Publishing During a Pandemic

Last Saturday represented a lot of firsts for me.

It was my first time being paid for my writing.

My first time writing, if only in passing, about my miscarriage three years ago.

And, finally, my first time being criticized for that writing - pilloried as privileged and narcissistic by online commenters and trolled across the Internet by the anti-breeder crowd.

I’ve felt strange ever since. Proud to be published by the Huffington Post. Proud, too, of my writing (apart from that clickbait-y headline!). But I’ve also felt circumspect. It is a privilege, in the world right now, to be able to remain primarily concerned with the attainment of your life goals. And it is narcissistic, I suppose, to believe your story is worth telling and might benefit others. I’m okay with that. That’s the bargain, I think, when you grapple with something so personal so publicly. But I also have to be okay - or try to be okay - with the fact that not everyone is going to like what I write.

So that’s what I’m up to this week. Disinfecting groceries. Bingeing bad TV. Stress-baking. And trying to limit the critical voices in my head to my own.

Hope you’re all hanging in there too.