Five years into life here, and I am realizing how tied my soul still is to where I came from. My sister stayed with me over my birthday. I wanted the week to be less rushed and more rest than previous visits. We spent hours talking, stretched across my bed that I now share with my husband. We sat at my worn wood table, legs folded up, hands wrapped around mugs of peppermint tea, sipping on sweet memories and new revelations that are only released through sister serenity. I felt part of my soul settle in my chest as I listened to her steps padding down the hallway. My life blood lives in my sister. It ebbs and flows as time and distance move between us. We are chinked together with Appalachian blood and a woman's grit on my mom's side, Catholic liturgy and a steady know-how from my dad. In a city that values individuality, I rejoice in my similarity--chalk up victory in the cadence of my sister's laugh, and the...
"Already Ourselves" We are Already ourselves don't we spend the rest of our lives reaching back to the stuff of childhood honesty hope passion, untethered rest wonder drive, unfettered We are already Who we are Becoming You don't have to go, so much as you have to return Home
We are so addicted to fresh starts. 2023 was not an easy year for me--I experienced my first year of post-grad life, and it was full of the fumbles and bumbles that are the trademarks of your twenties. I started the year with hope of a new job as an assistant editor. I was confident I was going to get my foot in the door at some shiny publishing house in Manhattan and impress everyone by living out my 90s rom-com career. Andie Anderson made it look so easy in How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days! How hard could it be? Turns out, it's pretty dang hard. Between writers strikes, hiring holds, publishing house mergers, and a deplorable job market, I acquired an impressive amount of rejection letters. My fresh-faced, recent grad optimism was lost somewhere between writing my hundredth cover letter and receiving my ninety-ninth rejection. Aside from entering the work-force, I spent most of my year trying to hold it together as three of my closest friends got married. Th...
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