After a lifetime of body image issues, I’m done being afraid — A little over a week ago, I was a still-life model for a small group of artists in my city. I couldn’t resist writing about just how healing, empowering, and enlightening the experience was. I didn’t know we had a still life class in town but was approached by one…

We fight back and choose love, because love always wins — I love my city, but I can’t say I love what has been happening politically as of late. …

Some people — especially some doctors — won’t understand — A year and a half ago, I got off birth control once and for all. I was tired from the various side effects interrupting my day and causing abnormal problems. …

Sex does not make you a dirty human being with no self-control — We kneeled at the altar on Sundays, asking God to take away our desire and make us pure. We confided in each other when we lost self-control and worried we’d never be able to tame ourselves from feeling how we did. …

From doubt to devotion — I remember my first yoga class, and I remember the several after. Each one filled my cup a little extra and left me feeling more whole than before. Though, I felt like I had been lied to. My entire life, I had gone on thinking yoga was for a very…

Blood is not always thicker than water — Blood is not always thicker than water. That is a hard truth I’ve come to accept after years of disappointment from my father. It was once I surrounded myself with a loving and supportive community that I realized just how toxic our relationship was and still is. My father was…

Our dog thinks so, too — Couches take up a lot of space and, although some would argue a couch is a living room essential, I beg to differ. When you have a small and awkward rectangle for a living room, a plethora of activities that don’t involve sitting on the couch, and the softest Home…

And maybe I won’t ever finish a damn thing — I’ve felt annoyed with myself lately, and I’ve been battling the deep-seated fear that I’m nothing more than a quitter. I quit things a lot. Sometimes, I can’t tell if my quitting tendency is healthy. Maybe I just quit the things that are no longer serving me, and maybe I’m…

It’s quite possibly the best recipe for productivity — I didn’t step foot outside of the house once on Saturday — except to grab some firewood — and it was glorious. My partner asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year and I had two simple requests: Spend time with him, my best friend, and my mom. …