Originally posted at SheLoves Magazine. I was 13 years old when I celebrated my very first Christmas. It. Was. Magical. That year, for the first time ever, I didn’t feel like a complete outsider at school when I returned from winter break. And all the Christmases that have followed have surprised me with how much wonder can be packed into such a short season. Carols and hymns, ornaments and angels, stockings and ribbon. And Jesus. Before that year I was entrenched in a … [Read more...]
Lessons From a New Orleans Playground
Originally posted at SheLoves Magazine. I never understood my privilege until I moved to New Orleans when I was 21. I moved because I had hands that worked and I wanted to do something good after Hurricane Katrina tore through the city. And I’m still not sure if I made much of an impact on the city, but it definitely made an impact on me. Over fried chicken and sweet tea I began to see that my world, as I had always known it, was very narrow—I constructed my world of people quite … [Read more...]
Telling My Story
Originally posted at SheLoves Magazine. “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should’ve behaved better.” ~Anne Lamott I’m going to write my memoir. No really, I am. Maybe I’ll start next week. This is what I keep saying, but I just can’t write it. I’m frozen. Swirling inside this confused introvert/extrovert brain of mine is a story so powerful and heart-breaking and hilarious that I’m pretty sure … [Read more...]
Flying, For Real
Originally posted at SheLoves Magazine. Let’s talking about soaring, for real. Let’s talk about airplanes. I love flying. (I know Americans throw out LOVE all the time when they don’t mean it, but I mean it. I think I have a tangible infatuation with flying—resulting in heart palpitations and sweaty palms and silly grinning.) Perhaps my love of flying is because it’s the first step to a great expedition. Or maybe it’s that I get to participate in a grand rebellion against gravity … [Read more...]
Right Now, I Am Enough
Originally published at SheLoves Magazine. There are a million insecurities in my world that make me wonder if I’m ever going to be good enough. Is my photography good enough? My writing? My music? My art? Have I said the right things at the right times? But for all my insecurities that make me feel like I’m not enough, being single isn’t one of them. Confession: Like most single women I have thought (maybe even agonized) about what exactly went wrong with me that kept me single. Then I … [Read more...]
I Love Technology—Always and Forever
Originally posted at SheLoves Magazine. “I love technology, but not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology—always and forever.”–Kip, Napoleon Dynamite Yes, just like Kip, I love technology. Always and forever. I don’t just love technology because it makes my life so very convenient—calling, texting, Facebook, email, GPS all in one pocket-sized device? Brilliant. Nope, that’s not my real reason. I love technology because I love connectivity and community. There … [Read more...]