must deal with
her estrangement from Georgia and become comfortable in her own skin
again. With the help of a band of misfit
friends, her family, and Luke Skywalker, Abby is able to go from just surviving
to being okay.
I feel really strongly that it is time to write again. To make my life a writer's life. So, now I begin a new year. A year of miracles and hope and change. A year of writing. I want to write 500 words a day. At the end of the next year that will be enough words for a book. I am looking for new jobs. I am looking for new experiences, new tools.
I can do this.
