Doing what we are taught to do

For years, I did what most women are taught to do.

I showed up for my annual OB GYN appointments. Pap smear. Routine questions. Brief reassurance that everything looked fine. I trusted that if something important was happening in my body, someone would name it.

And ...

Trusting what I know about myself

I remember talking to my therapist and naming something that felt both obvious and uncomfortable.

I’d completed an anxiety questionnaire. Based on the scoring, it suggested signs of high anxiety. On paper, that made sense. But I didn’t feel like I needed a diagnos...

A Familiar Conversation

Girlfriends are finally catching up after at least a month of schedule coordination.  They were sitting across from each other at brunch.  After hugs and pleasantries, one of the women let out a yawn and immediately apologized.  “Girl, I’m just so tired these days!  My sleep...

   When I tell women that frozen shoulder can be a perimenopause symptom, I often get the same response: "My doctor never mentioned that." And when I explain that Black women are more likely to experience this particular symptom, the silence that follows speaks volumes.

Here's the truth we need to ...

I remember standing in my kitchen one evening. I was holding a spatula, unsure of what I was about to cook, with tears starting to fall. I had snapped at someone I love earlier, and now I felt confused, ashamed, and emotionally drained. I could not explain why I felt so raw. I only knew I did not fe...

I’ll never forget the day I found myself sitting on the other side of the desk, not as a nurse, but as a patient. A Black woman in her forties, with over 25 years of experience in healthcare, heart pounding, palms damp, memory shot to hell!  I truly wondered  if I would get the help that I needed. I...