The snap of the twig bounced the trees, then filtered out in multiple directions. The silence felt louder somehow after that snap. I adjusted the straps of my daypack, pulling them closer to my body. Unconsciously readying myself to run. I looked over my shoulder. At nothing. No one was there. I gazed up at... Continue Reading →
Sometimes I am more aware of my whiteness than other times. It’s a point of privilege, I realize, to be able to completely forget the color of my skin. Sometimes. It’s always a privilege, but it’s only sometimes that I forget. Other times, I am hyper aware of my whiteness and the ways that it... Continue Reading →
In an exceptional display of undying love and infinite magnanimity, the soon-to-be 12 year old allowed me to play a Chicago song this morning on the drive to school. In an exceptional display of undying love and infinite magnanimity, the soon-to-be 12 year old allowed me to play a Chicago song this morning on the... Continue Reading →
Years ago, back in Florida, I spent hours sitting in community centers and church fellowship halls, drinking really bad coffee, and learning things that would keep me sober and sane. One of those ideas that I loop back to the most is that our self perception is slow to change. In fact, we're often the... Continue Reading →
I woke up at 4:25 this morning and immediately opened the AJC to look at the election results. Some of my friends spent the past week vacillating between fretting over a potential loss for Stacey Abrams and trying to be doggedly hopeful so that would be the energy that got released out into the universe.... Continue Reading →
Pick people who will reflect your true self back to you. They are guides. They are a pain in the ass, but they are guides.
My birthday is coming up, which means I’m simply reeling with possibility. Not about the celebration. I used to care a lot what folks did to mark my birthday. Now I just care about cake of some sort. And my family being there, of course. With cake. (Is it even a birthday if there is... Continue Reading →
Every morning of my late twenties dawned with sickening dread. Every morning. I’d wake up and immediately begin the slow slide into the murky depths of shame. And fear. And regret. Anxiety gripped me like a vise, making it hard to breathe. I hated myself, pitied myself, held dear a storied mythology of myself. What... Continue Reading →
I struggle with the concept of rest. Not like I don’t believe in it. And I’m not one of those all-the-glory-is-found-in-the-hustle folks.. But I can’t get comfortable with the idea of just being. And it’s to my detriment. If I am not creating, thinking, planning, or actively doing something that qualifies as “productive,” I get... Continue Reading →
I’m going to have to get a life, in order to let my kid live hers. That was my big (tough) take away from the two emotionally fraught weeks leading up to her big middle school debut today. Jane handles new situations with aplomb that I envy. For real, my sixth grade self is so... Continue Reading →
