CHRONIC

Our society’s narrow idea of what mothering looks like can have a devastating effect on mothers, children, and families. My latest project, CHRONIC, dives into the way mothers with chronic pain and disability are treated, shows us how these expectations of what a mother “should be” have negatively impacted us all, and offers new ways to think about what it means to thrive as a parent.

CHRONIC examines motherhood, chronic pain, feminism, and the intersection of all three. I don’t just discuss my own struggles – because chronic pain and disability are so individual and personal, I also talk to mothers living with different kinds of pain and disability about their lives and how their pain affects how they parent. My goal is to tell a story that will resonate with everyone trying to do their best in a world that so often tells us – especially women – that what we are doing isn’t enough. That the way we mother isn’t right. That the way we are in the world isn’t right.

Through interviews, the disability research of scholars, and sharing my own stories of living with chronic pain, I look at how historical and societal expectations of what it means to be a “good mother” have harmed all women. CHRONIC also shows how we, as a society, can do more and be better. While I don’t shy away from discussing the difficulties of parenting with a disability, I also explore the positives, such as how to be comfortable living with uncertainty and how to model resiliency, patience, and self-advocacy for our children.

If you’re a mother living with chronic pain and would like to be interviewed for CHRONIC, please see the “Contact” page for how to reach me via social media and my literary agent.