Tag: self esteem

Tiny Exile

Judith Staff

Imploringly staring up at you desperate to reach your eyes, your heart. You direct your glance away, avoiding her pleading gaze.             alone, fretful Trying to keep abreast of your footsteps, she’s running, almost tripping now. You merely quicken your stride, leaving her unable to level 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.

Constellation of Pleasure: Only the Stars Can Hear Me

DB Maddox

Chapter 1: Bloodguilt “You’re done with your period, right?” Elijah asked as he lit the candle on the nightstand beside his bed. It was already burnt down from use, but I knew better than to ask why. I wasn’t sure how to answer him at first. I had seen some Read more

DB Maddox

I was a clueless kid back then but I always followed my heart; I knew I wanted to be a Writer but I didn't know what that meant, or what my options were. So I became an Editor--it was something that just came naturally to me. Twenty-plus years later, I'm still an Editor. It has served me well, at least in the day-to-day; and when you're in survival mode, just getting through the day is enough. But at roughly the midway mark of my career, and looking up from the precipice of what must have been my 17th relapse, I thought that maybe this was just my destiny, and if so, there simply had to be value in chronicling it. And while my reasons for writing a memoir may have been tenuous and ever-evolving, it was never about catharsis. Instead, by reliving the trauma of my upbringing and the desperation of my youth, I discovered that I had had agency all along, in my own twisted way; and I felt compelled to share that revelation and have spent years searching for a platform to do just that--until I found the Feminine Collective. I invite you to engage therein with this ongoing series of excerpts from my debut memoir, "Constellation of Pleasure: Only the Stars Can Hear Me," a tale unduly tragic, but through which I expect readers will perceive a reflection of themselves to whatever degree, and be empowered.

Why I Can’t Stop Buying Things

Hannah Bagley

As I looked down at the near-full perfume bottles, Shoes I haven’t worn since high school, Shirts that stopped fitting ten pounds ago, And dozens of pairs of panties, socks, and ripped hosiery, I realized why I can’t stop buying things—I don’t like myself very much. Paying for color analyses, Read more

Hannah Bagley

Hannah Bagley is a poet and recent graduate from Southern Appalachia. She is also published in The Chestatee Review and As It Ought To Be Magazine. Bagley draws inspiration from her upbringing in the mountains, nature, and the human experience through a feminist lens.

Body Image and Me: Accepting Myself Even Though The Dress Doesn’t Fit Anymore

Cathleen Kahn

The dress is navy blue. Navy blue with cream color trim around the neck and armholes. It is a size small. I bought it to wear for an Easter Sunday; I don’t remember the year. The dress is one of the few pieces of clothing in my closet that doesn’t Read more

Learning to Walk

Savannah Carlin

at 19 Wearing a red sundress, walking out of Grand Central into the heavy air of August, my reflection on so many glossy windows, doors, walls. Walking through millions of myself, each one flashing past. And on the sidewalk, so many male eyes—a gaze that seems it should feel better Read more

Savannah Carlin

Savannah Carlin is a poet and essayist who graduated in 2016 from Babson College with a degree in business. She works as a designer in New York. Her work has been published in JuxtaProse magazine and Sunspot Lit.

My Good Name

Crystal Good

“Except my name. I’ll give up all that other stuff, but only if I get to keep my name. I’ve worked too hard for it, your honor.” ~ Tina Turner My mother married Ron Good when I was in kindergarten. Shortly thereafter, he started sexually abusing me. In the second Read more

Crystal Good

Crystal Good is hard to put in just one box. She prefers: artist, advocate and entrepreneur. She is a member of the Affrilachian (African American Appalachian) Poets, a group of writers and artists whose creations and existence combat the erasure of African American identity in the Appalachian region, an Irene McKinney Scholar, and the author of Valley Girl. She is the founder and CEO of Mixxed Media , a government relations consulting firm that leverages social & media engagement strategies for mission-driven organizations. Crystal holds the completely made up but totally real office of "Social Media Senator" for the Digital District Of West Virginia whose platform encourages digital and political literacy. Artist::Advocate:: crystalgood.net Entrepreneur:: themixxedmedia.com

You Made The World

Anne Leigh Parrish

Agony—a gone knee Can’t bend—no way to mend This isn’t about aging—maybe about raging What stops the crazy rhyme-time? Unplug the clock Blind its ruby face Tear your eyes out if you must Choke on dust There I go again, too easy This lilting rhythm and sound Trapped by the Read more

Anne Leigh Parrish

Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She is the author of seven other books. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, Instagram, Linked In, and Goodreads.

A Letter To The Little Girls

Kim Sisto Robinson

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about… there is a field. I will meet you there -Rumi How can I possibly begin this letter? I have so much to say, so many words inside, which are crammed, arguing, scratching one another, Read more

Kim Sisto Robinson

Kim Sisto Robinson is a mother, lover, poet, writer, educator, obsessive blogger, lover of cats, cheese puffs, chocolate chips cookies, Sylvia Plath, addicted to books, women’s stories, walking with audio books ( Lolita was off the charts!), and powerful, transformative words. Her work has appeared in Scary Mommy, Bella On Line, Glass Woman, Migrations, Rebelle Society, and Feminine Collective. She created her blog, My Inner Chick, to honor her sister, Kay, whom was murdered by her estranged husband in 2010. Her mission is to give “Voice” to all women without one. She was honored the "Men As Peacemaker's Award" in 2015 for her work with domestic violence.