Still Growing

February 10, 2026.Reading time 1 minute.

People pleasing is a trauma response. This statement made me stop and pause. I’ve been on a mission lately to break out of the cycle of people pleasing, and this is one revelation that I somehow missed. “It’s part of fawning,” my therapist explains. I hadn’t heard of that either. Apparently, flight, fight, freeze, or […]

Paradoxical

October 3, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Fear and intimidation formed the basis of his power. To this day I tremble, afraid I’ve misstepped – parked the car wrong, forgot to close the door properly, or spoken out of turn. My father was a hand grenade with the pin perpetually pulled. He was also motivational, citing the works of Carnegie, Peale, Gibran, […]

Lost and Found

July 23, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Fallen limbs and pathless woodsno obstacle for a wild childleft to her own devices,searching for a self. Only with age, and sproutingcurves, did I learn to be afraidof shadows, that the woodsequated with wolves and lurking And that abandoned placeshouse evil – held captive therejust this side of adolescence – lost all that innocence gifts […]

Birthing The Soul

October 18, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

I stuff down the cookies as if the faster I eat the more I can distance myself from the misery that has bubbled to the surface. “Write about it,” my psychologist suggests as she ushers me out of the door, our session having run past the allotted time. I told her about the weekend I […]

Exit Strategy

September 28, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

One more train. Then she’d be away. Far enough to lose all communication. Far enough that he could not find her. “Can I help you Ma’am?” a porter reached for her luggage. Passengers crowded in behind. “Just a moment, thanks.” Pulling her suitcase aside, she fidgeted with her purse, pretending to be searching for a […]

Trauma’s Shadow is Rage

September 22, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“…he had always been popular and happy and things had always worked out.” (Holly LeCraw, The Swimming Pool) I close the book, feeling the rage shifting just below my sternum. It’s the second time this week […]

Be As the Bloom

Are we awakebarely breathing? Mounting raucousshattering sensibility Hatred buildingrights withering Who will survive? I, chirps the solo bloom Timid-voicedoverlooked radiant in her fragilityconfident Breathe (Art my own)

Wren (haiku)

Resilience

Boxes are filling up around us. We’re making a dent in our to-do lists. Doubt seeps in. Are we doing the right thing? Then I remember all the reasons behind making this choice and affirm: We are dismantling one life to build another, purposeful existence.