Sunglasses, Side by Side

August 21, 2018 / Laura Joy Palma / Leave a comment

Today was my second day of new teacher orientation, another eight hours of information overload, and yet already fresh faces feel familiar. Crammed in an auditorium that’s a virtual black hole for cell service, my school’s latest hires are bonding as much through shared confusion over login credentials as in our mutual dissatisfaction at a … Continue reading Sunglasses, Side by Side

The Lessons I Learned at Alternative SchoolMay 23, 2023
For ten months, I’ve chanted it every day with my kids at alternative school, our mantra: “This is my life. This is my story. I will love it or regret it based on my daily choices.” The first recitation alone didn’t change me, but repetition worked it into my DNA. Our choices, love or regret them, write our stories. Could all our pensive meanderings for how to live a better life really boil down to something so simple?
I Used to BeMay 21, 2023
Originally posted on Writer's Growth:
I used to be a writer and a poet and a novelist. And a singer. And an actress. And a media tech. And a…
Pain ManagementMay 16, 2023
We avoid pain, but its presence tells us something is wrong. I knew I needed a root canal and two trigger thumb surgeries this month. After each procedure, the affected areas remained numb for hours, and I was told to avoid use until that wore off; absent pain, I could cause further damage. Is the same true for emotional pain, and if so, do our human efforts to numb and avoid it actually damage us more?
When You’re Not a MotherMay 12, 2023
Originally posted on Writer's Growth:
I love my mother, but not Mother’s Day. ?It comes every year.? I can set my biological watch by it.? Like the incremental changes…
For the Love of LaurelsMay 9, 2023
If I Were a Peony was the first of my analogical musings. During a Sunday afternoon meandering the South Carolina Botanical Gardens with Mama Sue, some flora is worth further consideration further, and so is some counsel that was not your garden variety.
And He’ll Do It AgainMay 4, 2023
Originally posted on Writer's Growth:
It’s the first night in a week I haven’t been up on the surgical floor at Sentara tracking my brother’s progress.? I feel the…
Not a Typical TuesdayMay 2, 2023
Today's not a typical Tuesday nor Teacher's Day. I'm having the third of four hand surgeries in fifteen months. Typing and crocheting likely got me here, and I hope I'm … Continue reading Not a Typical Tuesday
If Your English Teacher Could RapApril 30, 2023
I was dreamin’ of tomorrow / so I – sacrificed today / It was a waste, a mistake / that I’m not makin’ again // You say begin again. Up, / jump in and live again...