Tag: self love

While You Were Away

Julie Anderson

While you were away I walked through shadows disguised as glass I danced alone I learned that I could feel, be just as I am While you were away freedom delivered me to heaven. I found my voice spoke for myself, enjoyed the words said them again and again While you were 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.

Immigrant song: A Frenchman’s Moody Pipe Dream

Michel Bordeau

1976. I am 6 I have 2 mothers, 2 fathers, 3 sisters. Bernadette is my fairy godmother mom, my nanny during the day. She loves me like she loves her own children, Laure, Valérie, and Géraldine. I love them like I belong with them. They belong with me. We are Read more

Michel Bordeau

My name is Michel Bordeau, aka Area Frenchman. I am a Therapist and an Education Coach in private practice in Atlanta. Born in France, I have spent half my life in the US. I am culturally French and academically American, so you can safely assume that I know a thing or two about love (gender respectful, validating, unconditional, non-threatening) and the pleasures of life (many friends, much cheese, little w(h)ine). When I don't blog about mansplaining, teen assertiveness, guru shaming, toxic work environments and toxic people, motherhood, mindful parenting, immigrant entrepreneurs, bipolar disorder and body dysmorphic disorder, I dedicate my time speaking about the lessons I have learned as a therapist and a coach. I am the host of Le Kindness Couch on Youtube. I created this channel to demonstrate that today's therapeutic modalities are kind, validating, and solution-focused. We don't read mind or blame your mom for everything.

A Letter from Recovery

Elizabeth Harvey

I savored each glossy page, mistaking the world contained within you for reality. As I looked at “who wore it better” and “baby bump or burger” you taught me my first lessons about my body. You showed me that life was a competition, and to win you needed a toned tummy.

Elizabeth Harvey

Elizabeth Harvey attends McGill University in Montreal. She studies Microbiology and Immunology and hopes to become a doctor one day. In the meantime, she works on cultivating her passion for old movies, spending time with loved ones, and (of course) recovery.

Feminine vs. Feminism? Here’s Where I found I Stand …

Rachel Hamm Gertz

“You’re beautiful, babe” the message said. I realized I’d been smiling up until the second I read it. “Please don’t call me babe,” I muttered to the computer, hitting dismiss with conviction. These kinds of comments aren’t unfamiliar to a south Florida girl who tried to model a little and Read more

Rachel Hamm Gertz

Rachel Hamm Gertz is a self-taught writer working on her first novel. She has written semi-professionally for multiple venues and started the process of writing a "fictional biography" (which turned into the beforementioned novel) when the suggestion that she keep a diary was made by her therapist. She writes from an unfiltered voice, often filled with chaos, always from the heart. It is not always pretty, but it will be said. Unapologetically. In great detail. Maybe not like every woman, but their darkest sides. Nothing is off limits. Sometimes the truth hurts. Embrace it and the strength you gain is immeasurable.

Do People See the Real Me?

Neesa Suncheuri

I was recently in a Spanish class at some language school in Manhattan. I signed up with the idea that I could start becoming a polyglot, given that I know the German language already. But no dice. Immediately upon starting, I became frustrated with the class due to it being Read more

Neesa Suncheuri

Neesa Suncheuri works as a mental health peer specialist at a housing agency in Queens, New York. She is the founder of a Facebook discussion group for peer specialists and other recovery enthusiasts, entitled “What is Wellness? A Mental Health Discussion Group.” She also maintains a blog called Unlearning Schizophrenia, and is a regular contributor of poetry and fiction at Organic Coffee, Haphazardly. She is also a singer/songwriter, and an enthusiast of the German language and culture.

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.

You Are Star Stuff

SA Smith

Fatally and flawed, beautifully broken. Every step you take, every thought you think is a miracle in itself. Do you have any idea how miraculous it is that you are even here? So many wish they could be where you are? Doing what you do? Do you know how many 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.

Naked In Church: A Work of Art

Anon Feminine Collective

A rainbow flag hung outside above the church. Inside, I was naked. I’d removed my glasses so the room was fuzzy. I couldn’t see them, but I sensed the pencils scratching away at paper, trying to capture my nineteen-year-old curves. The only thing in focus was me. I looked down, Read more

Anon Feminine Collective