I often find that when I am feeling numb and don’t want to write, the reason for it is simple. I am afraid of what I will write. All of this falls under the deceptively simple name “writer’s block.” But why would I be afraid; that is, what would I be afraid of? There are…
Tag: mental health
Pride Means Protest, Now More than Ever
Is this our last Pride celebration? Pride Means Finding a Place where We Belong So, come on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, let’s dance tonight… In my twenties, I worked with an organization that provided services for LGBTQ youth. I loved doing this work; it’s part of what propelled…
Gifted and Talented (Caturday Questions)
Teachers assigned us labels when we were younger, like “gifted” or “gifted and talented.” Or, in rare cases, “prodigy.” What do these labels mean? Do they help us or hurt us? Can we change them? Can we own them? Some people discover their labels as adults. And then there are those labels on your writing….
Autobiography
When I worked on my exams for high school,my grandmother died —And I thought that was hard. When I prepared for my college entrance,my teacher intoned, “Thy path to paradise begins in hell”.And I thought that was hard. When I started my first job,running around, feeling like a clown,thinking “this is damn hard.” Then in another…
Editor, Writer, Thrower of Wet Spaghetti
Throw a bunch of wet spaghetti at the wall. See what sticks. Who knew that the thing your parents told you not to do as a kid would be vital to your mental stability as an adult? And would be vital to my job as an editor. I have been editing this website for about…
Mental Health Month Starts with a Breakdown
What a way to start off mental health month…with a meltdown, right? But that’s exactly what happened. Although Adam and I have never formally defined our roles, there are certain things we just fell into doing–he has editorial skills and experience that I don’t, I can do things with web pages that he can’t, and…
The “Nice Guy” Fallacy
Massive content warning: If you yourself are a survivor of sexual assault, you have our permission to skip this piece. It’s up to you. But please pass it along. The essay that follows contains descriptions of sexual assault. Rape and sexual assault can happen to anyone regardless of gender identity or gender presentation. Likewise, issues…
Not all Poems are about Flowers… This one is, Though
A Gift of Flowers It might have been tulips. I think they were yellow. A smiling man handed them to a woman in a crowded bomb shelter.I saw the picture over the shoulder of some talking head on my screen. Thousands of miles away in my bedroom I’m thinking of these stories I’ve been writing…
The World is Big. Keep Going, Son.
In our first delivery we find Stuart with Aleena soon after their marriage, in their beachside house together, sharing breakfast after a night of lovemaking. We get the sense they are living a life of privilege and of exploring affirmative mind-states. Since that opening delivery we jumped back in time to dig around in Stuart’s…
Kissing Rosalyn
When I was a teenager, I spent several summers at a Montessori-inspired hippie socialist utopian creative-and-performing arts camp. The eight weeks I spent at camp were a respite from trying to contort myself to fit in enough during the rest of the school year. Camp was a place to be myself. It was a place…