Jul 25Member-onlyI Stopped Writing Because I Want to Make Money10 months ago I declared to the world (okay, my 800 Facebook friends), that I want to be a writer. I was intent on being intentional about writing too. With my still new-found freedom of not working full-time, I even dedicated Mondays as my writing day. …Leadership6 min read
Apr 18Member-onlyThe pandemic gave me a room of my ownVirginia Woolf‘s enduring gift of words that a woman should have a room of her own has finally hit home for me. In particular, Woolf’s talk where she offered these words referenced the intersections between women and writing fiction. In order to do so, women need privacy, autonomy, power —…Room6 min read
Apr 7Member-onlySelf-sufficiency is a scare tacticI was nineteen years old when I had my first child. After my family had invested money, time, and other resources into me attending private school all of my life, coming home after my freshman year of college pregnant was not cool. It was then that I really began my…Teen Pregnancy3 min read
Apr 4Member-onlyKind Self-talk plannerThis started out as a post berating myself about how I spend my precious time. I’ve been frustrated by not doing enough and saying unkind things to myself. Who else does that? When it comes to household tasks, there are things that need to get done and I will do…Self Awareness3 min read
Jan 24Member-onlyHood-burbs: In between livingGrowing up, I always wanted to live somewhere pretty. Instead, I lived somewhere pretty… meh. Not so bad in the immediate vicinity unless you looked down while walking on the sidewalk. Those colored dots of green, red, and blue weren’t glass in the soil next to the trees. Those were…Home7 min read
Jan 14Member-onlyAfter the shots go offI mean, after the call has been made and police have shown up. After you talk to your neighbors to figure out how many shots were fired again and to make sure everyone is okay (whatever that means). After you talk to your spouse who heard the victim (still living…Gun Violence2 min read
Jan 10Member-onlyWhat does my family really know about me, now?Did you and your family start a text thread during the pandemic? Mine did. Some of us are closer than others — like my mother, her sister, brother, and cousin on the thread. My siblings, adult daughter, my husband, and 2 first cousins, and stepfather are on it too. …Family4 min read
Dec 6, 2021Member-onlySlowing Down Aha! Watching TV is not a rewardI’m starting to think that maybe, just maybe, watching television isn’t the reward I’ve made it out to be. For as long as I can remember, I have looked forward to the point in the day when I could just sit down and watch TV. …Slowing Down4 min read
Nov 29, 2021Member-onlyWhat does it look like to put yourself first?We’re all familiar with what is now an adage I suppose, “put your own mask on first”. Before I can be useful to others, I am supposed to make sure that I am okay. Yet, that seems so hard to do. Children need our attention sometimes before we even wake…Self Care6 min read
Nov 18, 2021Member-onlySlowing down practice: Remind myself I have timeAfter writing about my interest in slowing down my life and how anathema that can seem to Black women, I tried in earnest to actually start slowing down. I found lists of things to do to help me. Be patient, go offline, do one thing at a time, count how…Slowliving4 min read