Growing up with childhood trauma and overwhelming guilt after witnessing my step-father’s heart attack shaped everything—from how I curse, to how I cook, to how I manage chronic illness today. While emotional suppression can increase stress, inflammation, and heart risk, meditation, humor, cooking, and selective profanity helped me survive. If you’ve ever carried guilt, wrestled with grief, or learned to cope quietly, this story will remind you that you’re not the villain—you’re surviving with heart.
Why I Don’t Complain: A Chef’s Guide to Surviving Chronic Illness Without Losing My Mind (or My Manners)
Living with chronic illness and heart failure has taught me one thing—complaining doesn’t fix a damn thing. As a chef juggling sarcoidosis, a leaky heart, and life’s general nonsense, I’ve learned that silence isn’t denial—it’s survival. Here’s how I stopped whining, started adapting, and found a strange kind of peace in just getting on with it.
Left Out Again? How to Handle Being Excluded Without Spiraling or Sabotaging Friendships
Feeling left out by friends or coworkers can hit hard, especially when you’re already battling chronic illness or the daily grind of writing your first novel. Here’s how to deal with being excluded—without wrecking your peace or your relationships.
