I've done NaNo in the past and I found it fun, but for months after that i was very tired and drained. I haven't done NaNo in about four years now as I adjust to North Carolina life and heal from trauma and grow into myself. However, I am going to be trying it this year. I have set the bar low, but if I make 50k, then I will be happy. If not, that's OK too. The point is, is that I have made the effort. I think it's great to help build or rebuild the habit of writing daily, but I need to be mindful of my limitations and slow down if I need to.

Hello, I'm Essence (she, her, hers) from Goldsboro, NC. I joined this café community because I am looking to have more connections to other writers living with disabilities/limitations. I have PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder with some psychotic features, and autism. I have been an admirer of Esme since 2016 and was seeking writing about mental health and illness by people of color and learned about The Collected Schizophrenias. I have always appreciated and been a fan of Esme's openness and honesty. It's refreshing to see, and a touchpoint for me to reach. I am currently reading several books, which is not out of the ordinary for me. I have some religious studying I am doing, and then I'm reading Jericho Brown's Please; Ntozake Shange's Sassafras, Cypress, & Indigo; and some other books I can't think of right now. I enjoy lots of books, and I will read almost anything. I do really enjoy personal essay/memoir especially, as well as poetry. I miss my huge collection of books I had to leave behind in New Jersey, another story for another day. I am interested in writing about how to make changes in our society for the better, using my lived experience as an example. I also want for there to be more representation in the literary industry mainstream. I have many ideas bouncing around my head; it's a matter of how I am going to make them a reality. I think my favorite book is probably Sunflowers, by Sheramy Bundrick. That was the first book I was able to read in a day (after several years of not being able to read more than a few pages of material) and it was engaging. Sad, but still, to Essence in her early 20s, a beautiful book. The depictions of van Gogh's mental illness were realistic and not exploded to caricature. They felt sincerely researched and written, as was the book as a whole. Now I want to order it...