Tag: emotional health

I Am

Julie Anderson

Stunned into silence when I joined the ranks of the secret keepers, we speak with our eyes only, that is why my lashes linger, faintly shut. I am protecting my soul from the secret thieves, like the others. We are quietly watching, waiting, wondering when you will be brave enough Read more

Julie Anderson

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.

Who, you?

Mika Durrant

“Who, you!?” She exclaimed with a gasp, After I told her, I too, felt out of place Under watchful gazes in the tattoo parlor People seemingly made of other stuff.   “But you’re so… you know, cool!” I wondered when, this face had become seen as such. The face kept Read more

Mika Durrant

Since childhood, Mika Durrant has seen the world through an artistic lens. From words to images, many creative mediums have been her tools for expression. She lives and works in Southern California, slowly being driven mad by two wily cats.

On Mental Health Awareness Month

Dori Owen

Music sweet music, I wish I could caress, caress, caress, manic depression’s a frustrating mess. —Jimi Hendrix, Manic Depression Please allow me to introduce myself. I am not a serial killer. I have never been a character on Criminal Minds. All I really am is just a girl with a Read more

Dori Owen

Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.

survivor

Rebecca Kokitus

I never thought of myself as a survivor / just in the wrong place at the wrong time / don’t get in an elevator with someone who makes you uncomfortable, just take the stairs his first kiss, my first sexual assault / go home smelling like the teenager I never Read more

Rebecca Kokitus

Rebecca Kokitus is a part time resident of Media, PA which is just outside of Philadelphia, and a part time of a small town in rural Schuylkill County, PA. She is an aspiring poet and is currently an undergraduate in the writing program at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. More of her writing can be found in Rag Queen Periodical and Spider Mirror Journal among other places. She tweets @rxbxcca_anna

Her

Judith Staff

A rare chance to leave work early, and pick my youngest child up afterschool. Parents I recognize only vaguely, cluster in the playground, some talking in groups, others marginalised, standing alone on the periphery. I stare into my phone, looking preoccupied, the stark divisions shredding my nerves with anxiety. She’s Read more

Judith Staff

Judith Staff’s background is in teaching and early years education. She still teaches occasionally, though now her main focus is in child welfare and safeguarding children. Her work includes delivering training, presenting at conferences, and engaging in collaborative projects with schools around child abuse awareness and sexual violence prevention. She enjoys writing blogs and poetry on topics she feels passionate about. Judith loves running, gym classes and karate. She is married to an art lecturer and they live in Northamptonshire, England with their three free-spirited children, a 12- year-old son, and daughters aged 11 and 9.

Zombie Nation

Jacqueline Cioffa

I have met too many friends and foes that say they don’t care about politics. They don’t care about equality, racism, mental illness, sexual harassment, and gun violence shrugging their shoulders brushing off the uncomfortable, the taboo. It’s not happening to me. That’s the poor man’s excuse, cowardice is plain 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.

Scars

Carly Zee

Proud muscle Battered and bruised A child, proud of strength And power That came with skinned knees and bruised shins Launching – Into flight Or fury To all who opposed Her fierce will   But, they admonished If you have scars No one will marry you Unattractive knees Belied her Read more

Carly Zee

Carly Zee is a poet and writer and lover of the finer things in life — like good wines, dark chocolate, and erotica. She finds myself seeking pleasure over reason on far too many occasions, and will, in all likelihood, continue to do so. To come along for the ride, you can connect with Carly through https://carlyzee.wordpress.com/

Fishes

Paakhi Bhatnagar

I have always felt that humans were like the sea- the unfathomable girth of their chests as they inhale the decadence of their families, the expansive ripples in their eyes like the tides washing over their moral sense, polluted in plastic the sea bass trying to breathe through polythene, coral Read more

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.