Everything Is Fine, I'll Just Work Harder: Confessions of a Former Badass

Jan 15, 2026

Dr. Cara Gormally, a professor and cartoonist, shares insights from their graphic memoir about navigating academia and personal trauma. They recount how overwork can mask deeper issues and explore the transformative power of therapy. Cara describes the healing journey using art, emphasizing the importance of community and self-acceptance. They discuss their struggles with chronic busyness and the impact on mental health, advocating for a slower, more mindful approach to life beyond constant productivity.

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INSIGHT

Science As Creative Inquiry

Cara Gormally realized science felt creative after studying philosophy of science, which shifted their career path toward research and academia.
This unexpected discovery reframed science from rote facts to curious, generative questioning that drew them in.

ANECDOTE

A Book That Had To Be Born

Cara describes the book as a story they needed to tell, calling it a "book baby" that poured out of them.
Making the graphic memoir satisfied a deep internal need and combined art with lived experience.

INSIGHT

Overwork As Trauma Response

Overwork can be a trauma response: constant productivity and hypervigilance mask internal lack of worth.
External validation of productivity keeps people trapped on an unending, self-reinforcing gerbil wheel.

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In Everything Is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder: Confessions of A Former Badass (Street Noise Books, 2025), Professor Cara Gormally draws us into the familiar academic world of chronic busyness. In panel after panel, Cara brings us into a life numbed by overwork. Then, as this graphic memoir shows us, during an ordinary early-morning run, Cara’s watch dings with a Facebook friend request. Their rapist wants to “friend” them.

Cara always had a long to-do list; always had many projects; always was busy. But as their rapist continued to send friend requests and tried to reconnect with them, they began to lose their grip on their work, projects, and relationships. But then Cara connects with a therapist who guides them through a long but powerful process of healing. And Cara works to desensitize, reprocess, excavate and relive the old wounds in order to move past them and heal.

This episode explores: Cara’s path to academia; how she discovered her love of science; how art and writing can help us heal; the work of going to therapy; what radical self-acceptance is; why overwork can be a sign of a trauma response; the risks and rewards of changing; and the importance of writing communities.

This episode does not discuss sexual assault.

Our guest is: Dr. Cara Gormally (they/them), who is a professor at Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C. Their interdisciplinary research focuses on questions related to making science relevant and accessible to increase students' belonging in STEM. Their new book is Everything Is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder: Confessions of a Former Badass.

Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is an academic writing coach and editor. She is the producer and host of the Academic Life podcast.

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