I saw her photos on Instagram and was immediately drawn to them. We had a lot in common, it seemed. We both owned chocolate labradoodles, had anaphylactic allergies, and lived in the Carolinas. The more I got to “know” Brynn Duncan, however, I realized that while we did have things in common, our lives were…
It has been almost one year since I nervously sat next to a crackling fire in my living room, about to be hypnotized for the first time. I was completely petrified, scared to let my psyche and willpower (or so I thought) be placed in the hands of another person. I wasn’t being hypnotized to…
My first time sleepwalking was at the age of 7. It was my first sleepover and I walked out of my friend’s room and down the dark hallway to her parent’s bedroom. I opened the door, shimmied up onto the bed, and crawled between her parents where I made myself comfortable. I have a vague…
Dear Alcoholic, I have a lot of feelings concerning you and your behavior, and I’ve been working towards not being so angry with you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not letting your alcoholism be an excuse for your actions, I just know that I can no longer be a person who is affected by you.…
Yesterday I read a tragic article about a 13-year old girl, Natalie, who died from anaphylactic shock due to accidentally ingesting peanut butter. After reading the first few sentences of the article, I grew angry with several questions racing through my mind. Why the hell didn’t they have an EpiPen on hand? Why did she…
Owning a dog seemed impossible to a girl with severe asthma, allergies, eczema — and not just a little anxiety. After all, I’d almost died several times from asthma attacks and anaphylaxis from food allergies. Doctors joked that I should live in a bubble or on a sterile boat in the middle of the ocean,…
Working at a massage therapy and medical arts college has its perks. If I have a kink in my neck, there are about 30 people in the building who can fix it. If I need my blood pressure or temperature taken, I see the nurse three doors down from my office. If someone is having…
Trying to go to bed last night was difficult. I felt like a little girl, too excited to sleep before her first day of school. And by excited I mean terrified and by first day of school I mean breast cancer exam. I went to work for a few hours this morning and felt more…
Last night, I doused my hands in moisturizer, slid a pair of cotton socks over them, and went downstairs to watch a movie with my fiance. It wasn’t until I was comfortably snuggled on the couch and resting my face on one of my sock-puppet hands that I realized how normal this was to me/us.…
Wrote this fervently after my session so I could remember every little detail before they slip away. Please excuse any typos/grammatical errors 🙂————————————————————————— I just had my first hypnosis session with Virginia. It was one of the most bizarre yet most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had. I was really scared of being hypnotized. Virginia is…
The Other Courtney 