J.G. Chayko

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A Pandemic Summer, An Extraordinary Life

By jgchayko | July 19, 2020

Springtime came in quietly this year, lush with vibrant life and cherry blossoms. It was an unusual spring. The commerce that ran our daily lives was suspended in the web of an inhospitable virus. For a few weeks, the human footprint was reduced, and the natural world flourished. Mother Nature was given her chance to…

Resurgence: A Covid life with RA

By jgchayko | June 13, 2020

The sun warms my skin through the window. The mountains rise on either side of the road, green and lush from the spring rains sweeping through the valley. The blue sky is dappled with wisps of high cloud as we drive down the twisting highway. Once over the peak, we dip down into the desert…

The Twilight

By jgchayko | May 17, 2020

The day is nearing its end. The traffic is hushed, the wind wafts softly through the leaves; the birds are singing their evening song. The heaving world is moving into stillness. I sit on my patio and exhale the remains of another day, take a moment to unwind beneath a purple sky pin-pricked with starlight,…

Sometimes You Just Have to Say…

By jgchayko | April 18, 2020

I like to think I’m a pretty positive person – and when RA invaded my life, I found a way to look at the lighter side. I rarely complain about my flares and bad days because, quite frankly, those of us who have some form of inflammatory arthritis already know how bad it can get,…

Re-Imagining the New Normal

By jgchayko | March 29, 2020

These are strange days for the world. A viral epidemic has set boundaries on our lives, and cultivated fear in the masses. It’s created an environment where groups and communities compete to set themselves above others, when all of humanity is on equal footing in the face of this outbreak. This is an unprecedented time….

25 Minutes…

By jgchayko | February 23, 2020

The west coast winters are rainy and damp as opposed to icy and snowy – but in recent years, we’ve had random episodes of snowfall, small in comparison to the rest of the country but significant enough that our little harbor city becomes a little more challenging to navigate. The snow we get is wet…

RA Sins in Sin City

By jgchayko | January 26, 2020

At the end of 2019, we took our annual trip to Vegas – it was a much-needed vacation after a year long program with the Writer’s Studio. The desert calls to me and it always offers a reprieve from painful joints. Winter or summer, the dry environment makes RA disappear from my world for just…

A Vintage Year

By jgchayko | December 31, 2019

Like wine, the calendar years can be excellent, fair, or poor, and difficult to predict what you’re going to get until you pull the cork and take your first sip. My personal and creative life started out rich and full of flavor, but RA made some moments a little bit sour, like drinking wine with…

Finding My Light

By jgchayko | December 22, 2019

The autumn glow of the harvest lights has long burned out and the tranquility of winter is gently creeping in. The crystallized frost on the windows is illuminated by a charcoal gray dawn. These days the sun sinks behind the mountains a little earlier, mornings are a little harder, and the joints a little stiffer,…

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About me

J.G. Chayko is a writer, actress, and international arthritis advocate who’s been involved in theatre for more than 30 years and has published poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.