Category: Emotional Health

Alice, TX

Tennessee Hill

If I could play the violin I would’ve left a long time ago. Splinter me, kindly and save the sweet parts for tomorrow in your secret places, string alleys. If I said this place was purple would I be wrong? Something else would be better but the mauve is fervent Read more

Tennessee Hill

Tennessee Hill is a sophomore at Stephen F. Austin State University working toward her BFA in Creative Writing. She has been featured in Elke Journal, Kaaterskill Basin, and HUMID. She is also a featured contributor on Teen Collective (teencollective.me), Feminine Collective's blog written by teens for teens.

I Remember this Feeling

Renee DeMont

I was nine when they drove away from my foster home. First, my parents. Then, four years later, my grandparents. Finally, it was me in the car, with my new mom, on my way to my new life. I was terrified into stillness. I was ten when a handwritten letter 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

I Lost 200 pounds and I Still Feel Fat

SA Smith

How can you lose 200 pounds and still feel fat? I don’t know. That’s a question I still ask myself. Why, when I lost all that weight, do I still look in the mirror and see that same sad, overweight woman? I know … I lost a lot of weight, Read more

SA Smith

SA Smith has always loved the magical life. She is the bestselling Amazon author of FOREVER, her four part young adult paranormal romance series. She is an advocate for women of all shapes and sizes. Believing that we are all enough just as we are, and needing to spread that word far and wide. Having been diagnosed with CRPS over 12 years ago, SA also uses her writing to increase social awareness of the disease. Writing is her passion. She often tells friends that writing is a journey for her. It’s like spending time with friends. "I just follow my characters along on their adventures, like a fly on the wall, and see where they take me." SA currently lives in Florida with her best friend/husband and their one son.

Humanity

Hasty Words

Once again I am her The accused Standing Awaiting Retribution For crimes For words For pain Caused Not innocent I plead guilty On all counts The mask I wear is a gift From me to you Saving you From having To lay eyes on The hideous Creature Hiding beneath Photo Read more

Hasty Words

HastyWords is an anxiety driven over-analyzer. With a mind full of rainbows and devils she began giving her thoughts a way out of her head by writing poetry. Writing began as therapy for her depression and helped her gain perspective by putting her tears and laughter into words! Be sure and follow her journey, you can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Turn the Page

Margret Avery

Where do you go when your heart is aching Where do you speak to free yourself of loving the one who didn’t stand beside you loving the one who didn’t find you in the moments that mattered the most in the moments like he was a ghost not there but Read more

Margret Avery

Margret Avery expresses her talents through being a singer / songwriter / actor / writer and poet. She has also worked as a freelance makeup artist with her work gracing the pages of many editorial and commercial publications. The passion to express through song led to her writing and continues to grow with equal tenacity. Margret has contributed as a writer to Suite101, Women’s Voices for Change and now proudly for Feminine Collective. Margret’s writing is included in Feminine Collective: Raw and Unfiltered Vol 1 and that makes her smile on a daily basis. Her music can be heard on Spotify, Pandora, CDbaby, Soundcloud, Reverbnation and NumberoneMusic.

We All Bleed Red: Saving My Daughter from Suicide

Allison Hill

Suicide entered my life kind of the way spring enters with the change of seasons, in like a lion out like a lamb. Its grip caught hold of someone I loved and used all its power and might to try and take them from me. I did not let it Read more

Allison Hill

Allison Hill currently writes a blog called AccidentallyAllison. She has written and done speaking engagements on her work for the past year. Her blog is her chronological journey of transformation on her quest for never-ending love, making everyone feel normal; one disastrous relationship at a time. The funny thing about relationships is the fact that they seem to be a big factor in us defining our self-worth. This is where Allison's story begins.

In the Company of Myself

Paakhi Bhatnagar

I need time to reflect upon my day, think about what I want, think about who I am as of now and who I was yesterday. These aren’t mere philosophical questions that I only deal with in my Theory of Knowledge classes. These are questions of everyday life that I must answer for myself. And the only way to do this is to listen to myself.

Paakhi Bhatnagar

Paakhi Bhatnagar is a student from India and an avid reader of historical fiction. She is a passionate feminist and blogs about current politics and feminist issues. She also possess the uncanny ability of turning everything into a debate.

How Prince Helped Me to Know Myself

Laurie Hiatt

“Thinking about how we mourn artists we’ve never met. We don’t cry because we knew them, we cry because they helped us know ourselves.” – @ElusiveJ Bowie and Prince were difficult ones for me. Like Freddie Mercury. I think back to how every weekend in high school at the dance Read more

Laurie Hiatt

Laurie Hiatt is an adventure traveler, avid reader, music lover, mother, and chocolate connoisseur who gets to make her living by making a difference in her community. A community organizer and health educator for 28 years, she loves to get down in the trenches with all types of people to make positive changes in their neighborhoods. It’s taken her a while, but she’s finally figuring out how to find a healthy balance of the magic that chaos brings to life and the centering of herself. She is currently throwing a dart at a map to decide where to travel next.