My most “popular” post since I landed here on Substack six months ago reached 500 views today! I thought I’d mark this milestone with a little update on the signs of healing I wrote about in that post:

• My withdrawal symptoms are continuing to change, shift, ebb and flow, disappear then reappear… I just keep reminding myself what Angie Peacock, MSW, CPC says: the symptoms are just sensations in the body that the brain is making shit up about… Okay, so that’s probably not exactly how she worded it. Close enough 😅

• I ended up having to cancel the podiatrist appointment I had made, because I had come down with COVID the day before. And then the problem with my foot pretty much resolved on its own… so yay, I guess I get to keep all my toes after all

• The COVID infection was my reward for engaging with my new community without wearing a mask, apparently. And I tried to have fun at the “super-spreader” event I attended—but mostly it was just difficult with my hyper-sensitive sensory issues these days, and I didn’t really make any new connections. I ended up ducking out as quickly as I could afterwards, broke into tears as soon as I got outside, and sobbed the whole drive home––overstimulated, dysregulated, defeated, still grieving my old life. I haven’t ventured out for anything I would truly call “social” since then, but I’m getting ready to try again

• I’m working on a post about the window I had as I recovered from COVID––more than two weeks straight with almost no symptoms, the best I’ve felt in nearly 2 years

• If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you likely gathered that things went south with my person a few weeks ago. And it was really not the greatest thing for my healing nervous system, not to mention all these raw emotional wounds… But I’m okay, just like I knew I would be

• I still feel so much awe—euphoria, even—when I look outside at all the natural beauty and wildlife where I’m living now

And yeah, life has been extra rough for me over the last week, especially. But in the background, there’s still that sense of peace, and hope, and trust, and belief that the universe is sending good things my way…

Because it’s finally starting to happen, y’all ✨

So thanks for being here, and stay tuned! Be sure you’re subscribed, so you don’t miss any of the weirdness, the wonderfulness, the oversharing… and, of course, the country music! 🤠🎶💜