It’s been exactly six months since my retina detached and I lost sight in my left eye. The eye is mostly back to normal now — by any medical standard, I’ve been very lucky and had a dramatic recovery with no permanent loss of vision. (I was in Canada when the detachment happened, so it was longer than ideal between when I realized what was happening and surgery). I can’t see as well as I used to out of that eye — there’s a lot of stuff still in my vision and my night vision is laughable, but I’m grateful for what I have.

For the hours while I knew it was happening and there was nothing I could do but wait to get home for surgery, I worried about my career. I’ve been a freelancer for a long time, but I’ve stopped work completely so many times over the past few years and had to restart from scratch — mostly pandemic/childcare related. I wondered to myself if I could do it again.

This week, at the six month milestone (a big deal for retinal detachment patients — my vision is considered to have finally “settled,” I just finished up my first week as a freelance space editor for Inverse. I wrote an article on the upcoming annular eclipse for Fast Company, I got an assignment from Wired for a video game review, and I am prepping to guest host Science Friday next week, along with a few other cool things.

I find myself extremely grateful for what I have, what I’ve built, and the lucky breaks I’ve gotten along the way. Thank you all for reading this far.

This week's space news

NASA is going to a metal-rich asteroid to study Earth’s core

This satellite is brighter than almost all the stars in our night sky

Hubble captured a mysterious bright light between galaxies

Don’t forget the annular eclipse is TOMORROW in North and South America!

As always, consider buying my book!

Stargazing: Contemplate the Cosmos to Find Inner Peace is available wherever you buy books.