First published with Ancient Paths One has deep-set fear like her mothers. One carries the dreams and lashes of his fathers. My ankles ache with want of dance. Others’ hands are strong to lead. I have the crooked spine of over-accommodating but also the sure feet of slow, slow progress. Others’ eyes lock more easily than mine. My eyes change the color of the roses. Others bump into me, step on my feet, stub their toes, yell and whisper and hug; this chaos is mastery. One ha

First Published on EQ Iris Dating If you're disoriented just trying to navigate regular life, you're not alone. It's not just the level of change society has undergone the past two years or how fast that change has happened. It's the fact that pandemic policies differ wildly depending on where you are in the US — not just by state, but by county . Two counties that are a 30-minute drive apart can be miles apart ideologically; this makes it even harder to connect with people

First published on Mad in America . I used to think therapy could be beneficial if only you went through the trials of finding a good therapist—and by “good,” I mean one that is not only well-trained/well-educated, but one that is a “good fit” for you in particular. There are no easy ways to find such a “fit,” of course; it all has to be trial and error. Poking around on the Internet and making the most of the shockingly little third-party information that’s out there about t

Originally Published in the Bacopa Literary Review " Oh. There Is No Going Back " came to me in an instant, nearly whole, on the day in April 2021 when I realized that we as a society are never going back to normal. I had long since stopped wiping down every screen and surface with hydrogen peroxide and I wasn't washing my hands raw every 12 hours anymore like I had the previous year, but I had truly thought that the end of this would at least be in view by the second Easter

Originally published on EQ Iris Dating You may feel behind. You may feel clueless. You may feel frantic. You may feel like no good people are left because "everyone" is celebrating ten-year anniversaries and welcoming their second or third children. You may feel your concerned family members breathing down your neck when they gently (or not so gently) "check-in" on your love life. You may feel like you have to update your singleness stat, but also hopeless about anything ch