Good News/Bad News

I haven’t been able to write for awhile. Things have felt so heavy and confusing for myself and pretty much this entire globe. The amount of loss, struggle, hypocrisy and flat out fear in this world has become very real and very overwhelming. Throughout these past couple of weeks, I’ve had many personal highs and lows and (as always) I come to you with full transparency both to inspire those who may connect with my words, but also to lean on the many people I have cheering me on from near and far. The Bad News: I am officially unemployed. As many of you know, I have been on a medical leave from my job as a Speech Pathologist at an acute care/inpatient rehab hospital here in Sarasota. During this medical leave, I have found new GYN, received a diagnosis of endometriosis, found a new therapist, dug deep into my relationship with my body and my body’s relationship with pain, and started a new medicine that has gradually relieved my symptoms to a point that I feel ready to reintegrate back into the workforce. Unfortunately, there has also been a global pandemic since I was last in my purple scrubs. COVID hit hospitals across the globe in very vast and significant ways. With all elective procedures canceled and a complete rearrangement of staffing and resources, hospitals actually found themselves furloughing many of their staff. Due to this, my need for shorter work days and the hospital’s hiring freeze, my department was unable to bring me back from my leave. I knew this was always a possibility, but it has still been very hard for me to process. This was my first job out of grad school and my only job as a Speech Therapist for the last 6 years. I lovingly called it my “Dream Job” and always set the intention of retiring from that hospital, just like my Dad. But things change. What’s that phrase? “The only thing constant in life is change” or something annoying like that. Yes, Things change. My body changes. My body’s needs change, and maybe this “dream job” wasn’t best for my body right now. There will be other jobs- maybe other “Dream Jobs” that I haven’t even dreamed of yet. And that brings me to…. The Good News: I, now, have the opportunity to create a job that works best for me and my body rather than the other way around. Living with chronic illness has taught me (well, forced me) to listen and respect my body's needs, which is likely to change from one hour to the next. Maybe working full shifts at the hospital just isn’t practical right now? Maybe I can find (or better yet, create) a job that allows the flexibility for me to listen, honor, and respect whatever may come up? These thoughts, along with COVID, has me really wanting to work from home. I have been looking into Telehealth positions and even considering starting my own Private Practice but haven’t made any big moves quite yet. Having only worked at this one hospital, my practical SLP experience is pretty limited. I’m intimidated to go to a brand new employer and ask them to hire me, but I know I can get there. In the mean time, I have been incredibly inspired to devote more time and energy into other aspects of my life— what I am now calling “Passion Projects”. I have always had big dreams of changing the world, talked about writing a book for over a decade now, miss teaching yoga so so much, love sharing my experiences with others, love inspiring others to be their best and most authentic self… So why not now? Why not give myself permission to call these things a “job”, devoting the same structured time and energy, even if there’s not money in it right away. I have to start somewhere and if there’s ever a time to take a leap and create the job of my dreams— it’s now, Girlfriend. Sooo, The big grand finale of this post is to announce that I have officially teamed up with one of my very favorite companies; Beauty Counter! Through this opportunity, I am able to help educate others on how to avoid harmful ingredients in everyday items, provide my family and friends easy access to safe and quality products, and (my true passion) advocate for better government safety regulations for personal care products and the overall beauty industry. The idea of switching over your personal products to safer/cleaner options is so daunting- particularly at a time when very few of us have money to spend. Believe me, I am in that very same boat with you. So, I invite you to go on this journey with me— slowly but surly, one-by-one, replacing personal care items in our houses to better, safer, cleaner products. I don’t know everything yet, I will be learning (and sharing) as I go and I really hope you will join me! At a time when everything feels so out of control, maybe we can look inward and see how we can better care for ourselves right here in our own homes. Who’s with me? Comment below for more info! Love you all so so much, MANY more announcements to come! - B