I waited a year to fix my thumb because I was afraid of surgery. Here's what I learned about the difference between numbing pain and actually healing—and why we need to visit the sad places.
What the Botanical Gardens Taught Me About Leaving Teaching
Walking among mountain laurels with my adopted South Carolina mom, I discovered I might be a hybrid tea rose—capable of blooming two different ways. Here's what garden wisdom taught me about career courage.
When Faith Moves Mountains: A Family’s Prayer Journey Through Medical Crisis (Repost)
Six years ago, my brother P.J. battled an ulcer that sought to make a widow of his wife and leave my nieces and nephew fatherless. My family battled right back in prayer, and God worked a miracle. Today, a similar circumstance reminds me of this story, where I raised an Ebenezer worth revisiting now.
When Your Body Forces You to Slow Down: Lessons from Hand Surgery
Four hand surgeries in fifteen months taught me that sometimes our bodies know what our minds refuse to accept. Here's what I learned about rest, limits, and listening to what hurts.
Day 30: If Your English Teacher Could Rap – Eminem Meets Heartbreak
I was dreamin' of tomorrow so I sacrificed today... You think there's gold in me, but I'm fractured and weak... In my head, Eminem is rapping these lines about brokenness and second chances.
Day 29: Put them Side by Side – When Your Brain Won’t Stop Thinking
On the phone tonight I successfully carried on multiple conversations... Emily Dickinson had it right, the brain is wider than the sky, high above these telephone lines. An unfinished poem about overthinking everything.
Day 28: The B-Sides – Leftover Love and Cassette Tape Metaphors
Leftover after everything's been said, shared, savored... Just flip the tape over and play the rest of what I never said now that I'm gone. A clever pun on being "besides" and cassette B-sides.
Day 27: Suicide by Sonnet – When Depression Writes in Iambic Pentameter
Oh God, oh Sun, oh servant Christian man, why dare you me, bid me rise when I am blind... A Shakespearean sonnet that let the poem contemplate what I couldn't, written during my first bout with depression.
Day 26: My Mind in a Tanning Bed – Counting Life in Eight Minutes
Count in the seconds, the minutes, they climb... Twenty-five; a quarter of a century, a third of a life, and I am twenty-six. Foomp. Lights out. A stream-of-consciousness countdown crafted in a tanning bed.
Day 25: Palm Open – Sophomore Heartbreak and Empty Hands
Palm open, hanging lonely at my side, empty, longing to entwine with fingers constant and consoling... The images are starting to fade, I can't feel your pulse. A dramatic sophomore's first heartbreak poetry.
Writer's Growth 