An Ode To Catastrophizing

I am a strategic thinker. The CliftonStrengths test confirmed this to be true. I like to have plans in place, options and ways to easily pivot when plans change. This also means I like to think about all the ways something will go wrong. Then I can go down a rabbit hole. Everything is horrible and the world is on fire. Oh, wait. That's what everyone is doing these days. This past weekend, a friend and I were discussing how every generation says "this is the worst it's ever been." Sure, it's easy to feel that way in 2023. On the heels of a global pandemic, a rocky economy, mass shootings ... there's a whole lot of uncertainty. A lot of danger. I'll be the first to admit, I don't have a happy feeling in the pit of my stomach. But don't you think the people who were victims in...
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Can You Please Stop Talking About My Body

I’m a woman who has never struggled with her weight - until I did. I also struggled with infertility. In fact, before I got pregnant with my second, who is now 8, I was told I would not be able to get pregnant again. Fortunately, God had other plans. After that pregnancy, I gained a substantial amount of weight. I tried everything to lose it. I did every diet out there, I tracked macros, did HIIT workouts, worked out at a strength and conditioning gym, met with certified nutritionists, cried countless hours all while the weight continued to pile on. I even tried some of those gimmick wraps to try and see if I could help with the bloat. But no, it didn’t work. Some of these so-called experts flat out told me I must be lying about my food logs because there was no way I was eating as...
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When Did Our Girls Get So Sassy?

Okay, so, I love the sass. Big fan. Seriously, can’t get enough. Huge eye-roller. I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t know my exact eye color when I was growing up for this exact reason, but I feel at some point between my teen-angsty mid-nineties youth and now we have gone wildly astray. It’s like our girls have lost that boundary between sassy and outright disrespect. They also do not care at all about the consequences. I mean, maybe they care a little, but so many are completely okay with taking the punishment for the crimes they’ve committed. The care level is too inconsequential for my taste. Maybe that’s the issue more than the sass. But the sass is strong, my friends. The sass is strong. I started noticing it at age 9. AGE NINE! When it first started rearing its ugly head, I was mystified. My husband was dropping the...
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Welcome To My Spicy Disaster

So, now felt like as good a time as any to resurrect my blog. I'm insanely busy and stress has become what I eat three meals a day, but my best stress outlet has always been my writing. I've always felt it most cathartic. My anxiety always drives me outward. I've never been the kind of person who can sit in silence and listen to something quietly and breathe deeply for 20 minutes. Noooooo ... that doesn't work for me. My brain thinks that's its cue to think about all the 95 million things I should be doing. That's why I enjoy dancing it out (yes, Shonda Rhimes/Grey's Anatomy people stole that idea from me. My best friend and I have been doing that since the 90s. She can back me up on that.) I write. I've never stopped writing even when I've stopped blogging. I use the notes app...
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Heather Chastain

About Heather

(So, my web designer says I needed to include a bio, though I find this task silly because, if you’re here, you know me.)

I’m a writer. It’s what I do. It’s a cathartic mechanism when I need release from my anxiety. I’ve had blogs in the past; I’ve taken them down, but I never stopped writing. I simply can’t. My notes app is forever long as it’s filled with pages and pages of different topics. Sometimes I just write a few sentences. Sometimes I write paragraphs.

Recently, I've been writing long essays. My friends and others I hold dear have coaxed me into sharing my work again.

So that's what I'm doing, you wicked, pushy people. LOL

I have no desire to see my writing be anything more than an opportunity to share what I love doing most. I have no interest in this blog reaching the masses.

I thought it would be fun to call it My Spicy Disaster because that's often how I feel. A complete mess of epic proportion. So join me, if you'd like, and let's pretend we're not sitting amongst the chaos crying, but laughing instead.

Or maybe we do cry sometimes, but then wipe our tears and remember one person’s disaster is another person’s … well, who the hell knows …

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