Yesterday I opened my inbox to find two emails, both from the same person. The first was sent at 9:55 a.m.: “I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Instead of sleeping another hour, I resumed reading your book. At 9:00 a.m. today I turned the page to the epilogue…..I made…

How a simple trip to the mall convinced me to almost take my own life — Trigger warning: this story alludes to depression and suicide April 24, 2022 was a day like any other. Golden rays poked through the partly-cloudy sky, but I didn’t see them. I didn’t notice the green trees or the deer crossing signs or the other everyday minutiae I usually passed on…

The hardest part is everything that comes after. — The past week has consisted of everything from tears of joy to full-blown panic attacks, all because of a stack of paper with my name on it. On October 13, I published the paperback of my first publisher-backed book, Behind the Facade: A Mental Health Memoir. That weekend, my mom…

I’ve gained a lot of weight recently and people aren’t afraid to tell me. With all due respect, eff off. — I’ve gained a significant amount of weight recently. It’s not a secret; if you saw me 18 months ago vs. today, I’m sure you could tell. My face is rounder, my stomach is certainly larger, and I take longer to get from point A to point B. When a friend…

September is Suicide Awareness Month, and today kicks off National Suicide Prevention Week. By sharing my story, I hope it helps break the stigma around mental health. — Trigger warning: suicide, depression “I’m not really sure how to ask this… have you considered suicide?” A loved one asked me that last year while I was in the depths of the deepest depression, insomnia, and anxiety I’d ever experienced.

On August 1st, 2017, just weeks after I returned from Greece, Gigi died in my arms. Gigi was a ten-pound Shih Tzu I rescued in the summer of 2011 from the Monterey SPCA when she was five years old. She was, without a doubt, the greatest love of my life. …

Including publishing the most raw, open, and honest memoir — Earlier this week I did something that’s been weighing me down for months: I reached out to my publisher, confirming that I’m ready to start the publishing process — for real this time. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been working on a memoir, originally expected to launch…

This is a long one. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in! — I’ve struggled with setting digital boundaries from the moment I set up my first Myspace account. The allure of the Internet, the always-on nature… it completely drew me in — and it’s only escalated over the years. I haven’t gone a day without thinking about social media. It’s always in…

There’s sand filling my lungs. I can’t breathe, I can’t see, and the world is spinning as I tumble underwater. At last, I surface, taking the biggest breath I’ve probably ever taken. I’m coughing non-stop, trying to get every last drop of salt water out of my mouth while I…