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10 Things My Last Breakup Taught Me
Almost three years to the date, I am still pondering my last breakup. Except this time, it’s a really calm, accepting sort of place I’m in compared to years prior. I’ve reached a point of gratitude...
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From One Survivor to Another: An Open Letter to Suicide Survivors
In the wake of Robin Williams’ tragic death, I have had to distance myself from social media. The conversations being had about suicide are overwhelming at best and infuriating at worst. There are a...
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10 Things I Learned During My First Day in Grad School
After a summer of anticipation, excitement, and anxiety, I finally began classes yesterday. I suppose this means that if there were ever any doubt before, I am most definitely a graduate student now....
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Four Major Myths About Mental Illness: A Guide For Artists
As a writer, I’ve encountered a lot of myths about what it means to have a mental illness and be an artist. They are gross and icky myths, ultimately because they hurt people rather than helping them....
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What You’re Actually Saying When You Ignore Someone’s Gender Pronouns
It can’t be emphasized enough: Coming out as transgender or any variation thereof is downright terrifying. It is often met with criticism, resistance, and invalidation. When I came out to friends, it...
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So You’re Bipolar: Advice for the Newly Diagnosed
Please note: This is a blog entry that talks about my personal experience, and what has worked best for me, one human being. I am not an objective authority, I am not a doctor. I am a person with...
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I didn’t vanish! I promise!
First of all, I wanted to share my professional website with all my followers: samdylanfinch.com This is new and exciting, and a great place to visit every once in a while to see what I’m up to!...
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Amanda Bynes, Robin Williams, and the Spectacle of Mental Illness
Internet, we need to have a talk. I’ve had a number of readers ask why I’ve neglected to write about Amanda Bynes this last year. It’s simple, really. I don’t believe that celebrities are “fair game,”...
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Visibility Matters: Why Sharing Our Stories Will Change the World
Around this time last week, I was a procrastinating graduate student, managing a small blog, with a following of wonderful friends and friends-of-friends who found my writing to be interesting. As I...
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Street Harassment: Not Just a Cisgender Issue
Photo Credit: unsplash.com Street harassment, and the ways in which women feel unsafe in public spaces, is finally getting some much-deserved attention and dialogue in the mainstream. For example, a...
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Until Michigan Gives LGBTQ Residents Their Dignity, My Partner and I Will...
Our engagement rings. 10/18/12 When I received my acceptance letter for a master’s program in California, my partner and I already knew that we would leave our home state of Michigan, where we were...
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Don’t Believe the Hype: Admitting Transgender Students is Not Enough
photo: unsplash.com I knew I was in trouble when my first letter from my dream school addressed me by the wrong name. Frantic, I called the college, explaining that I was transgender, and informing...
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VIDEO: “Spectacle of Mental Illness” Article, Animated!
Artist Chara Bui has created an animated version of the article, “Amanda Bynes, Robin Williams, and the Spectacle of Mental Illness.” We are so excited to share it with all of you! Check it out: Like,...
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I Am Transgender, and I Am “Trans Enough.”
No matter what I look like, I’m still trans*. I know, I know, it’s Friday! Whoa, Sam, what is this about? Yes, I don’t usually blog on Fridays, as you may know. But something came up, and I wanted to...
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8 Things That I Learned In Therapy
Illustration by Jessica Krcmarik. Therapy didn’t result in a singular epiphany that changed everything for me. There wasn’t a light bulb moment when I realized that everything stemmed from some...
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LQTU! Stands in Solidarity With the Brave Protesters in Ferguson and Beyond
Illustration by Jessica Krcmarik I will say this upfront: As someone who will never know the heavy weight of institutionalized racism, the fear and terror of simply existing in a black or brown body,...
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I Believe in You: An Open Letter to Teens with Mental Health Struggles
Photo: unsplash.com I can’t pinpoint exactly when my battle with mental illness began, but I do know that by the time I was a teenager, it was in full swing. I can also say that when I was fourteen, I...
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For the Last Time: Mental Illnesses Are Not Adjectives
Ugh. So let’s talk about this mess: Pictured above is a flyer that reads, “IS THE BIBLE’S GOD BIPOLAR?” in a large font. It includes the name of an organization, “Ratio Christi,” in a stylized text...
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The “Self-Help” Genre Has a Big Problem with Depression
Self-help articles are great. In this day and age, the internet is one of the largest sources of self-help content — and as someone who loves to uplift others and be uplifted, this is a genre that I...
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8 Tips on Respectfully Talking Pleasure, Sex, and Bodies With Your Trans Lover
This piece is one I wrote originally for Everyday Feminism, cross-posted with permission. Because I feel conversations about sex and consent are so important, especially when they pertain to less...
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