Hello, Sports Fans

It's difficult to have a bad morning when I pour my plant-based milk from a carton with Aly Raisman on the side. Bravo, Silk: this marketing maneuver changed my mind about soy... better luck next time, Almond Breeze

CPJ-7: A Brief, Optimistic Theory

My new theory is that I'm a valuable person and acting lazy couldn't change that. I still tell myself stories about what I did overseas, especially in Palestine. Up until last week I thought I was being pathetic, living in the past...

CPJ-2: Recaps and Bold Statements

It's change in my state-of-mind. My bestfriend from college saw me post on social media that "life is good". He wondered what happened. Nothing 'happened' but I did do something this afternoon -- not even something I've never done.

Sign of the Stag

The stag assessed the situation: craned his neck, turned his head sideways and back again, shifted on his long sturdy legs, and swept the air for sounds of movement using huge, swiveling ears. As he did so, I noticed he had at least 12 points on his rack. I'd never seen a buck of that status wild in the woods.

Kelly Clarkson’s Prophesies

Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" started playing on the radio next to one of the anti-contamination hoods (I've enjoyed juxtapositions like that). Kelly's words were my reassurance, or as close as I could get. My supervisor had just delivered the news: corporate is downsizing her team, my last day would be the 25th.

Mind-Trip: Visiting Past Selves

The morning after my graduate coursework was complete, and with no more school assignments to write, I sat in dim quiet. A restlessness stirred in my core but fatigue lingered-on. I decided to try a self-compassion exercise I found on the Internet. It told me to think of an uncomplicated love and I tried to…

Smashed Pear (entry fragment)

He left when he heard I was graduating. I wanted to follow him into the hallway and plead that I could drop my capstone class and hang around for another year but too many pieces of me were invested in matriculating. I wished him a good day and listened to the door shut behind him.…