Tag: gratitude

My Husband Doesn’t Want Another Baby

Elisabeth Horan

what kind of canyon is so deep it’s impossible to hit bottom how deep the fault line might go under earth armor, violence as naughty as my tantrum, when he defies me again with the: n.o. I’m terrible twos again choke throat and spine puncture mucus lungs and asthma purveyor Read more

Elisabeth Horan

Elisabeth Horan is a poet mother student lover of kind people and animals, homesteading in Vermont with her tolerant partner and two young sons. She writes to survive and survives to write - We are all battling something. Let's support each other. Elisabeth enjoys riding horses and caring for her cats, chickens, goats and children (not necessarily in that order). She teaches at River Valley Community College in New Hampshire.

Forgetting About Me and Leaving My Fingertip Behind

Adrienne Pine

On the second day of the new year, I was driving the back road from Millerton to our country home in Boston Corners. The sky was cloudy and overcast, and a dull whitish light hung over the landscape. Frost-tinged the dead straw-colored grasses in the fields at the sides of Read more

Adrienne Pine

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.

Conscious Posting: The Difference Between Bragging and Gratitude

Elizabeth Regen

Facebook can be fun. Social media in all forms – can be entertaining. Instagram is cool because I like photos. I like to see the world through pictures. I, especially, like to see other people’s world through their eyes. Instagrams allows everyone to post the images their world is made Read more

You. There. Now.

Jane Harrington

They pause long enough to kiss under a tree whose limbs are bursting with grandchildren.

Jane Harrington

Jane Harrington lives in southern Appalachia and teaches at Washington & Lee University. She has written best-selling books for young adults (Scholastic, Lerner), and her literary prose has been published in anthologies and journals, including Chautauqua, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Circa, Portland Review and Eastern Iowa Review. Jane is a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). You can find links to some of her published work at www.janeharrington.com

A Widow’s Gift to Me

Jacqueline Jules

In October of 1988, a neighbor of mine lost her husband in a freak car accident. I first heard the news in a conversation with my son’s teacher. “Did you hear about that accident the Friday night before Halloween? The most bizarre thing—a deer hit the car and went right Read more

Jacqueline Jules

Jacqueline Jules is a Northern Virginia author and poet who writes for children and adults. Her books for young readers include the Zapato Power series, the Sofia Martinez series, and Never Say a Mean Word Again. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including The Broome Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Christian Science Monitor, OffCourse, Hospital Drive, and Imitation Fruit. She is the author of two chapbooks, Field Trip to the Museum and Stronger Than Cleopatra.

Coming Home to Joy

Wendy Brown-Baez

When I tell my friends in Puerto Vallarta that I am returning to Minneapolis, they think I am crazy. “The weather changes here on October 15th; I can guarantee it,” Ted, owner of the cigar shop, tells me. “It’s like a curtain comes down on the humidity.” “It’s paradise here Read more

Wendy Brown-Baez

Wendy Brown-Báez is a writer, teacher, performance poet and installation artist. Wendy’s prose and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, such as Borderlands, The Litchfield Review, Lavanderia, Mizna, Minnetonka Review, The Chrysalis Reader, Wising Up Press, We-Moon datebooks, 200 New Mexico poems and The Heart of All that Is and on-line journals www.Interfaithings.org and www.talkingwriting.com. She has published two poetry books: "Ceremonies of the Spirit" and "transparencies of light." Her article "Why We Write; The Wounded and Enduring" appeared in Poets & Writers 2014 July/August issue and her essay "Pilgrimage" won the NWBA 2016 contest. Wendy received McKnight and Minnesota State Arts board grants to bring writing workshops into non-profit organizations. She is a member of the Mn Prison Writing Workshop and leads a writing group at Pathways health crisis center.

Living with “Wild” Gratitude during the Holidays and Beyond

Michele Landers

It’s the beginning of the holiday season, and for many people, it is often a mixed bag of emotions. It is a time when we are keenly aware of our relationships with family and friends.It is also a time when ‘high octane’ stress kicks in as we scramble about in Read more

Michele Landers

Michele Landers is a Board Certified Life Purpose Coach as seen on FOX's "Eye on South Florida" with Shannon Cake. She is a Certified Hypnotherapist, Numerologist,and Author of "Tao of Numbers" & "The Year of Living Miraculously" Executive Producer "It's Your Life" Talk Show

Staring Down Flames of Destruction

Renee DeMont

This happened the other day, just down the street. A block from my house. A WALL OF FIRE. Stunned, sudden nausea prompted me to swallow hard. When I left my home forty-five minutes prior to receiving this photo, there was a small light grayish puff of smoke just over the 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