Columns

Along with the certainty of death and taxes, life is mostly about mitigating stress and finding peace within the chaos. As we navigate life, uncertainty abounds, and some of us deal with more of it than others. I’m learning that young people say we huff “copium” when grappling with uncertainty,…

This column is a letter to my 9-year-old self. I’m choosing this age because I was lost then — and not only because of my disease. It was my last year of primary school and the point at which my life shifted from that of a child to that of…

I used to think stress always looked like a dramatic meltdown. You know, ugly crying, yelling into a pillow, eating a bag of cheese curls while binge-watching trashy TV. (Been there, no regrets.) But stress is sneakier than that. She doesn’t always knock loudly. Sometimes she’ll tiptoe in wearing…

Is escapism a way to cope with reality or, as the word implies, an attempt to slowly and permanently escape from it? Does escapism have levels to it, and when is it dangerous? I’ll admit I’m an escapist. I’m a former pothead who lost way too many brain cells to…

There’s been much excitement lately around artificial intelligence (AI) — especially since generative AI became widely accessible. What used to be a complex, almost unreachable tool is now part of daily conversations, transforming the way we work, learn, and live. It brings a mix of emotions: optimism that it could…

Someone recently left a comment on one of my columns that made me pause and lean in. They wrote that myasthenia gravis (MG) isn’t rare; it’s just underdiagnosed. Oofta. That one hit like a whisper with a punch. Because on the surface, it feels true. Many of us with…

Talk show host Conan O’Brien, among many others, once said, “When all else fails, there is always delusion.” As human beings, we want to believe what we want to believe, even when red flags and truth indicators warn us of the contrary. It can be comforting to embrace delusion when…

I recently made peace with the fact that we almost always judge the book by its cover. It’s just what humans do. We believe what we see. And having a disease that’s not always visible has been the biggest challenge of my life. I often look just tired enough to…

“I’m watching you, Wazowski. Always watching.” If you’re a cartoon fiend like I am, you likely recognize that quote from “Monsters, Inc.,” said by Roz, an administrator. Roz has a gravelly, smoky rasp of a voice. I’ve used this character as an example of what I sound like when my…

The writer and editor Christy Leigh Stewart, who lives with a terminal illness, once said, “Remission is not a cure. It’s an adjective of disability.” In other words, remission from a disease refers to a temporary reprieve from symptoms. There’s a lot I’m still learning about my twin brother,…