In Solidarity
Taking a break this week to make room for... all of it.
Welcome to I’m Not Gaslighting You, a series about medical gaslighting and healthcare inequality from the perspective of a medical sociologist who also happens to be a real woman in an actual body.
I have published an essay here every 2 weeks since starting my Substack last June, and I had a column all set to post here today. It’s about how to use end-of-life conversation tools (think 5 Wishes and The Conversation Project), complete with screenshots and a Q&A from a friend who had a lot of success using them with her family. It’s great, I hope you love it when I post it.
But today is not the day for that post, I decided. Today, this week, this month, right now, call for a bit of quiet from me on those end-of-life healthcare topics.
Instead, I hope you can take the time you might have spent reading my essay and use it to read something from the fire hose of quality writing coming out right now.
Read about how to help.
Read about our history, in this country and others.
Read to understand how institutions can hurt us (after all, this is the core of my medical gaslighting interests).
Read to cultivate empathy.
Take action that is workable for you.
Rest if that is what you need.
I stand in solidarity with our friends in Minnesota. They are literally my friends, as I lived there for 7 years, sometimes just a few blocks from events on television. I know what -20 feels like and what goes into being outside in that weather. I am so grateful for and proud of that progressive community.
But also this is everyone’s neighbors, all our communities, and everyone’s peace.
I plan to be back in two weeks with my post about end-of-life conversation tools.
🎤 I know people have a lot of questions and stories about medical gaslighting and end-of-life healthcare. Please DM me to let me know your questions or topics you would like to see me cover!