I am a psychiatric PA. A lot of people get confused by that title. I am a physician assistant specialized in psychiatry. I do the same job as a psychiatrist for much less money, and I’d like to think with a little more style! I diagnose and treat mental illness, primarily with medication. I have…
Yesterday I got back in the water for the first time in two weeks. Pretty much every time I walk into the ocean with my surfboard, I feel intimidated. Yesterday I paused on the sand and did some yoga stretches before paddling out (probably should have done more as my neck and shoulders are a…
People who know me know that I don’t swear often but there is a reason these words exist and I try to reserve them for such times. Shit is one of those words. Today I’m working on potty training my two year old and this seems like an appropriate time to share a few of…
Each Sunday I pick Cora up and take her to church. I’ve gotten to know Cora in little ten minute segments because that’s about how long it takes to get from her house to the church. So I’m not going to pretend that I know a lot about Cora’s life, but sometimes you don’t need…
Remember that time when you told me something hard was coming? That it wasn’t necessarily bad, but hard? I tucked that warning away. I waited. But how does one prepare for hard? So I went about my business. And then the first hard thing happened. It was hard but not hard enough for me to…
Tonight I find myself on the couch. It’s late. I should be sleeping but my brain won’t be quiet. I have learned that this is a signal I’ve been slacking on my mental hygiene. By that, I mean that I haven’t been doing all of the practices I usually do to keep my mind uncluttered. …
I’ve always been on the short side of normal height. I never had a growth spurt where I was the tall kid for a few months. As a result, I’ve always seen myself as small. I used to feel self conscious about the size of my feet and hands. I got my mother’s long fingers…
I’m thinking about times and seasons today. These natural transitions of seasons are like embedded mileposts marking my progress through time. I am home sick in bed today with some terrible bronchitis/walking pneumonia concoction. It’s not very often I have a day to lie in bed and the company of my pillows, the sunshine and…
I don’t remember what it feels like to be kissed. It’s been a long time. Too long. I can picture it in my mind and I can even recall the rush somewhat, but the actual tactile sensation of lips and cheeks and tongue, of force and softness; that I can’t quite recall. I long for…
I saw my marriage as something that I could hold together. I believed if I could do enough things and work hard enough, I could create a happy marriage single handedly. When I decided to end it, a huge part of my identity was taken from me. In some ways this was extremely liberating. I…