A writing teacher once said everyone works through the bleed on paper stage, especially when you're a young writer. I have always believed writing is a powerful tool that can engaged and cure your heart, especially if you're a person diagnosed with mental illness. In the past, I've been open about my mental illness, depression… Continue reading Memoir in Verse
Change it Up: Ways to Change a Poetry Collection and Why
So, I'm not much of a poet. My teacher at the South Carolina Governor's School of the Arts summer program thought it was my thing, but really I had to develop better prose. By college and into my adult years, I got better with short stories. The thing as writers just as with teaching, we… Continue reading Change it Up: Ways to Change a Poetry Collection and Why
The Rain (A Metaphor for Special Education)
I am a firm believer in speaking out. I have had to pick and choose what I say because of my profession as a teacher, but certain causes deserve attention. For me, those causes include poverty, breastfeeding, and special education. So, today I share I poem I wrote as a metaphor for the needs necessary… Continue reading The Rain (A Metaphor for Special Education)
Ways we Write: The Charles Project
Dedicated to my Aunt Sharon. Evolve. Grow. Nurture. Writing that lives within us and sprouts words on the page do all of those things. It fails to linger long, especially as we - as writers and people - change. I believe the same applies for any artist. Art is like my five-year-old son. It won't… Continue reading Ways we Write: The Charles Project
I Might Have Given Up If …
Fireworks and sparklers will burst in the 4th of July sky tomorrow night. The holiday celebrates what many Americans value, resilience. When you read my recent posts, a word keeps popping up: advocacy. Granted, my professors and books have beaten the word into my head for educational purposes. But, it is significant in building up… Continue reading I Might Have Given Up If …
It’s Time: Take Down the Flag
Successful teachers want to engage students. The term I've learned is "foster their learning environment" so students can become active in society. We encourage them to become advocates of the world. But, what about us? Teachers advocate for students, and there are some things professional teachers must decide to keep their opinions to themselves, so… Continue reading It’s Time: Take Down the Flag
Talks about Breastfeeding: Two Things
Imagine walking through on a city sidewalk in late autumn. Rain falls. You had thought the weather would feel warmer, but water hardens on the leaves at your feet. Cold covers your toes, and it spreads weakening the speed of your pace. You reach the end of the sidewalk where it meets a street, and… Continue reading Talks about Breastfeeding: Two Things
Ready to Talk: The Infection, Part 2
The Infection, Part 2 Memoir Shorts When MRSA first streamed through our blood and into our skin in summer 2011, I worked two days a week at a cafe. Fears mounted like a stack of pennies that people save and believed one day will amount to something. One month, Ben's job covered the rent and… Continue reading Ready to Talk: The Infection, Part 2
To the Mother who Told my Husband How to Parent
To the Mother who Told my Husband How to Parent: Deep breath before I type. I don’t know if you raised your voice, spoke with emotion in a calm voice, or just used a tone that up-and-slapped my husband in the face. I know he didn’t like the way you dramatically lectured him about… Continue reading To the Mother who Told my Husband How to Parent
Easter Letter to My Daughter
Dear Corrie, Two women talk at the park about the latest in little girls' names: Lily. Two weeks later, a woman says to me, "Cora is not a name you hear much anymore. What a beautiful name!" Or, my favorite, "Did you name her after the girl on Downton Abbey?" Your name has an entire… Continue reading Easter Letter to My Daughter
Corrie's Season 