Today I stood in the full body mirror attached to my closet. I stared at my belly and my hips for full minutes in disbelief before huffing out a joke at my own expense to no one, Girl. You need to get it together. You looking like one of them ‘Before‘ pictures on Instagram! I…
Tag: Online Writing
grief, community organizing, and why a clean garage can literally save the day
the fourth of july weekend of 2016 sent me through a soul searching roller coaster ride. i was more 700 miles from my home, driving with my parents and young son after having spent a weekend with my aunts and cousins in hot springs, arkansas, when i learned that 2 men more than 1,000 miles…
on holding space for single mothers at the end of their rope
“ms. o, get your boy! cause i’m three minutes off his ass!” she came huffing and puffing into my office not because she had just walked up three flights of stairs but because she had just chased her 15 year old from out of the bathroom and into his classroom. “i’m gon kill him! i swear…
i can see the elephants from here
i love the circus. and when i say i love the circus i mean i love it! i love the clowns i love the acrobats. i love the tight rope walkers. i love Love LOVE the ringmaster. I LOVE THE CIRCUS! whenever the circus is in town i’d go. i’d get ‘not quite front row’…
a woman is a human, no matter her status or post or tweet or whatever
when you are born female you learn real early on that people are waaaaay too comfortable talking to you under your clothes. it starts with comments about how cute you are or how much they like your dress. but slowly the comments turn to weight and height and whether or not you’ve started your menses….
adhd and me: life with distractions
here’s the thing in my life i am consistently inconsistent. i will start a hobby and nearly half way through completion…i’ll just walk away. i’ll make a decision about going into another advance degree program. i’ll line up all the information. do thorough research on which program best fits what i need and then…i go…
on boxes, bad music, and the drive to be more
what if everything you’ve ever been taught about yourself were true? what if you really aren’t good enough? what if you really are too short? or too tall? or too skinny? or too loud? what if everything that has been told to you were the absolute undeniable irrefutable truth of who you are? who would…
When You Realize You’re a Slacker and a $19.99 Deal on Your TV Ain’t Gonna Fix That
I’ve been reading Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton. It’s been an eye opening read. I grew up learning about Harriet Tubman and the role she played as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. I knew that because of her more than 300 slaves ran away from slavery and found freedom in…
in his words…how my grandfather remembered his mother
my father‘s father was an orphan. his mother died when he was only 3 years old. he was raised by his uncle and his wife. he was born in 1919 and his life was unimaginable. he was schooled until the 3rd grade and then sent into the coal mines to work. he used to tell…
free. woman. standing.
When I was 25 I took on a mantra that at the time I thought would heal me, everywhere I went I posted it: fear, it is the only enemy with love I will defeat it I even considered getting a tattoo of it. 12 months ago I admitted to myself after committing to…
fearfree living 