Humanity: Raw & Unfiltered
I saw myself naked today. Like most people, I typically take a quick glance at myself in the mirror after my morning shower—with a towel wrapped around my waist of course—to confirm that there’s nothing weird or abnormal with my body compared to the day before. I then move on Read more
As the eldest in a large family, I grew up taking care of others. Watching my younger siblings, I learned to develop a sixth sense; I reserved a part of my attention to wander on that periphery where something might flare up among any one of them, at any time. Read more
Adrienne Pine's creative nonfiction has been published in The Write Place at the Write Time, Tale of Four Cities, The Yale Journal of Humanities in Medicine, and other venues.
Hi, my name is Tom, (or Dick, or Harry). I just turned seventy and I’m alone in life. I’m in great shape, except that my fears of commitment have hardened like another man’s arteries. I guess that’s the Big C that I’m afraid of. I had several great girlfriends, but Read more
Susan P. Blevins was born in England, and escaped at age twenty on her life quest, moving first to Italy for 26 years, and then to the USA, where she now lives. The older she gets, the more passionately involved she becomes in the world, and the more she wants to make a personal contribution. She believes that we can all make a difference, one hug, and one smile at a time.
I look down and I see these hands of mine that don’t look like they belong to me….weathered and worn, signs of veins that want to speak of their pain from lifting too many heavy bags and subjected to the strains of ex – haustion while wanting to breathe into Read more
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.
On our way to school last week, Atticus, 12, and I discuss our black cat’s willingness to lie in the driveway, unafraid or oblivious to traffic. “Like a cat in Pompeii, Mom,” Atticus observes, “Just caught.” “In lava,” I add, “and left there for thousands of years.” “Have you been Read more
I am a writer and mother, living in Shaker Heights, OH, where I am the Head of Laurel School, a girls' school. Our house is full of books and tiny rescue dogs. My work has appeared in Literary Mama, Mothers Always Write, the Brevity Blog, Mutha, Mamlode, The Grief Diaries, Manifest Station and elsewhere. My essay about becoming a teacher was recently published in Creative Nonfiction's anthology What I Didn't Know. I blog semi-regularly for the Huffington Post.
Well, hello there old geezer! I hope you’re somewhat sane and still alive 20 years from now so you can fully absorb every word of this letter. Otherwise, someone will translate it into small, bite-sized pieces so your senile, rickety old mind can understand it. If you’re already dead, a Read more
Sports Illustrated’s latest porn edition finds it’s way from the coffee table, to the bathroom, under the bed, stuffed in a backpack and back again. Yet again, it initiated an in-depth, conversation about women, body parts and age with my young son. “Mom, are her boobs real?” “I dunno.” “Her’s?” Read more
Julie Anderson is the Creator and Publisher of Feminine Collective. Julie was inspired to create this safe place for women to share their secrets, desires, triumphs and pain as the antithesis of what mainstream media offers women today. In her column Pursuit of Perfection, she explores the importance of rectifying the balance of inner and outer beauty through essays, poems and articles on self-esteem, shame, family, and self- acceptance.
Hazel face was a map of wrinkles and sagging, topography disintegrating because gravity worked overtime on her. Wiry hair sprung from her jaw and upper lip, and her nose slumped toward her chin as if the two conspired to form a snout. Her eyebrows were fierce and unmanageable, an odd Read more
Nancy Devine teaches high school English in Grand Forks, North Dakota where she lives. Her poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in online and print journals. She is the author of a chapbook of poems, "The Dreamed," published by Finishing Line Press.
