My entire life, I've been raised on check lists. Go to school? Check! Get good grades? Check! Do your studying and stay out of trouble? Check! College? Check! Masters degree? Check! As a result of the checked checklist, I've been told I'm entitled to: the job I want, a house, a decent life. I am …
Category: Nonfiction
“It Was a Creative Shut Up”
I was sitting in our senior capstone course under the direction of our program's director. It was the course to help guide us towards our capstone presentations to showcase either a research paper or creative project based upon our knowledge and showmanship of what we had gained at Oklahoma City University. It was an easy …
A Christmas Memory
The night was still young yet already pitch black by the time the airplane made it to its destined gate. I paced between the two areas for exiting passengers up the large and long hall of the Will Roger's Airport. The airport isn't a huge one, but with only one plane left to arrive for …
While I Pondered, Weak and Weary
If you went through a literature gothic phase in high school, as many literature lovers do, you recognize the title of this post from The Raven by none other than Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. It's still one of my favorite writings ever, a poem I even went to speech competition and monologued it (they said it was a poor choice for such a "common" poem as if that word could ever be applied to Poe, the uncultured fools). But it's this very line that won't shake from my head. It's hard to not think about it when some days, it's all I can feel: Weak and weary.
Summer Fever
I don't believe it is any surprise as to the inspiration of today's poem. I don't know where you live but it is the dog days of summer here in Oklahoma, triple digits every day. Today is a high of 111F, not the "feels like" mind you, but actual Fahrenheit temperature.
Not Enough Spoons: Life as a Book Empath
There are certain situations that require spoons, a measured amount of energy and mental wellness to get you through a span of time, an experience, a conversation, a phone call, just anything that occurs on a daily basis. Sometimes, you feel mostly tired. You have the energy to text instead of call, so you have …
Happily Never After: True (Fictional) Love
Let me start out by saying I do believe in love. I do believe that a couple can make it work. I believe that when two people are right for each other, they can make it work. I truly love my husband and understand that a perfect relationship doesn't feel perfect 24/7. You will have your moments; one or both of you are so tired and just want some alone time but you know if you came home and they weren't there you'd be worse off than just knowing they're in the other room or on the other side of the couch. You have a disagreement; it wouldn't be much of a relationship without having moments where you grow together through discord. It's healthy, it's normal.
Words to Live By: Vitriol
Anne Lammott in her book Bird by Bird writes in one chapter that sometimes characters in our stories don't always do what we want them to; they try to veer off in other directions or have a personality quirk that disrupts the plotline. She relates this to a person who finds their neighbor drunk and passed out on their front lawn every day. The passerby takes time out of their day to take them into their house and put them on their couch. They do this nearly every day, the sober neighbor grabbing the drunken one off their lawn and inside. Finally, another neighbor who has been watching this stops them one morning and says, "Honey, leave them where Jesus laid them."
Pumpkin Seeds
This last weekend was an enjoyable get together for my little family, which includes my husband, John, and his two sons who live with their mother a few hours away. It's unfortunate but our visits aren't as often now that they are growing; the eldest is taking college courses and works full-time in retail, and …
Curious Characters: The Neighbor Lady
Curious Characters are short story bites that describe unusual people I have met in my life and proved to be interesting stories. Today's Curious Character features an old neighbor I had for a short time but one I won't ever forget. NOTE: This entry includes depictions of mental illness and suicide which might be unsettling to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
The World of Abigail Rose 