Goodbye Philly


Popular posts from this blog

Stepping into my Womanhood

Image
In honor of International Women's Day, I decided to share a story that I only recently realized was happening my whole life.  Growing up, I called myself a tomboy. I played with G.I. Joes, hated dolls and dresses, loved sports and never really wore any makeup. In grade school I spent many a lunch hour playing "off-the-wall" and milk crate (basket)ball with the guys. Like most people, my circle of friends consisted of guys and girls who shared similar interests and opinions. My friends and I often joked around about how women were so annoying, sensitive and catty. From adolescence into the beginning of adulthood, I prided myself on being a "guy's girl." I often hung out with men, drank them under the table and boasted about my "no strings attached" intimate relationships with other men. Even when I finally embraced dresses, makeup and "girly" things in my twenties, I still held onto the idea that I was an atypical woman and often talked t...
Read more

Why I Thought 2013 Sucked

Image
January 5, 2014 People tend to place a lot of significance on the start of a new journey around the sun- a chance to start fresh, commit to those things we’ve been saying we'd do, take chances, take plunges and, of course, lose weight. For the last couple of years, instead of making resolutions like these, I took on annual themes or mantras. In 2012, it was PB&J: patience, balance and Jesus. In 2013, it was faith, service and action. Strangely, however, I hadn’t felt inspired to come up with anything for 2014. In the months leading up to the New Year, I was approaching it as just another few months to work harder, make more cold calls, polish up pitches and hopefully generate more revenue. After an interesting sermon today, I finally found my mantra for 2014: failure. Yup, failure. I realized that my apathy was probably an indicator that something else was going on (ain't it always?) I opened my eyes to my blah attitude toward 2014 and I got present to what I have ...
Read more

Broken by Motherhood

Image
My friend sent me an article today about how a woman’s physiology changes for motherhood. The brain composition literally changes so that she is able to be more hyper-vigilant of her baby and be more attuned to his needs.   While I can’t say that I am surprised to learn of this miraculous evolution that Mother Nature provides her kin, going through the process has not always been as marvelous. I grew up in a low-income household that was either chronically depressed or escaping it through drugs or alcohol. Many family members had a prison record and few graduated high school. This reality combined with having no mother and father around meant that I figured out a lot of things on my own. Part of that meant “toughening” up so I could accomplish goals. I saw what (I interpreted as) being consumed by emotion did to people and I knew I didn’t want that. So I learned to swallow tears and it worked wonders for me. As a kid, I rarely cried. I never got very attached to people and fr...
Read more