I write because it feels good to express myself. I write because it allows me to capture and make sense of the wisdom that is in front of me. I write because it inspires others. I write because it is the tool and gift God gave me to brighten up this world. I write because I have something to say. I write because I am a writer. I wrote the above during a journaling session …
Photo by Spenser Sembrat on Unsplash “Who’s that guy they keep showing on the TV, Mommy?” Mav asks as Super Bowl LIII kickoff nears. “That’s Tom Brady,” I answer. “He’s probably the best quarterback ever. He’s been in 9 Super Bowls and won 5 of them,” I say, in between bites of loaded veggies nachos. “Really?” Mav replies. “I think I want to throw him in the garbage then.” This throwing-in-the-garbage talk is an inside …
I’ve seen it many times. A woman has a baby or two. There’s less time for her partner, less time for her well-being, and less time for her career. Everything starts to shift. It usually happens in small, practically unnoticeable changes over the course of several years until all of a sudden something happens – like a health scare, a financial misstep, a wake-up conversation with her child’s preschool teacher, a failed work project, an …
“Keep your penis pointing down, Kyen,” I say for the third time. I’m squatting on the floor of the airport family bathroom face-to-face with my two-year-old with both hands on his naked knees to hold his newly potty-trained body steady. “What’s this, Mom?” my four-year-old, Mav, asks. I look left to see what he has gotten into, praying it isn’t the tampon garbage or one of the many other gross things little boys can’t help …
For a long while, the end of the day would come, but I wouldn’t be able to relax. The boys would be down for the night, the kitchen clean, the house neat. I’d sit on the couch to watch TV or read, and my foot would start tap-tap-tapping away, antsy, like there was something else I should be doing. Sometimes I’d log back into my work VPN and answer emails, but the niggle stayed with …