URevolution’s top ten reads: Looking back on our first year

I’ve never been into birthdays, and barely celebrate my own. The forced excitement, the cake, everyone who feels the need to buy me a drink. It’s just all too much.

What I do like, however, is playing this fun little game in my mind called, “Where Were You Then?” Whenever a milestone comes by, I like to sit back and think about what I was doing at that exact time one year ago, and what country I was living in. I also like to ask myself, “Did you ever imagine this is where you’d be?”

The answer is always no.

Exactly one year ago, I was feverishly working with my husband and co-founder, Brendan, about 18 hours a day trying to get www.urevolution.com up. I was also in the process of finishing my MBA. (I seem to like punishment.) Anyway, as I think about our first birthday as a company, and – I guess – my first birthday as a CEO, I find myself asking the question of whether the reality of today matches the vision of one year ago.

Honestly, this time it more or less has. That’s not to say it’s been a wonderfully easy ride. It’s more to say that the long days, short nights, anxiety, and empty wallet were expected. So yeah, I’m living the broke entrepreneur dream, pretty much exactly like I’d imagined one year ago. I’m hungry, but boy am I fulfilled.

On this milestone, I find myself again looking back in moments of purposeful reflection. Our magazine has a mission, and we want to ensure that we’re meeting that. As I thought more about where we came from and where we’re going, I wanted to know what you, our readers, think. I wanted to know, of the hundreds of articles we published over the year, which ones you liked the most. I also wanted to get a sense of what topics resonated the most with you, in hopes that we can do it again same time next year.

So here’s a countdown of the 10 most read articles over the past year, listed in ascending order from least most read, to most read (according to our analytics):

Sarah’s daughter has depression and a desire to self-harm, but she feels like no one wants to talk to her about it. Sarah’s witty account of how hard it is to find other parents of kids with a mental illness is an honest tale about parenting a child living with a mental illness.

Read

This is a long read, but it’s well worth it. Sit back and plan to spend some time going through this well-researched journalistic piece by URevolution Writing Fellow, Madison Salters. Madison takes an in-depth look at how racism affects the mental health of people of color. She also reports on how people of color are often treated differently by mental health professionals, which in turn can have negative impacts on their overall health.

Read

Miriam is the type of writer who will make you laugh within seconds of reading her work. She’s so honest and has a wicked sense of humor. In this cheeky tale, she shatters some of the stereotypes we have about PTSD. In particular, we tend to think it’s something that “only soldiers get”. Miriam reminds us that’s not the case.

Read

Huntington’s disease, also known as Huntington’s chorea, is an inherited disorder that results in the death of brain cells. Andres’ discovery into what he calls his “family’s dark secret” sheds a light on how genetic illnesses can impact family dynamics. Andres says once he become aware his family had the gene that causes Huntington’s, it changed how he saw his family.

Read

6.Time to stop avoiding it; embrace your inner awkwardness

by URevolution

No matter how painful, verbalizing your thoughts and feelings is a hugely important part of sustaining a healthy and happy brain. And, the more awkward conversations you have, the better you’ll get at them. This article takes a list at the ways having an awkward conversation can actually benefit you in the long run.

Read

Healthcare gaslighting is the manipulation of a person by healthcare professionals, forcing them to question their thoughts, memories, and the events associated with how they physically or mentally feel. Miriam gives us a painful reminder of how especially this is for women simply diagnosed as “fat” by their doctors. And, as a result, don’t take their medical symptoms seriously.

Read

Hayley Jade lives with a chronic illness. And although, as she says, “the #ChronicLife isn’t a cushy one”, her job as an escort keeps her in good spirits. Hayley has some great stories to share about her work with clients, many of whom are Disabled.

Read

Dating with a chronic illness can be tricky. You’re always trying to figure out just when you should reveal your diagnosis. On the flip side, if you’re the partner of someone with a chronic illness like Diabetes, you’ll have questions like Will I have to give them injections? Will I have to be a caregiver? Will it interfere with our sex life? Macey Bee takes us through some of those.

Read

Paul is an indie songwriter and photographer from Chicago, Illinois. What’s different about this piece is it’s fiction, which definitely makes it stand out from the rest of the articles on urevolution.com. This is a heartfelt, engaging read on addiction and relationships.

Read

1. OCD: I don’t think I want to have sex with my Dad

by Miriam Swallow Adler

Raw and honest wins with the UR community. Your favorite article is this wonderfully authentic tale about dealing with sexual obsessions as a result of OCD.

Read

Like I said, we’d love to do this again. Same time next year. If you’ve enjoyed the articles on our site, and you want us to stick around for a bit, consider becoming a Patron. Our Patrons help us pay the bills, and ensure that we can pay Disabled content creators well for their work. Patrons also enjoy lifetime discounts on everything in our store. Do some good and join us. Just click the “Become a Patron” button below to support Disabled content creators.

Happy reading!