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Monday call Insights
Breaking Down the Scapegoat: How Herpes (or Any Challenge) Can Help You Face Your Truth
Life has a funny way of forcing us to face the truths we’d rather avoid, doesn’t it? Sometimes, those truths come wrapped in challenges we didn’t ask for—like a herpes diagnosis. It’s easy to let that challenge become the scapegoat for everything else that isn’t going right in our lives. Trust me, I get it. We all lean on something to avoid digging deeper. Whether it’s substances like drugs or alcohol, or behaviors like binge eating, compulsive shopping, gambling, gaming, smoking, or eve…
Embracing Every Part of Your Life: Including Herpes
Wow, friends, it’s the first week of 2025, and it feels so good to be back with you all! Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays, but I’m definitely ready to know what day it is and maybe cut back on the pumpkin pies and cookies. (Although, if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen I just baked another batch of chocolate chip cookies—oops!)
As many of you know, I had a baby in early November, and life’s been a bit of a blur. But now that Conrad is two months old, I think we’ve ma…
Timeless Dating Advice: Wisdom from Every Season of Life
We're back—or more like I’m back—writing weekly blog posts! If you’ve been following along, you know I had my second baby in November, so it’s taken me a little time to find my rhythm again. Last night, I managed to snag a solid three-hour sleep chunk and hit a total of seven hours—so, I’m feeling surprisingly chipper today! Let’s dive into this week’s topic, which was inspired by one of our incredible support group calls.
If you’ve been here a while, you know how much I love our Monday cal…
Wondering If You’re Experiencing a Herpes Outbreak? Here’s What You Need to Know
As you all know, I love our weekly support group calls. It warms my heart to meet with people from all over the world, with different upbringings, cultures, and demographics, and to see us unite on one topic. We are all going to get through our diagnosis, and we're going to be able to live our lives with herpes.
When I was diagnosed in 2011, I felt so alone, scared, and lost. I would cry daily, sitting in my sorrow and misery. It was isolating and terrifying. As you all know, there are so m…
Exploring the Connection Between Women’s Health and Genital Herpes: A Personal Journey and Community Insights
This week’s support group calls were deeply impactful, with both familiar faces and new members joining from all over the world. Witnessing everyone’s transformation over time has been heartwarming. We covered some crucial topics, particularly female health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like herpes, and I’d love to share some insights from those discussions, along with personal reflections on my own health journey.
My Personal Health Journey: From Infections to Herpes
Looking …
Navigating Life With Herpes: Understanding Transmission and Embracing Parenthood
As always, I enjoy our weekly Monday support groups. We had some new members this week, and that always warms my heart. I love seeing how our community embraces new faces, offering kindness, empathy, and solidarity. One new member shared a beautiful reflection that moved me deeply: she expressed how grateful she was for finding the support group, as without it, she believed she would have been in a much darker place. She described still being in what she called the "Eeyore phase," feeling de…
Managing Herpes: What to Expect After a Diagnosis and How to Cope with Outbreaks
As you all know, I love our Monday support group calls. We had some new faces this week, and it was, of course, wonderful to welcome new people. I also love seeing the members who have been coming for years. We are all united by one thing—a microscopic virus. We are all here to learn, understand, and heal from our diagnosis. So, with that being said, let's talk a bit about being newly diagnosed since we had some new members this week.
I received some questions about what types of symptoms to …
Navigating the Emotional Waves of Herpes: Lessons from Our Community Support Call
This week’s support group call felt like a family reunion. We dove deep into conversations that stirred up some heavy emotions, especially around getting that first outbreak or experiencing one after a long period of dormancy. Herpes can bring up so many thoughts and feelings, and it’s important that we address them head-on, just like we did during the call.
One of the most profound questions raised was, "Do you ever have that moment when you think, 'I have herpes,' and feel down about it? What…
Why We Reject Our Partners First: A Deep Dive into Self-Worth and Herpes
This week on our support group call, we welcomed new members—yay! For those of you who have been with me for a while, you all know how much I love having new members in our community. What I find so important about our Secret Society is that we are made up of people from all over the world: different ages, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. In many cases, if we were put in a room, we may never have struck up a conversation, but because we’re united by one microscopic virus, we’ve come t…
Healing in Community: Why We Speak Out About Herpes
Breaking the Stigma: Why Our Herpes Support Community Matters
As always, I love our support group calls. If you're in the Secret Society Support Group and not jumping on the calls, then you are totally missing out on meeting your community friends and healing along the way. If you're not a member of the Secret Society Support Group, then you need to jump on board! We are a community of people from all over the world who are joined together by one thing: a herpes diagnosis. One of my fav…