Private Chef, Writer & Podcaster
Today I swung by Starbucks for a quick coffee, opting for the drive-through because I was in a bit of a rush. Everything was normal until I got to the window. I let the cashier know I would be paying with Apple Pay, and her response honestly caught me off guard. She gave me a …
Living with sarcoidosis and heart failure while trying to write, cook, and stay emotionally balanced is already a full-time gig. Add being an INFJ–INFP hybrid—an empathic perfectionist who feels everything—and you’ve got the recipe for both magic and meltdown. This is my story of navigating chronic illness, creativity, and compassion without completely burning out in the process.
As a chef, writer, and lifelong bookworm living with chronic illness, I’ve discovered that my Kindle isn’t just a gadget—it’s freedom. Between hospital visits, late-night writing sessions, and lazy Sundays with my pets, it lets me carry an entire library in my pocket without the weight or the guilt of unread stacks. Here’s why I’ll always choose my Kindle over physical books and why e-readers might be the best invention since espresso.
Today at Whole Foods, I found myself an unwilling spectator to a tense confrontation. I had parked in a designated grocery pickup spot, waiting for my online order, when I noticed a black Tesla pull into the handicapped space next to me. A woman in her thirties parked, hung her handicapped tag, stepped out, grabbed …
Continue reading "Witnessing a Parking Lot Confrontation: A Lesson in Restraint"
I’m a chef, husband, pet-parent, and emerging novelist living with pulmonary sarcoidosis, heart failure and the wild ride of long-term prednisone treatment. If you’re juggling a chronic illness, creative ambitions and ordinary life chaos—you’re in the right place. Let’s talk survival, cooking, writing and finding hope in the hidden kitchen of chronic illness.
Tate Basildon 