Category: Emotional Health

What’s the Next Chapter in Your Story?

Renee DeMont

9/11 Somber day. Reflective. Life, at every stage, is temporary; delicate, like a piece of rice paper. It occurred to me a few days ago—as I viewed an alarming news report on two, every day folk who (unbeknownst to them), ate tainted cucumbers this past week and consequently died—that it Read more

Renee DeMont

Renee DeMont is a SURVIVOR. She was born into poverty; spent much of her childhood homeless, living on the streets of Los Angeles, and in foster care. Renee learned early on: life is about adapting to adversity. The greatest gift she ever received? No one expected anything from her. By 18, she was ready to experience life on her own terms. First one in her family to attend college. After college, her focus and determination earned her a spot working at Paramount Studios, on the #1 show in television, "Cheers". At 29, Renee gave entrepreneurship a go and began a Biomedical engineering business out of her garage. Twenty years later, that risky venture grew into 8,000 square feet of success. She broke the cycle of poverty that plagued her family for generations. Recently, Renee turned fifty, filed for divorce (he declared WAR), and trudged through a debilitating nervous breakdown. Through therapy and writing, she reclaimed her sanity. Sold her half of the business to the ex, and now she has clarity and choices. Renee is personally and financially independent. With her new found freedom, she chooses to write in a sincere effort to reconcile her past with her present. Hopefully, through this cathartic process, the second half of her life will be led by her soul's desire, rather than by the fears and doubts of her first half. Currently, she lives in South Orange County with her teenage son and daughter, and her high maintenance yet lovable dog, Joe. Soon to be an empty nester, she plans to downsize the big house in the OC bubble, for a bigger life in the real world. Her days are spent gently launching her almost grown children into adulthood, and passionately penning her memoir. In the mean time, you can find her essays on pain, positivity, and empowerment at: onedropofgrace.blogspot.com

Adolescent Gloom

Henrietta Ross

We sat over in the allotments that circled the playing fields; you got to them by climbing through a hole in the mental fence. Frequent visitors, break times, lunch breaks, any time the idea of another geography lesson sent one into a tailspin of adolescent gloom. Today, we had bought Read more

Henrietta Ross

Henrietta Ross is a writer living in rural Scotland. She isn’t good at much but she can spin a good yarn, so she does this on a regular basis. When not writing, she likes to dump her writing in impromptu places for fun, leave local charity shops with a wheelbarrow to transport her books, occasionally try active mediation in a field as she wanders after confused sheep or dances absurdly to cheesy eighties music, because like Rockwell, she thinks somebody IS watching. Henrietta is working on three books, one novel and two non-fiction works. She hopes to finish one of them in this lifetime.

Hanging with Deepak ~ in Pursuit of JOY and your very Best Self

Jacqueline Cioffa

I believe true beauty starts from within, works its way out and is an ever-evolving process. I have worked very hard on my body and mind, trying to refrain from the blahs, and negative thinking patterns. When I was presented, ‘gifted actually,’ the awesome mind-blowing, opportunity of a lifetime to Read more

Jacqueline Cioffa

A retired, international model, and celebrity makeup artist. Co-Author of Model Citi Zen, the guide. Founder of http://modelcitizenmakeup.blogspot.com/. Author of numerous prose pieces in various literary magazines. Most recently published in Little Episodes Brainstorms the anthology, among esteemed artists Sadie Frost, Melvin Burgess and Todd Swift.

Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

JR Roessl

After more than thirty years, I have come to loathe New England winters, specifically the ones in the Hudson Valley where I reside with my family in an 1890’s barn. Not withstanding the freakishly mild one we are having this year, I generally start whining to anyone who’s within spitting Read more

JR Roessl

After more than thirty years as a model and actor, JR moved to the Hudson Valley in 2006. She lives in an 1880 renovated barn with her husband and young daughter and three crazy bengal cats. She received her B.A. in creative writing from NYU and has written a memoir about her teenage years spent sailing on the high seas. She is thrilled to be writing for the Feminine Collective.

I Saw a Schizophrenic Struggling, and I Did Nothing to Help Him

Allie Burke

I have a local hang out spot that I frequent more than a few times a week, which is located across the street from a county hospital which includes a mental health ward. Between that and the homeless people who to occupy the small South Bay town, there are some Read more

Allie Burke

Allie Burke is a bestselling author, magazine editor, and mental health advocate. She lives in Los Angeles.

Lalochezia: Emotional Relief Gained by Swearing

Shanna DeMott

The phone won’t stop ringing. First, it was a call from the dentist. Then my daughter’s doctor confirming her appointment on Monday. Then work. Then work again. I’m on deadline and trying to get the software to stop crashing every time I try to save one of my edits. The Read more

Shanna DeMott

Shanna Sabet-DeMott is a freelance writer living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her husband George DeMott, sings Italian arias in the shower, and Pop-Opera around the world. She has an 11-year old daughter who has survived 3 brain surgeries, and who has shown her Mama the meaning of bravery at every turn. She is a lover of telling stories about food and life on her blogs, eatingoutvegas.com and stumblingbeauty.com.

Get Help, Move On

Suzy Favor Hamilton

“Get help, move on,” the words on Twitter from the editor of a fairly well known running publication. A friend pointed it out to me several weeks after it was written. I get words of hate and ignorance sent to me fairly often, so ordinarily, no big deal. I’ve developed Read more

Suzy Favor Hamilton

Author, of "Fast Girl – A Life Spent Running From Madness" a New York Times Best Seller. The book follows Suzy’s path from child phenomenon runner to Olympian, and then her struggles with life after running and an eventual year in Las Vegas as a high-end escort. After Suzy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, her entire life makes sense and recovery to a life of contentment begins. Suzy is also a Public Speaker. Her topics vary, ranging from her experience with bipolar disorder, the avoiding the pitfalls of running, eating disorders & body image issues, and the motivational angle of rising from rock bottom. Her athletic career is remarkable: U.S. Olympian - 3 U.S. National Championships - 7 Former U.S. Record Holder at 1000m Former U.S. Indoor Record Holder at 800m Goodwill Games Bronze Medalist, ‘98 Fifth at 2002 World Cross-Country Championships - Best ever finish by U.S. Woman at World XC Championships (short course) 5 sub-4’s, including 5 of the 9 fastest times ever run by an American Only American Woman to ever have the fastest seasonal 1500m time in the world USA Track & Field Distance Runner of the Year, ‘00 Suzy has been featured in national ads for Nike, Reebok, Pert Plus Shampoo, Nordic Track, Clairol, Oakley, Kikkoman Foods, and Viactiv. She has been featured in magazines such as People, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, Runner’s World, Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Journal, Sports Illustrated & Outside Magazine and was featured on ABC’s 20/20 in September 2015. Her interests include running, of course, yoga, barre, cycling artwork, riding roller coasters and traveling. Suzy is married to Mark Hamilton and the couple has a 10-year-old daughter, Kylie.

Gendered Self-Destruction

H.M. Jones

Your waste is
wine coolers, merlot,
minty, thin cigarettes—
set sexily in a delicate holder.

H.M. Jones

H.M. Jones is a mother, writer, teacher and poet. She is the author of Monochrome, the B.R.A.G Medallion dark fantasy about postpartum depression and the beauty of memories. Monochrome will be released,by Feminine Collective Publishing, marking the books third incarnation. Along with a few self-published poetry books, H.M.'s poetry will be featured in three different anthologies in 2015 and 2016. When she's not mothering, teaching, or writing, she is weaving, kickboxing, pulling in the canoe or reading.