Welcome to The Shrieking Cactus
A weekly newsletter about making meaning from trauma and how to be less prickly in life, plus some nature stuff.
Howdy! I’m so happy you’re here. My name is Joy and I’m an experienced health journalist (and recovering crankypants).
The Shrieking Cactus newsletter is for prickly people recovering from trauma and/or learning to love themselves and the world in general, especially for (but not exclusively) nature lovers. All are welcome.
Ongoing series include:
Hard-Earned Lessons: Research-backed takeaways and/or personal stories on mental health, trauma recovery, and putting self-care into action.
Your Stories: Interviews and discussions with other people about how they created meaning from a harrowing life experience. (Contact me to reach out if you have a story to tell.)
Finding Joy: My slow, ongoing quest to better understand who I am and how I want my life to change now that I’ve gotten through the hard part (I hope!).
Resilient Nature: A big source of my healing and inspiration is via the natural world, especially resilient critters that thrive despite rampant human encroachment.
More about Joy
Howdy! I’m a writer and longtime health journalist living in Austin, Texas. My memoir was named a finalist in the both the 2022 and 2023 Writers’ League of Texas manuscript contest.
Please see my About page for my story and driving motivations for this newsletter.
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