Category: Identity
-
Queer and Beloved
The last few years have taught me so much, and one of those very.important.things. has been coming to terms with the fact that I identify as queer. Something I’ve also realized is that I don’t owe anyone an explanation, or even the simple fact that Bi seems to be the label that fits the best.…
-
Radical Acceptance
For most of my life I’ve thought I was broken. Something was off, and not quite right, and somehow I just didn’t meet the expectations of anyone around me. I remember as a toddler, crying to my mom, “I’m trying, Mommy. I’m really trying. I try SO HARD to be good.” Of course she showed…
-
Neurodivergent
So, guess what? This girl right here? She has ADD. Officially, as of this week, I’ve got a dx and an Rx and FRIENDS, can I tell you — it took me FORTY YEARS to realize that there is a neurological reason my brain works the way it does. This is earth shattering. So many…
-
Pink Scrunchie
On my 40th birthday, grinning and in love with life, I slipped in the mud and fell on my ass. Okay, fine; it wasn’t actually my ass; it was my hip and leg and chest — my entire right side caked in mud from the impact of hitting the slimy, muddy hill intent on ruining…
-
Self Portrait: Cozy
February 28, 2017 There are goosebumps on my arm, and I am relishing them. The tradewinds are blowing. The hot Hawaiian sun is resting behind the clouds. I’m snuggled up in my favorite pair of sweatpants and sipping hot coffee from a mug the size of my head. This is me, feeling cozy. This is me, feeling…
-
Future Me
I was walking toward my future self on the sands of Lanikai Beach as the sun rose over the Mokulua islands (a short drive from my house and a favorite spot of mine). She was sitting on a woven blanket, wearing yoga pants and a ponytail, looking healthy and relaxed. I asked her how…
-
You Can Do This
Friends, here’s the truth: Life has been HARD recently. Hard hard hard hard. Hard. Not necessarily tragic or traumatic or full of drama – just HARD. You ever have one of those seasons? When it just feels like you can’t catch your breath or catch a break? We are in the middle of one of…
-
How Do I Want to Show Up in the World?
Last week I came back from a week at a summer camp for women. Talk about a situation ready to send you right back into your junior high insecurities: a bunch of women sleeping in the woods, swarmed by mosquitoes, constantly sweating in the moist North Carolina air. We shared our cabins with mice. We…
-
Survivor Mama: New Life after Sexual Assault
Today I am seven years a survivor. So grateful to the Good Mother Project for publishing this piece yesterday. It’s time to use my voice again. It’s time to speak the truth. When I got pregnant, I didn’t realize I was a rape survivor. Mere hours after my son was conceived, I sat in our counselor’s…
-
I’m Not Enough
It was 3am. I was more than sleep deprived; I was going a little bit crazy. Jacob, my new baby boy, was less than a week old, and he was hungry. His screams pierced the darkness and pierced this new mama’s heart. The pediatrician’s office had called that afternoon to say we needed to supplement his…
Erin Curlett 