On Shutting Up

I’m not proud to admit that I’ve often been One Of Those People. The one who takes everything personally. The one who can’t just let things go. The one who always has to have the last word. You know. A jerk. And you want to know the most shameful part? Most of it was done

Is This The End? Chlorine, Corrie Ten Boom, and Climate Anxiety

In the late 19th century, mass starvation on a global scale seemed pretty much inevitable. There just wasn’t enough room on the planet to grow food for more than 1.5 billion people. As the population grew and began to tip over that threshold, some scientists were beginning to wonder: had we reached maximum capacity? There

My Baby Didn’t Feel Like Mine: The Weirdness of Motherhood

Whenever I imagined giving birth, I envisioned a deeply emotional experience. Blissful affection, immeasurable joy, light piano music and little pink hearts on the Instagram filter. Did I expect unbearable pain? Of course! Blood, amniotic fluid, and excrement? Undoubtedly! My birth plan accounted for every contingency –  an episiotomy, hemorrhaging,  a C-section. I knew labor

Crucify Me.

      Crucify me.   Pierce my temples with barbs, Renewing of the mind with a tortured crown. Lay the splintered wood upon my shoulders, Wood as heavy as a heart of stone, As heavy as a universe of sorrow, Until I bow down and break.   Crucify me. Lash me forward with your

Why I Believe Racism is an Actual Problem, Part 2: The Numbers

Everyone is talking about Charlottesville right now. We’re all looking at the Alt-Right, the White Nationalists, and the KKK with disdain and anger. Rightfully so. We should be speaking against bigotry at every opportunity. Here’s the thing: it’s easy to see those people as the problem. Those guys over there–the ones with the signs and

Why I Believe Racism is an Actual Problem: Part 1

Our experiences are a hard thing to override. If we hear or see something that doesn’t jive with what we’ve experienced thus far, we’re inclined to doubt its validity. Imagine the only M. Night Shyamalan movies you’d ever seen were The Happening, After Earth, and The Last Airbender. Experience would tell you that M. Night

On Being Offended

In the realm of political and social discourse, there are two general approaches we can take: tribalism, or empathy. Tribalism says, “My people are the ones who are right and good. Therefore, everything those other people do or say is either evil or ridiculous.” Empathy says, “I have certain principles that I want to follow

Running Away with a Sandwich

  On a particularly dreary afternoon, I finally got caught.   I was twenty, still in my pajamas, standing in the kitchen eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich. The sky was dark with clouds, the damp grey light peeking through a small kitchen window, and with no lights turned on inside, the whole room

Hush

  You are the clashing of the swords of the waves of the sea. You are the war-cry of the wind and the attrition of rain, the shriek of lightning and the gasp in its wake, waiting for thunder to snap back in anger. You are the little rivers down the glass that promise hope against