May is Mental Health Awareness month in the U.S. and I thought maybe now would be a good time to talk about something very small I've done for myself in the last couple of years that has helped boost my mental state: walking away from books that aren't bringing me joy (and not picking them…
Continue reading ➞ Reading for Pleasure & Learning to DNF (plus some book recs)
I always feel like I need to preface any discussion of fitness and/or working out with disclaimers about not having kids, about how I do this for my mental and physical health, and so on. Fitness has become a very touchy subject for folks, so I often feel like I have to whisper about it…
Earlier this year I saw a discussion online about whether or not we need content warnings for books in the same way we have ratings or warnings for movies, television shows, and video games. At first I thought I didn't have an opinion, but the question followed me around for a bit. In May, I…
I wasn't going to write about writing during the pandemic. I found that other writers have written far more eloquently than I could ever hope to during these times which continue to be called hard, trying, unprecedented, and a number of other words I'm tired of. It's mid-May, however, and I haven't written about writing…
It wouldn’t be a blog post about burnout without a reminder that I’m not a medical professional and that these posts are not meant to provide medical advice or be used as a tool for diagnosis. I’m discussing my experience with burnout and I hope that if you feel you are going through any sort…
Let me start here assuming that you did not read my last post about burnout and reiterate that I am not a medical professional and these posts are meant to describe my personal experience with burnout in the hopes that if you feel you are experiencing something similar, you will reach out and get the…
In late October, I’ll be at the Sirens literary conference in Denver talking about managing burnout as a creative. In prep for this workshop, I’ve been going through my notes from earlier in the year and I thought I’d create a series of posts documenting my experience with burnout. You can expect the rest of…
You probably came here looking for book recommendations. Surprise! I did say I'd be sharing my experiences as a writer and reader. And let me tell you what knocked me on my ass as both : professional burnout. I'm presenting a workshop later this year at a literary conference on managing burnout as a creative.…
A. K. Hudson 