By Cynthia Cady Stanton | Featured Contributor
In the right light,
the morning greets me
with the kind of hope needed
to float joyfully into the day.
I start with a smile
lit from within.
In the right light,
my elderly cat appears like a
kitten resting after deep play.
As the rays of sunshine he bathes in
shimmer across his gray coat,
they seem to hide how frail
he really is.
By Abigail A. | Featured Contributor
Anxiety. One word, four syllables—but carries such a heavy load for millions of people across the globe. Anxiety is defined as “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes.” As a young girl, I have always known that something didn’t feel quite right when: a) I felt faint whenever it came to public speaking, b) I hated the thought of confrontation, and c) I always felt nervous when it came to being around a group of people, etc. I never knew what it was until 20 something years later when my doctor diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder, aka GAD & SAD. I finally had a name for what I was feeling all these years as a child/teenager and into adulthood. Numerous factors contributed to me developing anxiety. However, in my early twenties, I battled severe depression, and If I ever lost all hope in life, it was those 5 years because those were my darkest mental days. As the saying goes, I wish that on no one because it was a very scary place to be in.
Continue reading “Battling Anxiety & Depression: Abigail’s Story”
By Laura Fox | Featured Contributor
She sleeps
Beneath a stone
With pallid lips sealed tight.
But when come shades of night
Then forth, alone,
She creeps.
Her wan
And ghastly frame
Should, ages since, be dust –
Yet, after death, she must,
Despite the same,
Live on.
By Judith Evans | Featured Contributor
Heavy steps through the clinic door.
Scores of faces, waiting room eyes
Follow my feet to the check-in desk.
Finally, a space for my face near the water cooler.
18 minutes of freedom, wishing our dog were here.
I dream, screaming silently till I hear my name.
Dead down the hall: sterile chairs, swabs, lidocaine,
Blood draw, raw nerves, tsk tsk near the back of my head.
Are you in pain? As if I were deaf.
No space for my face any more.
Meanwhile, it’s snowing.
Will this freeze cease?
By Anabel Geneta-Raymundo | Featured Contributor
Author’s Note: This is a poem illustrating the situation of many of our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.
***
Teasing. Playing. Children laughing.
Planting. Caring. Mothers preaching.
Resting. Working. Fathers sweating.
Dreaming. Relishing. People trying.
Growing. Reaching. Afghans thriving.
Living. Loving. ‘til Taliban’s coming.
Now hiding. Panicking. Borders closing.
Looking. Waiting. Others escaping.
By Linda M. Wolfe | Featured Contributor
Have you ever felt broken? What are some possible scenarios which may make a person feel broken? Do you think it could be a frightening health diagnosis? Could it be losing one’s job or home? What about coping with the loss of a loved one? Could it be the loss of a relationship or a business? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. How many people do you know seem to lead a perfect life? There are quite few, if any, who have never had a factor which could potentially cause one to feel broken. It is part of being human.
The tipping point which threatened to shatter my life was our son’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis. All I could think of was the horrifically short life expectancies of people who have received this diagnosis. He had already experienced two years of symptoms prior to this. Our son was only thirty-one years old when he was diagnosed. It can be devastating to lose a family member, particularly from the younger generation. Initially, I lost my desire to eat and my ability to sleep. Pounds as well as hair began to break away from my body.
Continue reading “Feeling Broken from Our Son’s Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: Linda’s Story”
By Cynthia Cady Stanton | Featured Contributor
You would think
that by the time we reach maturity,
we would know how
to make the way clear
for ourselves…
And yet,
the patterns continue –
the ones that
face-plant us amidst
the tangle around us.
Those frustrating weeds
of all we hang onto
have pinned us down
and left us feeling powerless.
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