shawnamawna

That In-Between State of Sick and Well

Today I'm working on breathing. I caught a cold, and it's my first one since COVID started. My immune system is in shock. It's not handling the simple virus ver...

Taking Time to Love Myself

This week has been hard, but I think I'm finding my groove. Which is a little worrying because I just interviewed for a new job that would 100% destroy the groo...

Today I Started Fresh

I love a good morning to myself. Today I was up before the sun and got to watch it rise from my porch. I'm practicing holding still and enjoying the present mom...

Much To-Do About Everything

I'm currently working on an article about over-planning and future anxiety, and I'm not making much headway. This is ironic because I'm a constant over-planner....

A new day, a new schedule, a new smile

I had the incredible pleasure of spending a day with my boss on Thursday. This was out of the ordinary because I am remotely employed. He lives in Dallas, and I...

Writing to Destroy: Freeing your words means freeing your mind

There's nothing I love more than writing to destroy. It's a beautiful, protective act I do for no one but me. In today's class on writing for release and recove...

I had a weird but cool dream the other night...

Hello Hiveians! About 2 or 3 days ago, I had a dream that I could fly. This dream was kinda like a part two for being able to fly, because I once had another dr...

Hotels Are Better Than AirBnBs?

Last week I made the nine hour drive from North Carolina to Indiana to visit my kids. I've been making this trip every six weeks for the last year. This trip wa...

What We Care for Cares for Us

One of the ways I like to keep in touch with loved ones is to send them videos of my space. Earlier today, I sent my mom an introduction to my plants. I recorde...

Capturing the Fall Mood

Ever make a cup of tea just to sit with it? That's my mood today. I'm drinking the tea, sure, but slowly. It doesn't resemble hot anymore, and that's totally ok...

Is It a Chore, Or Is It a Gift?

Back when I was religious, I read a book on religious etiquette that mostly told me to be barefoot in the kitchen, but there was one section that continues to s...

Sometimes There Is No Silver Lining

One of my recent Zoom classes was on the topic of writing grievances. There is a lot to be said for the practice of writing shit how it is without sugarcoating....

Fat-phobia Is a Colonial, Capitalist Scam I Bought Into

One of the most frequent struggles in my life is my relationship with my body. I can remember exactly two times in my life when I didn't feel overweight and una...

Why Not Add One More Item to the List?

I've been burning the candle at both ends of late. I talked about this a little bit: I have three jobs. One of them is hourly as a project manager. The position...

Like a Hurricane

I woke up tired. Hurricane Ian did a number on my area of Durham last night. While we didn't lose power, many others did. There is plenty of debris in the roadw...

The Violence of My Silence

One of the topics I've been working on in therapy is silence. Being silenced. Feeling silenced. Choosing silence. The safety of silence. But moslty, the violenc...

Time to Reinvent the Wheel

I've been writing and teaching writing on the side for the last 20 years. Both passions have been relegated to hobbies or side gigs for most of that time due to...

What Are Your Dreams?

One day, I'm going to buy a boat. I want to live on my boat in a cove on an island. That's it. The dream. I just want the sun, the water, sleeping in a rocking ...

Bourbon Goddess

I found myself scattered dancing across your arc midnight star marsh -mallows searing a sky fire; goddess energy, sweat slick ravines, grazing hills, and sweet ...

Sacred Reflection

There were several words you chose not to believe from me. You discarded them without even bothering a dissection. It confounds me how you never want to know wh...