There were many rules in my family but one of the most important was don’t get pregnant before you get married. My sisters and I were to present the perfect picture at all times. Don’t shame the family. I may have been in New Mexico, 1400 miles from my parents in Michigan, but those rules were like blood in my veins. I was a twenty year old mess, drinking heavily, trying to get through college, waitressing and scrambling for money for rent, food, health care, tuition and book

I am weary. Over the past year and a half, on top of the pandemic, my family was hit with medical emergencies that were out of control. I suffered a back injury as I leaned down to pick up laundry (lesson learned!) The pain was like nothing I had ever experienced. The other issues were even more serious. I am weary because Russia is a nightmare, women's rights are in more danger than ever and here we are, fighting with each other and arguing, and it's all too much. It's all t

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” - Desmond Tutu 2020. The unimaginable happened and the world shut down. As we tried to take it all in, scrambled to feed our families and homeschool our children, the news kept coming at us. Then in May, we, as a nation, had to face our country’s deep-seated racism in the ugliest way imaginable as we witnessed the murder of George Floyd. Families have suffered through job loss, sickness and death dur

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist. Do you know who you are? Seriously. Do you? I have always known who I wanted to be. What kind of woman I wanted to be. But I wasn’t always her and I am not always her. But I keep trying, standing up straighter, learning, leaning in, thinking and of course, trying to figure it all out. When I started my life coaching cert

With the shutdown of the country came the shutdown of my writing. I have published exactly two blog posts and one magazine article since THE PANDEMIC. That is not a great amount. Everything else I start to write seems so trivial or else so horrible that it would take pages to delve into even one particular subject out of so many. Today, I opened a new document to make yet another attempt at creativity and inspiration, with perhaps a dash of wit. This is me, trying to write. I

Hey #NotAllMen We never said it was all men. And if you heard that, it’s not the majority. But the majority wants you to shut up. #NotAllMen You have not earned the privilege you think you have; to mansplain every fucking thing to us. Even our own realities. Especially our own realities. #NotAllMen Stop interrupting us; stop inserting your voice into our conversations. Your mouths need to close. #NotAllMen You must stop with your ridiculous need to not-let-us-get-a-word- In-w

I grew up believing that The United States of America was the greatest country in the world. It felt strong and comforting to me, even as I navigated the rocky terrain of the women’s movement and fought for women’s rights. Thankfully, I did not grow up in a racist home, though, in reality, our neighborhood was white and I did not have much exposure to other cultures or races until I attended high school, then college. But, my parents were intelligent and bestowed me with the

I came across this list and thought it said everything I want to tell men. There are many good men out there who can do so much, yet they don’t. Sometimes it’s because they don’t know what is needed. So, gentlemen, here it is. This is what is needed. Please share. 12 Steps Men Can Take Toward Equality For Women 1. Don’t interrupt women when they speak, control their space, or assume they need your protection. Focus on the effect of your actions, rather than on the intent. 2.