Teddy Goetz

Teddy Goetz is an overly enthusiastic medical student, writer, photographer, biker, runner, and research dork, with a penchant for cooking without recipes and referencing Audre Lorde, Donna Haraway, and Buffy. His goal (as both an artist and a doctor-in-training) is to help people feel seen. His prior training includes an MS in transgender hormone therapy and BS in biochemistry and gender studies, focusing on interdisciplinary scientific research informed by individual embodied experiences. More of her recent poetry and photography can be found in Journal of the Medical Humanities, The Intima, Wards, Ponder Review, Heirlock, Watershed Review, SIREN, Tendon, and Reflexions magazines.

Website: lauragouldgoetz.com

Social Media: @lauragouldgoetz on Instagram

Response to creative prompt: "When I look in the mirror, I see..."

When I look in the mirror, I see…eerie normalcy. Each morning I peer intently leaning in, hoping against all odds for the smallest externalization to validate what is otherwise all in my head(ache). I cannot document an explanation as to why my mind is working slowly, why I literally screamed when a penlight accidentally flashed in my eye, why I no longer frequent parks, why I stopped going out because I couldn’t bear to lose the pre-dawn hours when I’m able to bike without collapsing from searing pain, or why I get knocked flat each time rain is in the forecast. I just try to keep doing my job day after day, convincing myself that there will be a place of peace in this new normal if I look closely enough.