As we dance around the sun once again
I will demonstrate my love for you
And I will listen
Every sign
Every metaphor
Body
You are wise
I will learn more from you
Things I cannot see with my eyes
Feel with my hands
You talk to me
And I’ll stay curious
A sore stomach
And ache in my head
Sweaty palms
The fast paced beating of my heart
The signals t…read more

In this golden age of technology and social media, there are many things I am grateful for, and others that I could go without. I love sending people funny videos, but I despise the hateful comments underneath some. I love being able to recline the seats on a Costco leather couch, but when the seats get stuck, you’re left with an incredibly a…read more

I think I’m the prettiest when I am crying
When a flow of words
Isn’t enough to describe
What overwhelming emotion
Is occupying my heart
A flow of water
Out of my honey colored eyes
Writes a beautiful soliloquy

With dark and dampened eyelashes
And wet rosy cheeks
I can say so many beautiful words
With only the drops of liquid glass
Falling…read more

To a girl,
Young, scared, hurt, and overcome by the feeling of wanting to crawl out of her skin. You have come so far. You have marched down the length of that dock, felt the dead, dry, prickly summer grass on the bottoms of your feet, and you’ve kept walking. You threw away that swimsuit, you know the one. The pale blue bikini with the tiny y…read more

I am most beautiful
When I am myself
In the most
Raw and vulnerable form
After I’ve danced
And my hair sticks
To my sweaty forehead
After I’ve laughed so hard
My smile can’t help but linger
Once I am done crying
Alone on my dirty floors
And I look into the mirror
Staring into my puffy eyes
I think,
I love her
She dances
She laugh…read more

Why do I love myself? I don’t think it’s a question that can be simply answered, and that is due to the fact that there is nothing simple about navigating the long, messy, imperfectly cracked road to loving yourself. I also believe there isn’t one correct answer to the question of “how do you learn to love yourself?”, but maybe multiple correct a…read more

Dear Carolyn-Jean,

It’s getting very difficult to feel proud of myself. Former classmates ask me what I’ve been up to since graduating, and it takes me about three and a half seconds to answer that question with a “Not much”, that I push out as blithe as my conscience allows me too. Then I sit there, listening to them talk about new friends…read more