What is trauma? Trauma is anything that splits your life into a before and an after. When trauma finally registers as what it actually is, and you allow yourself to acknowledge and name it, you will start to see the ripples that your traumatic experiences have cast throughout your life…

I’ve decided who I want to be and what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to be someone who makes people cry. I want to move you to tears with the words that I write. I want to summon rivers from irises, and validate your…

If you are ever in the position where you possess the ability to make a big deal out of someone’s birthday, DO IT! Ignore them when they try to tell you that it’s just another day, because their birthday isn’t like any of the other days of the year. Their…

Karma doesn’t have fists, but we do. Sometimes we need to be the first domino who surrenders to gravity. We don’t see the grace in falling until we witness and piece together the chain of events that follow our moment of weakness. You were a pawn of the Universe. You…

Most of my life, I never touched cigarettes or drugs, and alcohol never appealed to me. When I was 22, I entered a toxic friendship with a girl who had a bad relationship with alcohol. At the time, I just really enjoyed her company, and started drinking socially when we…

What is trauma? Trauma is anything that splits your life into a before and an after. When trauma finally registers as what it actually is, and you allow yourself to acknowledge and name it, you will start to see the ripples that your traumatic experiences have cast throughout your life…

Trigger warning: Domestic abuse The damage is starting to feel like home. You make a habit of romanticizing bruises and celebrating broken bones as measurements of devotion. If these bones can heal, you tell yourself your heart can, too. So can his fist and his temper. Someday, maybe even his mind. You tell yourself that all you both need is a little…

Do you believe that it will all get better somehow? Do you think somewhere down the line we’ll be able to talk about anything but the weather? It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to tell you I don’t care about the clouds or their empty threats of rain. …

Denial sits in the chair in the corner and stares at her phone, waiting for his name to pop up on the screen. Waiting for a text message or a call, anything at all to validate his continued existence. “He isn’t a ghost. He can’t be! He was real,” she…