That’s what they always say, right? “Write what you know.”
Once again, I’m at a blogging identity crisis. And instead of finding my niche, I’ve been writing about everything and anything … I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none.
If I want to take my blog to the next level — a professional one — I’m going to need to really have a niche. And right now, I don’t. Well, that’s not exactly true. Continue reading “Write What You Know”
In public relations (PR)– the field in which I work — a boilerplate is the standard paragraph of text found at the bottom of every news release that offers up key information about your company. You might consider it a long-winded version of an “elevator speech.”
While I have no trouble telling people about my job in ten words — “I’m the public relations manager at a top digital agency” — I found myself in a pickle this weekend at a PR conference with respect to my blog.
You see, when I began blogging, in spite of laying it all out there for anyone who could Google “disordered eater” (I ranked #1 and #2 for forever; my old blog domain is now #3) I was deeply ashamed of the topic. Continue reading “What’s My Boilerplate? My Elevator Speech?”
Note: this post has nothing to do with my blog or you, my readers … but is rather a reaction to an observation I made in the blogosphere.
This week, one of the most well-known female bloggers, Heather Armstrong of dooce.com fame, announced she and her husband Jon were in the midst of a trial separation.
I’d heard of her, but never really read her blog — until today. Her announcement post is absolutely gut-wrenching, to say the least — especially the part where she expresses a moment that suicide crossed her mind … and though doesn’t go into any details about why the couple is splitting, it’s obvious she is pained about the decision but knows it must be done. Continue reading “Open Letter to the Blogosphere: Blogger “Responsibility””
Though I was an early talker (are you surprised?!) and still love to talk, writing has always been the most therapeutic form of self-help for me.
I began journaling in fifth grade, chronicling nearly every day of my life — and I haven’t stopped since.
Traveling with me from my childhood bedroom in Vernon, NJ … to my dorm room at American University in our nation’s capital … to my first apartment (and subsequent apartments!) … to my first home have been the two dozen or so spiral-bound notebooks filled to the brim with words and experiences, etched forever in varying handwriting styles and a wide array of ink colors.
I’ve been both lovingly teased for my “chronicles” and admired for my commitment to journaling … but I don’t do it for laughs or praises; I do it because it’s what works for me — and because I love the idea of a living, breathing biography … Continue reading “My Therapy”
When you begin blogging about something as taboo and uncomfortable as your disordered eating recovery journey, you discover one of three things about your readers.
1) They are people who read for support, even though they have no food/exercise issues themselves and just maybe like you and/or your style/topics/voice.
2) They are people who have secretly battled similar (albeit different) demons and find a resource like this blog useful/helpful/encouraging/inspirational.
3) They are people who can’t handle the truth and, upon discovering it, walk away.
While I don’t know most of my readers personally, I’m blessed and happy to say that 99.9 percent of the people I know and love in real life (blogger/WW friends are included here too!) have been in the first two categories. I appreciate them and their support more than they could know … and I’m eternally grateful for them because I couldn’t have done it without them.
But there is one friend who falls into the third category. Continue reading “When Friends Fail Us”
A loooong time ago I mentioned that a student pursuing her master’s in journalism at Columbia was interviewing me during my pregnancy for her graduate thesis. Every two weeks or so during my pregnancy we’d touch base just to see where I was at mentally and physically, and it was a great way to put into words some of what I was feeling.
She recently told me that the story was going to be published somewhere big … but didn’t say where.
Well … today I got an email and whoa nelly, there it is! ABCNews.com in the Health section: Pregorexia: When Pregnancy and Eating Disorders Mix.
Aside from the title, which I think is a bit misleading (and I know editors make those decisions, not the writers themselves — I wouldn’t describe myself as having battled pregorexia) … the article is totally accurate and true to form.
I did chew and spit and overexercise previously. I was afraid of getting fat during my pregnancy. I did emotionally eat during the testing. I never returned to chewing/spitting or overexercising as coping mechanisms; I put Maya first.
There’s nothing untrue there. It’s just hard to realize that, hey, that’s ME they’re talking about! Continue reading “Major Ink –> Mixed Emotions”
My blog has gone through many changes in the nearly three years I’ve been writing (click here for my first post!). While I’ve undergone many physical and emotional changes in that time, the title of this post expresses the surface changes. (And once I can figure out how to edit my darn blog’s custom header I will!)
What does it mean to be “recovered”? I used to question this all the time, and still do.
Let’s look at the facts:
-I’m not chewing/spitting.
-I’m not over-exercising.
-I’m not waking and, half-asleep, eating in the middle of the night.
Those were the methods of my madness, er, disorderedness.
They are in my past. Continue reading “From “Disordered” to “(Recovering) Disordered” to “Recovered Disordered””
This weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful lunch with a super-sweet blog reader, Alison. It felt like I was catching up with an old friend and I had a blast — thanks, Alison, we totally need to do it again soon, on your side of the state 😉
Every time I meet a friend in real life who I got to know in cyberspace or the blogosphere, I’m struck by the (beautiful!) irony of the situation.
Given the sensitive and taboo nature of my blog, it started out as a very anonymous blog … and then in time I got more comfortable with the idea of putting my name/face out there as a voice in recovery. Being so open has worked in my favor. In addition to having the support of my loved ones, now, in the past two years, I was interviewed for Fitness magazine about my exercise addiction history; went to a blogger meet-and-greet; and spoken at the FitBloggin’ conference … all very public “outings.” Continue reading “Putting a Name to Face”
I’ve blogged before about how, when I began blogging, I’d been advised about not pigeon-holing myself into a domain name/URL that would follow me forever that I might, someday, want to move past.
But so entrenched in my own situation I was at the time, that it didn’t really start to bother me for about a year. So I added (Recovering) to my blog’s title, and then I got pregnant and have been blogging about that … but now I’m about to become a mom and I feel recovered and don’t want to be pigeon-holed any longer.
So please bear with me as I do some soul-searching to see what direction my blog takes in the coming months. Continue reading “On the Brink of an Identity Crisis”
Tonight I watched the movie Precious.
Though I’d read the book it’s based on (Push), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in the cinematic version.
The book had been very graphic and complex and difficult to get through at times.
Though I read it in one night back in January, I cried and wanted to throw things when reading it — the injustices are just sickening.
I was not disappointed by the film, but, like the book, it certainly wasn’t easy to get through. I mean … how much can one woman be put through?! Continue reading “On Coping Mechanisms”
Let There Be Light 