Letter from the Editor
And yes, I use the F-word.
They told me every great magazine has a recurring letter from the editor. So, I went to contact my editor and realized—oh hey, that’s me. So here I am: Chanda V. Haynes. Clinician. Writer. Analyst. Knicks fan. Hip-hop enthusiast. Jay-Z stan. Black and proud. Female and proud.
And yes, I use the F-word. Because I never understood how y’all got to feminism without the root word: female. Oh well, that is another story for another issue. Because if you’re reading this, it is somewhere in or around the month of June. Probably a few days after it ends, knowing me and my timelines. But we are here, and I have four days left to call this my June edition—so let’s just call it our Summer ‘26 Edition, Vol I.
Welcome to The Recovery Report.
In these pages, I write about sports and performance psychology—giving you a look from the court to the stage to the boardroom at how elite performers operate. I analyze culture through a psychological lens, breaking down the events in heavy rotation and the motivations behind them. And I explore cannabis for recovery, wellness, and true nervous system regulation.
This month, our theme is the other F-word.
Yeah. Freedom. And what better way to reflect on freedom than through thirty years of HOV?
- Freedom to not be enslaved by your fears.
- Freedom to rest.
- Freedom to not hustle.
- Freedom to start a digital magazine at 53.
- Freedom to drop three albums and exit your corporate chains.
- Freedom to not be okay in the NBA playoffs.
- Freedom to color your Juneteenth picnic anyway you please.
- Freedom to drop down into the splits at your high school graduation—and still receive your diploma.
- Freedom to go on vacation and actually be on vacation.
- Freedom from perfection.
- Freedom to puff, puff, and inhale. Create, then exhale.
The freedom to put the blunt out midway.
"The freedom to listen to your own nervous system and not the culture."
The freedom to do business. Black business. In the way you see fit.
The freedom to boycott—or not.
The freedom for Black artists to sell white vinyl in red stores being boycotted by Black people, but still support Black best friends who sell Black coffee.
The freedom to be Blk & Bold.
Hmm. Freedom.
See you on the inside,
Chanda