I’m Back!
I’m back after a long layoff from writing on Medium
It’s been quite awhile since I last posted on Medium — my last article was published in February 2022. I’m getting back into the writing habit and looking to pursue other opportunities in writing as well — I’m working on a full-length book, more details to come. Here’s a very quick update about what has transpired in my life since I published my last article. I’ll have a longer check in and I’ll also dive into some of these topics in greater length in future articles.
I fell out of the writing habit in February 2022. Briefly, I ran into financial issues, got some relief from financial issues, started a temporary job as a receptionist at a LGBTQ+ health care clinic in March 2022, moved to a new apartment in May 2022, applied for jobs utilizing my degrees without any luck, had a few interviews, and created a profile on the dating/hook up app Grindr in July 2022. My focus mainly became working and chasing boys for quite awhile. My life had shrunk down to a small area that I rarely left, but it became comfortable, which was to my detriment.
On New Year’s Day 2023, I hooked up with a guy and I tried a substance that I said I would never do and I had a lot of fun and great sex. I tried to rationalize with my addictive personality by putting up boundaries to using, but those boundaries all fell in succession during the course of 2023. I was fired from my job in August 2023 after an intervention at the end of July. I tried to quit the substance on my own, but I was not able to and I kept relapsing every weekend, because my use was linked to sex for me. I finally decided that my life had become unmanageable and that I needed to get help. I was nearly broke and on the verge of being homeless and I realized that if I didn’t go to treatment then, things were only going to keep getting worse. I checked into an in-patient treatment facility (a.k.a rehab) on 9/15/23, which is my sobriety date. I was in treatment for 17 days, then discharged into a chaotic situation at my apartment. I was able to get things addressed and stabilized in general after a week. I started going to 12 step program meetings that following weekend and I’ve been going consistently since. Now, I am just over four months clean and sober and living in a sober living house. Things have been wild and crazy since I last wrote an article in February 2022, but I feel like I am right where I need to be and on the right path for me now.
In addition to the issues with addiction in 2023, I was right on the front lines of Florida’s attack on transgender people with the passage of SB-254 in May 2023, which restricted medical access for transgender patients of all ages. I had to field calls as a receptionist from concerned patients and parents about what to do for the patient to get access to treatment. Our clinic was unable to provide the usual services and care to those patients to help them stay in care for their transition to their authentic selves, which made interacting with these existing and prospective patients very challenging.
Needless to say, it has been quite an interesting time since I last posted an article on Medium! Things are going well, all things considered. My life is in a much better place and I can see the road forward and I just need to put in the work. I am committed to writing again and building a writing habit. I will be writing on similar topics as before, along with some new topics like addiction, recovery from substance and alcohol abuse, and spirituality. I have also started a Substack and will be writing on that platform as well. I am committed to being rigorously honest with my writing, even if I am oversharing. I feel like I have had many unique experiences during this time and leading up to it. I am going to share some of these lessons and other insights and opinions in my upcoming articles. I’m excited to get back into writing and posting my content for you to read. Until next time!
