My partner is going on a work trip and I have decided to spend these days cleaning our condo. I did this the last time he went on a work trip and he loved it. I say this a lot, but he really does so much for me, and most of the time our cleaning … Continue reading With Love
I think often at the heart of poetry is the theme of love. This book begins with a love poem written to a blind ancestor of Erika Hunt's, and as the book continues to move through time and space, the theme of love resonates so strongly, at times I thought I must be reading one … Continue reading Book Review – Time Slips Right Before Your Eyes by Erika Hunt
The first book of Dionne Brand's I ever read was The Blue Clerk. It was a recommended reading for one of the residencies of my M.F.A. program. I read the excerpts that were listed for the residency, and then after the residency ended I went back and reread the whole book because it was an … Continue reading Book Review – Land to Light On by Dionne Brand
Healing from trauma is not the end of one's mental health journey. I'm not even sure "healing" can be counted as an end when it is an ongoing process. However, having completed the work of EMDR, my brain has, quite literally, been reprogrammed. Or, as my therapist put it yesterday, I've downloaded the new software, … Continue reading Remembering to Reverse the Internal Narrative
I was first introduced to Alice Knotley in my second semester of graduate school. I read the book Grave of Light and it had a radical impact on how I viewed poetry. Wanting to read more long poems and especially poems that blend genres together, I decided my next book of hers to read would … Continue reading Book Review – Disobedience by Alice Knotley
Yesterday I went out to dinner with a lovely friend of mine from grad school. We went to an awesome wine bar, had charcuterie, and played trivia. It was a joyous evening with someone who, like me, loves to write and read, is a huge sci-fi nerd, and loves cheese. Honestly, the best makings of … Continue reading Thinking About Toxicity
I have always struggled with the idea of taking "ownership" of our lives. On the surface, it's a great concept, but without coupling it with empathy, it can cause real damage. Lots of books have been written on the theme of ownership, and most of those books have genuinely pissed me off within the first … Continue reading The Complexities of Ownership
For Thanksgiving, my partner and I drove up to Seattle to spend the holiday with his family. On the way there, he played the first few chapters of an audio book called Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth. And while I haven't finished the book, the several hours we spent listening … Continue reading The Idea of Grit
This year has had its ups and downs, its highs and lows, its good and bad moments. And while we inch closer to the end of the year, I can't help but look back and stare at all the things I got done, and all the things I didn't. I graduated with my motherfucking M.F.A. … Continue reading Sometimes Adjusting Means Making the Hard Decisions
Here we are, 11 days into November, and already so much is changing. First of all, it's NaNoWriMo and my novel "Penelope" is going well. I'm on track to get the 50,000 words done before the end of November. And even just sitting here, I just figured out a big chunk of the story. So … Continue reading Fast Moving Changes
One major thing I learned in my M.F.A. program was that there's no such a thing as a writer who doesn't sacrifice their time in some way. One of my mentors is a writing machine. She churns out books like it's nothing, along with teaching full time and reading hundreds of books each year. I … Continue reading Accepting the Process
It's that time of year again, folks! The time of year that most writers set an unbelievably difficult goal for themselves and then work for hours to reach it: National Novel Writing Month. The last few years, I haven't participated in the novel writing part of NaNoWriMo. Instead, I've used it as motivation to write … Continue reading National Novel Writing Month
Wednesday I had a therapy appointment. It had been set before I knew about my friend's suicide, and I kept it because I knew I needed to talk to someone about what I was struggling with. Because grief is a struggle. At it's very core, it's an upset of everything we thought would remain constant … Continue reading Therapy and Grief
Last week, my amazing partner took me on a trip to California for my birthday. Over all it was a wonderful trip, but on the morning of our second day there, I received some heartbreaking news. My friend, Ryan, had killed himself. He had struggled with depression for a long time. I first met him … Continue reading Saying Goodbye
I've been thinking lately about the choices I've made over the last few years and why I made them. It started with my choice to leave my ex. For all materialistic purposes, staying with him would have been the "wise" choice. It was cheaper to stay with him. It was, financially speaking, less stressful. I … Continue reading Sometimes Life is Choosing the Paths that Make Us Happy