When communication IS self-care.
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 10/19/25
This week’s Sunday Self-Care Chronicles isn’t about a new self-care technique—it’s about something even more foundational: communication, safety, and trust. After a heartfelt exchange with a reader, I was reminded how vital honest dialogue is in a community like ours.
This week’s issue touches on:
✨ Why communication is one of the most powerful forms of care
✨ How individuality and shared experience can coexist
✨ The connection between Identity, Community, and healing
Read the full email below - and if something speaks to you please feel free to comment, share, or reach out!
Hi sweet friend, and happy Sunday.
I’d promised to share some actionable self-care resources with you this week, but something came up that felt important to talk about first.
Don’t worry—those resources are coming next week (for real, for real!). But this week’s message is about something even more foundational: communication, safety, and trust.
This week, I had a heartfelt exchange with a reader that reminded me how vital those things are in any community—especially ours.
She reached out to share her perspective on one of my recent pieces, and she did so with honesty, thoughtfulness, and courage.
The conversation that followed was full of reflection, mutual respect, and genuine care.
It reminded me that while I can speak from my own experience, there’s always more to learn by listening.
I do my best to approach every topic I share—especially around breast cancer and survivorship—with honesty, compassion, and curiosity.
But my lens is shaped by my own life: what I’ve lived through and what I witness every day in my practice.
That means there will be times when I miss the mark or when something lands differently than I hoped.
Because even when we share a diagnosis or similar treatments, no two experiences of breast cancer are ever the same.
How we make sense of it, how we move through it, and how we express it will always be deeply personal.
Some of us find meaning in the walks and pink ribbons—showing up in tutus, tattoos, or T-shirts that tell the world what we’ve lived through.
Others prefer to live their experience more quietly or express it in ways that aren’t visible at all.
Some shout about the stats; others focus on the faces behind them. Both are acts of love.
These differences aren’t barriers—they’re expressions of individuality within a shared community, proof that unity doesn’t require uniformity.
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to sharing your truth. It’s all powerful.
What matters most is that we feel free to be ourselves, to connect with others who understand us, and to respect the choices and voices that look different from our own.
That, to me, is what community really means: the ability to hold space for differences without losing our shared sense of care and humanity.
And it ties directly to identity—the understanding that each of us gets to define who we are and how we show up in the world, without needing to fit any particular mold.
So to everyone who’s ever hit reply—whether to share encouragement, gratitude, or a gentle correction—thank you.
You remind me that healing isn’t something we do alone; it’s something we build together, one honest exchange at a time.
Because we truly are in this together…
ps. Can’t wait for next week’s practical self-care tips? You can browse the blog now for plenty of ideas and inspiration.
pps. If you’d like more personalized guidance for your own recovery or survivorship journey, I’d love to connect through an Ask Amy consultation.
ppps. If you like what you read here please consider forwarding this email to a friend or sharing it on your socials.