How I Blended into the Ghetto
I was born in the ghetto in the late eighties. I was born in challenge, ojú ìrìn also known as railways line mushin. The ghetto was for the strong and I never blended in quickly.
Teaching Moment From The Grave
A close friend of mine was killed in a mysterious auto accident recently. I say mysterious because of the lack of any information about his death. We had reconciled after a terrible scene caused over, what else, but money. Monies he owed from a personal loan. I intentionally aired my grievances publicly to maximize the impact on him. I knew his biggest fear was upsetting his neighbors with any kind of drama. He had made a few people uncomfortable in his neighborhood and because of some prior bad behaviors was likely one complaint away from eviction.
The “Lily Pad”
So April of 2020 we moved into our cottage. I was unpacking and I cleaned out a kitty litter box and set it outside to dry. We had a pop up rainstorm and the box filled with water. I left it to take care of the next day. The next day, I went outside and there was a small leopard frog in the water that had collected from the rain.
Speaking Up is the First Step to Overcoming Depression (Matthew’s Story)
I thought the first year of college was going to be the best year of my life, a time to find myself and decide what I want to do with my life. After all, that’s what everyone had always hyped it up to be. But that wasn’t my experience. Instead, my first year of college was spent dealing with severe depression. And the worst part is I didn’t tell anyone what I was feeling or dealing with for six months.
As A Woman – Differences in How I’ve Been Treated Since Transitioning
Trans woman reporting for duty! Here a some of the things I have noticed in how women are treated vs how men are treated. (I started HRT at 22, I’m 31 now.)
I Am From There. I am from Palestine.
The day of my birth, my parents randomly heard my name in the hospital, and they liked it. So I was called B. Yet, I would only discover this as I grew older, I acquired another name the moment I was born, which will accompany me my entire life as a twin: refugee.
Fred – A Member of Debtors Anonymous
I had known about 12 step fellowships for many years and had been a member of one of the larger ones – there are apparently 256 different kinds of 12 step groups! – before finally deciding to go to a Debtors Anonymous (DA) meeting.
When I Decided to Stop Hiding the Physical Scars of My Mental Illness
Without looking closely, this picture [of me in a tree] doesn’t seem particularly exciting or interesting. Sure, the leaves are beautifully green and I’m smiling in a truly honest way, but if you didn’t know better you’d think it was just a nice picture.
Rent a Mutt
I like animals, in particular dogs. I would have loved one when my children were younger but my husband is not a doggie person, besides which he tended to end up with most of the hutch cleaning from the various small mammals we did have…
How I became a better person because of the worst thing of my life
This is very embarrassing story, so I decided to share it anonymously. So I’m 16 years old girl and all of it was started a long time ago. In the past I was… just a loser. Well, I didn’t have any friends in class, and there was a reason – to be honest – I didn’t care about hygiene at all.