What does it look like to help others while also helping ourselves? Global Genes is a nonprofit organization that supports people living with rare diseases. They offer meaningful resources, but one initiative in particular is what drew me in: pairing someone with a rare disease with a new physician, with the goal of helping that physician learn how to better approach, treat, and truly listen to patients with complex conditions early in their career. This kind of rare disease

Let me start by introducing you to Modal. Modal is considered a luxury textile for its softness, breathability, smooth texture, and sustainability. TENCEL™ Modal takes those qualities even further. It’s significantly softer than cotton, more breathable, and more durable over time. It holds up to repeated washing and drying without breaking down, losing shape, or becoming uncomfortable. Those details matter—especially when your body is already dealing with enough. TENCEL™ Moda

If you’ve read my other posts, you already know that Free Body Apparel (formerly Chronic and Free) was built around lived experience. The goal has always been simple: to create comfortable, versatile clothing for people living with conditions that cause abdominal discomfort, swelling, and unpredictability. That mission doesn’t stop at design. It extends into how the clothing is made. Ethical apparel production matters to me because care should exist at every step of the proce

Most clothing is designed for bodies that behave predictably. Mine never did. The Free Body Apparel story began because I needed clothing that worked on hard days—days shaped by chronic pain, IBS, abdominal swelling, and the quiet negotiation that happens every morning when getting dressed already feels like too much. I wasn’t looking to start a fashion brand. I was looking for relief, dignity, and clothes that didn’t ask my body to perform. The idea stayed with me because it

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: there is no upside to chronic pain or chronic illness. None. The fact that I’m even sitting down to write this feels monumental. How long it will take me to finish is anyone’s guess. The energy required just to exist  with an invisible illness is unfathomable to most people and instantly recognizable to others. Writing about it adds to the fatigue, forces reflection, and makes me focus on parts of life I’d often rather ignore—but