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
Kuja nikuambie – come here, I tell you. I’m sure it’s not intended this way, but I find great humility in this simple phrase. Probably because I so often find that listening is essential to learning about a place or a people, and understanding who people are is so important to creating any sort of … More Come Here, I Tell You
Finding Art & Peace I believe art has the power to save people. I believe this because it saved me. I am an artist. I am a poet. I am a peacebuilder. I am recovering. Funny enough, art was not always something I believed in. At least not this strongly. I was a musician in … More My Journey to Art & Peace
I was standing in the visa line at Kenyatta National Airport, when I had one of the strangest experiences of my life. Waiting on the threshold of what I’ve really started to feel is my love and my purpose, I had the peculiar experience of feeling like I was leaving and coming home at the … More When Purpose Finds You
I’m tired of having ammo for my poetry Tired of melting down flesh laden bullets to make beautiful words My wounds are my ink I use them for writing But I wouldn’t be heartbroken if suddenly I was too whole to write about broken things
It’s hard to believe as this incredible part of my life ends and the next begins how very far I’ve come. Just two years ago, I was returning from a very weary stint abroad in Liberia praying I would find my way, that there even was a way. Now, two years later, I’ve graduated from one … More Peace, Art, and Purpose
The last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about the really difficult issue of depression and suicide. It’s a serious subject and one I’m going to be going back to, but I want to transition this week to thinking about trauma. Trauma can cause so many other issues – depression being only one. It can … More Trauma, Anxiety, and Other Broken Things
What is the difference between sadness and depression? An important question this video explores!
I think people who have never experienced depression or struggled with the decision to take their own life – people who have never sat with a loved one listing every reason they have to be alive, every person that loves them dearly, and walked away wondering if they would still be there when you got … More free me
written by Jessica Ciccarelli, picture by Jen and Tony Bot (some rights reserved https://flic.kr/p/8P1z2B) … More Dinosaur Eyes
therecoverypoet.com 