The Longest Conversation

The man in line behind us at the grocery store told my 11-year-old daughter that she had beautiful blue eyes like her mother. It was probably a very innocent compliment. But my heart started racing. All I wanted was to pay for our groceries and get my daughter away from Read more

An Open Letter to the Average, Above Average and Perfectly Proportioned Humans

Thank you for your beaming ear to ear grins and stifled laughs that greet me when you see me waddling by, making my way into the store. The fact that I can hear you making rude and insulting remarks after I have passed are tempered and eased by the memory Read more

All I Ever Wanted

All I ever wanted turned into something I never knew. Blood colored manacles on my wrists, the reflection of that wish. Incandescent light blotted out the rain Fire and brimstone tear through my skin Trembling, terrified the thought of everything I have ever wanted is the silkiest kiss All I ever wanted Read more

Lost in Translation: How Embracing Vulnerability Saved Me

For as long as I can remember, my thoughts have been trapped in my head. An ineffectual communicator, I always listened to others and took to heart the words they said. I never responded. I was silent. Childhood for me was silence. I never exposed a pure thought or an emotion that I was feeling. I just could not find the courage, or the right words to say what I felt.

How Letting Go of Shame Set Me Free

All of us know it, the feeling of a sinking heart, the blush of the cheeks and the crushing blow of embarrassment. We are so ashamed. For some of us the tendrils of the debauched emotion of shame can morph into anger or depression, sometimes both. Shame has been a Read more