Author: sara
-
All At Once: Patient, Parent, + Protector
•
Today felt like everything this life is, all at once. Five appointments. Five hours in the car. Five copays. Waiting rooms where my girls sat patiently, like this is just part of their normal (because it is). Bloodwork that made my youngest so scared she passed out for the first…
-
Well-Being is Messy. And That’s the Point.
•
Healing is not tidy. It’s not linear. It’s not polite. We’ve been sold a myth that wellness is calm, curated, Instagram-able. That growth looks like pastel journals, green smoothies, morning yoga, and perfect self-care routines. That progress can be measured, quantified, neatly packaged. But that’s not real life. At least…
-
Learning to Love the Thing I Most Wish Had Not Happened
•
I would erase it in a heartbeat – and I wouldn’t undo who I’ve become. This is the paradox I live inside of. The thing I most wish had never happened shaped me in ways I never asked for, ways I wouldn’t have chosen, ways that sometimes feel like betrayal.…
-
A Quarter Mile at a Time
•
“I live my life one quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I’m free.” Vin Diesel, Fast & the Furious Call it recklessness if you’d like. I call it the…
-
The Beauty in Regret
•
We’re taught to treat regret like proof that we failed. Like a warning sign. Like evidence that we chose wrong. Like something to avoid at all costs. But somewhere along the way, I realized I’m far less afraid of regretting what I did than I am of regretting what I…
-
Finding Comfort in the New
•
Most people I know find comfort in the familiar. Their routines are sacred. Their favorite restaurants are non-negotiable. They want “the usual,” in life and in lattes. The known feels safe. The predictable feels calming. And I feel the opposite. Familiarity makes me a little restless. Sometimes a little anxious.…
-
I Didn’t Mean to Change Careers
•
My career pivot didn’t start with a plan, but with a life turned upside down. I didn’t mean to change careers. I just wanted to survive breast cancer, figure out how to live with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), keep my kids alive (they also have LFS), and maybe stop waking up…
-
What the Ocean Gave Me
•
There are places to go when language runs out. When answers stop helping and silence feels more honest than explanation. After my diagnosis, after the surgeries, after the blur of medical decisions, I didn’t know what to do – so I went to the water. It’s ironic – that healing…
-
Living with Chronic Uncertainty
•
There are people who live by five-year plans. Color-coded calendars. Life goals with deadlines. I was never one of those people, so why is this so hard? I wasn’t the five-year-plan type.I didn’t have my life mapped out on vision boards or bullet journals. I made choices, took chances, and…
-
Leaving Before You’ve Proven Yourself
•
What happens when illness derails a new job — and how to let yourself go anyway. Five months into a new job, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.One month after that, I learned I had Li-Fraumeni Syndrome — a rare genetic condition that increases the risk of developing multiple types…