To Exist is to Flare: Labor-Less – A Restorative Workshop for Chronic Illness & Disability
September 7, 2025 | 1–4PM PST / 4–7PM EST
Hosted by We Are Urban Haiku
"To exist is to flare."
To ache. To adapt. To be misunderstood. To still rise.
This fall, join us for a radical, restorative workshop that centers the lived realities of chronic illness and invisible disability—not as problems to be fixed, but as truths to be honored.
Led by authors and cultural workers Ella deCastro Baron and Anya Pearson, To Exist is to Flare: Labor-Less is a gentle, immersive space for those navigating the cycles of sickness, misdiagnosis, mental health, burnout, flare-ups, grief, and the very real tension between surviving in a capitalist world and reclaiming your humanity.
🌿 About This Workshop
Date: Sunday, September 7, 2025
Time: 1–4pm PST / 4–7pm EST
Where: Online via Zoom
Who Should Join: Anyone living with chronic illness (visible or invisible), neurodivergence, trauma, mental health challenges, or anyone exhausted by the myth of constant productivity.
💬 What We’ll Explore
This session holds space for both deep introspection and collective witnessing. Through writing prompts, somatic practices, and open conversation, we’ll explore:
The colonial roots of how Western culture pathologizes illness and values labor over life
The emotional and financial costs of survival with chronic or invisible conditions
The gaslighting and dismissal so many of us experience in medical spaces
The beauty, mundanity, and sacredness of our flare-ups, fatigue, and frustrations
The liberatory act of rest as resistance
Reimagining fall not just as a season, but as a metaphor for slowing down, letting go, and listening inward
Inspired by Brontë Velez’s question:
“How can I be useless to capitalism?”
This workshop becomes a ritual of reclaiming your worth beyond work.
🍂 Why Fall? Why Now?
Fall is inherently liminal—a transitional time when nature reminds us that less is sacred.
Less striving, more being
Less “fixing,” more honoring
Less labor, more joy-l (yes, joy and LOL)
As leaves let go, so do we.
As the daylight shortens, we deepen our rest.
As our bodies shift with the season, so do our ways of being.
🧘🏽♀️ What You’ll Experience
Grounding rituals & guided writing
Collective reflection and storytelling
A space for messy truth, not polished performance
Emotional and spiritual nourishment
Gentle practices to carry beyond the session
A sense of being seen, affirmed, and not alone
🙌🏽 Led By:
Ella deCastro Baron – writer, professor, and chronic illness truth-teller whose work centers decolonial healing, Filipina-American identity, and embodied vulnerability.
Anya Pearson – award-winning playwright, actor, educator, and co-founder of We Are Urban Haiku, committed to storytelling as social justice and liberation.
Together, they create a space of tenderness and truth, where you don’t have to explain, apologize, or perform.
🛒 Reserve Your Spot Today
👉 Sign Up for To Exist is to Flare: Labor-Less
Sliding scale pricing available
Priority given to BIPOC, chronically ill, and disabled participants
Access needs? Reach out—we got you.
🙋♀️ FAQs
Q: Do I need to be a writer to join?
Not at all. This space is for everyone, not just artists or “creatives.” Writing is used as reflection, not performance.
Q: What if I can’t stay for the full 3 hours?
No problem. Come as you are, stay as long as you're able. This space honors capacity and flexibility.
Q: Will the session be recorded?
Due to the sensitive nature of the space, it will not be recorded to protect participant privacy.
Q: Can I attend from anywhere?
Yes! This is an online workshop. All you need is Zoom, a quiet space (if possible), and something to write with.
🌾 Because You Were Never Meant to Heal Alone
Let this fall be the beginning of a gentler rhythm.
Let this workshop be a soft landing place for your pain, your beauty, your truth.
Join us. Rest with us. Flare with us.
