“To me, the part of Louisiana I grew up in is about as southern as it gets. It’s something in the landscape – in the flashing of pine to pine as you run barefoot cross pine mulched forest floors, letting your fingertips rub worn bark tree to tree to tree. It’s something in the way … More Beggars, Sinners, and BBQ
“I stand in the shower and let the water pound against the knot in my neck until the spasm seems so strong I register pain before terror. Every possible nerve I can find rests against the jarring freeze of the granite. Water drenches my arms, face, and stretch-marked body – kissing parts of me I … More Translations of a Post-Apocalyptic Love
“I look at my brother and struggle with dual images – a broken man fighting demons to reach whole and a little boy who’d do anything to give a broken family a reason to smile. I see both the boy who tried to hang himself to escape the darkness and the man trying to show … More Origami Dragons
“There’s a five-mile block in the northernmost part of Prenzlauer Berg that I haunted during my last weeks in Berlin. Within this five-mile block, I allowed myself to fade in and out of memories – I let past and present mingle surreptitiously. I chose it in the exact breath it chose me. Even knowing what … More On Becoming a Storyteller: A Berlin Memoir
Dear Fam, Because I fail at contact across time zones, I want to write this one for all of you around the world who are wondering what’s going on. So, for those of you I would otherwise be calling at 2am (you’re welcome), here’s the update! It’s been about 7 weeks since I landed in … More Entrepreneurship and Berlin
Negative and Positive Resilience – a Lens to Understand Negative resilience the ability to withstand Positive resilience the ability to overcome The Terrible Cliché What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. God won’t give you more than you can handle. Everything happens for a reason. Each is a cliché – something we’ve promised ourselves amid … More Resilience + the Power to Hope
To my siblings Jackie, John, Sarah, and Desiree – I love you so much, this is for you. For all the pain I couldn’t take away For all the hard days no one else could see Because I know too many times love has looked a lot like pain I beg believe There is always … More To Jackie, John, Sarah, and Desireé
Picture by Dee Ashley (some rights reserved) From the very first day I searched for freedom from my pain, art has been my salvation – it saved me. I can’t imagine my life without it. Who I’d be, what life would be like now. So in honor of that journey and for anyone out there looking … More 3 Ways Art Saved My Life
Hey Everyone, I know it’s been over a month since my last post. Not because I haven’t been working on anything, but because I’ve only recently written my way to love. I won’t post something unless I love it, and finally I do. So over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing a few new … More Catching up on Recovery
You may not know it, but I spent three glorious months in this beautiful country last summer. Like a child first understanding the world, these were among my first words. Somehow, they just made sense – they just fit. Find yourself in Nairobi and you’ll know exactly what I mean. Nothing describes the matatu experience … More Matatu ni Matata – The Terrible Matatus
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