To Exist Is To Flare: Howl-Daze – A Radical Holiday Gathering for the Chronically Ill

May 5

The holiday season is a paradox. For some, it's a time of joy, celebration, and connection. But for many of us—especially those navigating chronic illness—it feels more like a pressure cooker wrapped in tinsel. The cultural script of forced cheer, perfectionism, and unrelenting social obligations rarely leaves space for the messy, real, painful, and profound experiences that come with chronic mental and physical illness.

That’s where To Exist is to Flare: Howl-Daze comes in. This isn’t your typical holiday event. It’s not about pretending everything’s fine or masking the truth under glitter and garland. Hosted by the fierce and luminous Ella deCastro Baron and Anya Pearson, this creative sick bay invites you to exhale, express, and exist—just as you are. Join this powerful online gathering on December 7, 2025, from 1–4pm PST / 4–7pm EST, and step into a space that sees you, hears you, and holds space for the whole truth of your being.

Howl Through the Holidays—With Community

Let’s face it—the holidays can hurt. And for those of us dealing with chronic pain, fatigue, invisible illness, or neurodivergence, they can feel downright unbearable. We navigate the emotional minefield of medical gaslighting, performative family dinners, and unsolicited advice (“Have you tried goat yoga?”) while managing the exhausting toll of just being alive in a body that doesn’t work the way others expect it to.

To Exist Is To Flare: Howl-Daze is the balm for that burn. It's an online sanctuary for the sick, the tired, the grieving, the overwhelmed—those whose realities are often erased in the mainstream holiday narrative. This is not just a vent session (though you’re welcome to scream into the void). It’s a radical act of community care, creative expression, and truth-telling.

What to Expect: Love, Language, and Liberation

This isn't about fixing you. It’s about honoring you. The workshop offers a brave and soft container where you can come as you are—flared up, flared out, or anywhere in between. You’ll engage in creative writing exercises that help you process, explore, and express what your body and mind are holding. You’ll listen to others who walk a similar path, maybe for the first time feeling seen in the places you've felt most invisible.

This is not a therapy session. It’s a celebration of sick wisdom. Together, we will:

Play with somatic storytelling: Using our bodies—however they show up—as gateways to creativity.
Reclaim our love languages: Tossing out toxic positivity and instead offering each other tenderness, humor, tears, and care.
Uncover our own medicine: Through writing, sharing, and bearing witness to one another’s truths.

No medical advice. No pressure to perform. Just raw, real, revolutionary storytelling.

Sliding Scale, Because You Deserve It

We know the financial cost of chronic illness is devastating. So To Exist Is To Flare: Howl-Daze is offered on a sliding scale starting at $50, because healing spaces should be accessible, not another bill you can’t afford. If you need this space, it’s yours. Period. And if you have the means, paying it forward helps keep this circle open for others.

You can join however you’re able—lying in bed, camera off, drifting in and out. You are not expected to be “on.” Just be. Your presence is enough.

This Isn’t a Workshop. It’s a Reclamation.

Western culture tells us that every illness should have a cure. It teaches us to hustle toward healing as if it's a finish line—and if you haven’t reached it yet, you’re not trying hard enough. But what if the goal isn’t to be cured, but to be seen? Loved? Understood?

To Exist Is To Flare rejects the ableist myth of linear healing. We’re done with the gaslighting—from doctors, from coworkers, even from well-meaning family members. We’re done being polite when we’re in pain. We’re ready to howl.

This is a space where your stories—whether mundane or magnificent, blistered or brilliant—can finally take up the space they deserve. Because they matter. Because you matter.

Conclusion: Let This Be Your Sanctuary

If the holidays leave you aching for rest, honesty, and solidarity, To Exist Is To Flare: Howl-Daze is your sacred timeout. It’s a moment carved out of the chaos—a creative ritual of resistance and restoration for those who have had enough of pretending. Come write. Come weep. Come laugh. Come rest. Come exactly as you are.

You are not alone. You are not broken. You are not too much.
You are art in motion. Let your story flare.

Register today at weareurbanhaiku.com. Sliding scale available. No one turned away.

FAQs

1. Who is this event for?
Anyone living with chronic illness—physical, mental, or emotional—is welcome. If you’ve ever felt unseen in your struggle, this space is for you.

2. Do I need writing experience?
Not at all. This isn’t about being a “writer.” It’s about being real. Everyone has a story worth telling—especially yours.

3. What does ‘sliding scale’ mean?
You choose the price that works for you. We understand chronic illness comes with financial strain, and we never want cost to be a barrier.

4. Can I join if I’m not feeling well the day of?
Absolutely. Come however you can. Whether you're lying down, off camera, or just listening, your presence matters.

5. What makes this different from other workshops?
This is sick-informed, radically inclusive, and centered around real, lived experience. There’s no pressure to heal or perform—only a deep invitation to be.

Awais Raza