Grow More

Garage graffiti in my hood.
Seen on the Blue Line... and on the internet.

Beautiful friends! Yesterday, we discussed the need to actively connect to our lives rather than float through them, lazy river-style. We talked the ... fish... and the bees #normal. And I suggested writing as a means of accepting reality, processing emotions and breathing into the discomfort. Alternately, you could tag the world behind your eyelids on a garage door. Whatevz.

Speaking of garage doors, opportunities for growth are hard to catch, and harder to hold onto: they're the electric eels of opportunity, essentially. In my recent-ish Year Of No post, I declared that I would make a concerted effort to only commit to projects and people in support of my health, happiness and future this year. Truth: I've already signed on for all of the things -- it's side gig city up in hur. But I'm so, so excited about all of them! Here's a little list of ways I plan to bloom in the coming weeks, i.e; here's some cool sh*t I'm doing:

1. I'm the new Social Media Coordinator for the Comfort Station! (The current website is in transition, so I'll link up to it when it's finished.) Anywho, The Comfort Station of Logan Square used to be a warming station for Logan Squarians of olden times waiting for the streetcar. Thanks to the Logan Square Preservation Society and the hard work of some seriously dedicated neighbors of mine, The Comfort Station was saved and converted into an art gallery/concert hall/maker's space dedicated to bringing creativity to the community. Um, hello, creativity and community are my two favorite things... so look out for my posts, tweets and... tumbles... soon!

2. Two of my other favorite things: writing and feminism! I was recently asked to be the Marketing Consultant for {she crew}, a multidisciplinary journaling/playwriting/feminism camp for 12-14 year old girls... DO check them out! And if you're independently wealthy or you found $20 bucks on the sidewalk, consider donating!

3. I'm going to be a nun on the Sound of Music float in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Now, you know my experience with St. Patrick's Day. Normally, I would avoid this hell-pit of drunken frat boys in "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" t-shirts but... fame and glory and parade floats. Amen.

4. Here's some cool sh*t I already did... exactly one year ago! It's NEDA (National Eating Disorder Awareness) Week, and Gena runs a really important series on recovery. According to Gena, who knows her sh*t, "nearly 20 million women and 20 million men will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their life." That's, like, a lot of people, you guys.

Look. Eating disorders are often wrongfully perceived as pseudo-diseases -- just another of the many heads of narcissism -- and that's just not true. If you have someone in your life who's going through an eating disorder, please educate yourself on how to be supportive and understanding of what's going on in an ED victim's brain. If you have an eating disorder, yourself, please (pleasepleaseplease) seek out therapy and look to sites like choosingraw for solidarity in your recovery.

I continue to receive emails in response to the piece I wrote for Gena last February from women who still struggle to love and accept themselves. Keep speaking your truth! The more ED victims speak openly about their experience, the more we grow.

Grow more, babies. Thanks for reading!

XOXO,
Rose