At our teacher meeting, everyone wrote adjectives on apples for colleagues. When someone called me 'wildly optimistic,' I realized something had changed in my fifty weeks of writing. I wasn't always this hopeful.
Personal Growth
The Independence Ring I Bought and the Love Pendant He Gave Me
I bought my first ring as a single woman to celebrate my freedom. A year later, Charming surprised me with a matching pendant. Here's what jewelry taught me about waiting for the right combination.
How I Learned to Guard My Heart Without Building Walls
After divorce, I thought protecting my heart meant never risking it again. Then I discovered what 'guard your heart' really means—and it changed everything about how I love.
The Night I Buried Dead Roses to Grow Something New
Eight months after planting my broken relationship in the garden as fertilizer, Charming sent fresh roses to fill my empty vase. Here's what bloomed in between.
What My Student Taught Me About Getting “There” First in Love
Young Beauty discovered she seemed depressed when she started writing, just like I did. Here's what we learned about vulnerability, passion, and what happens when you fall in love before he does.
When Paradise Taught Me to Live in Parentheses: Finding Grace Between Sunset and Praise
I lost myself in a Bahamas sunset and found myself in the parentheses of praise. Sometimes the most profound resolutions aren't about changing—they're about noticing the abstract beauty that's been there all along, waiting for us to stop and worship.
The Thanksgiving I Remembered Who I Really Am
Meeting Charming's family, I realized I'd spent years playing a role in my marriage. Here's what it felt like to finally be myself again—and why his grandmother said I should stick around.
The Half-Marathon That Taught Me About Racing Into Love Again
All relationships end like sunsets do—but if we never risk racing into them, we'll miss something amazing. Here's what training for my first half-marathon taught me about trying again after betrayal.
The Friend Who Taught Me the Difference Between Surviving and Living
My friend believes the best of her life is behind her—just like I used to. Here's what happened when I challenged her to dream again, and why I bought a piano the next day.
The Selfie I Took in the Storm That Changed Everything
After our perfect second date, I sat on my porch in the hurricane rain and captured something I hadn't felt in years: hope. Here's why I almost didn't write about it.
Writer's Growth 