Overview

Megan-Claire Chase loves to talk.

But after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Megs found that her anxiety made it hard to speak up.

So what'd she do?

She started a blog.

Today Megs - also known as "Warrior Megsie" in the cancer world - is a voice for change and hope, writing about chronic pain, infertility, anger, race, and much more.

In this conversation, I speak with Megs about why she started writing, what keeps her going, why she doesn't want to be labeled as a black cancer survivor, and what she's found most rewarding.

Highlights

7:15 - "It's all for me. I think that's what's so authentic because I don't write for clicks or likes or retweets."

8:15 - "A lot of times people see as one way. I have a very big personality... but I'm actually really, really serious at times. And I hurt a lot but I don't always show that. I tell people I'm winning Oscars every day because you never really know how I'm feeling until I write it out."

9:15 - "I've unfortunately dealt with so much that's been difficult that the only way I can really release that stress and that negativity or that worry and frustration is through writing it."

10:30 - "I think as I've gotten older I don't care, really, what other people think. I'm not worried someone's going to be like 'Oh my god, this is horrible!' I'm not writing for that. It's literally just to release these emotions. Whether it's happy, whether it's sad, who knows what I'm going to come up with. But it's me at the end of the day."

12:30 - "I had to do what I had to do so I wouldn't go crazy, and it just happened to be writing."

14:15 - "I just feel it's so unfair to have that pressure to be positive in front of everyone, so when I wrote those particular pieces I was helping another person make space for that."

16:15 - "What a lot of people don't realize within the cancer world is a lot of times it can cause chronic pain."

19:30 - "Yeah I'm angry because this body is alien to me. I don't know it."

26:15 - "Just because you survived doesn't mean you're totally okay, and I felt it was important that people could see that."

28:30 - "When I look in the mirror, I see all the other stuff that's mixed in with me... so I get really upset when people see me as one thing. I feel like in the cancer world I do not want to be labeled the black cancer survivor."

31:30 - "Stop making all these assumptions and just ask the question."

32:15 - "I just don't like the idea of a lot of organizations trying to make me a token."

Resources

A few of my favorite posts from Megs' blog, Life on the Cancer Train:"And I Rise Up""Mixed Fragility""The Problem with Words""Decade of Job Growth Comes to an End, Undone by a Pandemic" in the New York Times

Get in touch

Newsletter: chrisbordoni.com/newsletterTwitter: @ChrisBordoniInstagram: @chrisbordoniLinkedIn: cbordoniWeb: chrisbordoni.com

Thanks so much for listening!