there was a time in my life when i was a hothead. and we’re talking the whole screaming profanities, fist drawn, feet shoulder distance apart, knees slightly bent, shoulders squared, ready to pounce and destroy rage filled angry. my primary trigger: someone i cared about was threatened or harmed. if you threatened to touch a…
Tag: personal essay
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…
if you thought i would take it standing still…you got another thing coming
there was a time when i was both sad and broken. a time when my heart hurt so much that it actually felt like it was an entity moving outside my body. there was a time in my life when each day that i woke up i literally would count the seconds it took for…
fibroids, mirrors, and why I always say yes to dessert
When the nurse called me the message she left had such an urgent tone it had me worried. I didn’t know what she had to tell me. I’d been working on getting all my proper screenings done for over a month so I wasn’t even sure what results she was referring to in her message….
the smarty pants mommy and the little drummer boy: tales from the hood (mommy that is)
It’s funny how much your kids can be like you and at the same time…not. My side kick is so me in so many ways…from his uncanny ability to both understand and relay sarcasm to his willingness to come to the aid of a complete stranger in need…but in others, he is utterly and completely…
the first thing we do…lets kill all the critics
Imagine having someone in your life who every moment that they can are telling you how you need ‘to get it together.’ No matter where you are no matter what you are doing this person says things to you like ‘what’s up with that hair style?’ Or ‘when are you going to lose those 40…
fearfree living 