To the teachers

May 7, 2019By EmilyArticles, Journal
To the one I was so in love with in 4th grade that I got a bowl cut and perm so we could have the same hairstyle. To the one who (I pray) still reads every word I write, even though she no longer walks the earth. To the one who taught me how to [...]

Together.

June 27, 2018By EmilyArticles, Journal
I made the piece above two years ago. But I never shared it. I didn't know it at the time, but it wasn't finished. Today, I added the text. Around the same time I made this, Sean and I were grappling with whether or not to buy our first house. I was a nervous wreck. [...]

Hurriedness is a form of violence

May 1, 2018By EmilyArticles, Journal
Yesterday I spoke too sharply and unkindly to Ella after repeated efforts to keep her from climbing all over my office chair and desk while I was doing work. Her climbing was one thing. Her ignoring my requests to stop was another. After my outburst, she immediately wilted like a flower on a scorching, sunburnt [...]

Raising our sons

April 22, 2018By EmilyArticles, Journal
My boy. I realized recently that I talk and write a lot about Ella, but not so much Ethan. I think that’s partly because having Ella is what made me a mother, but it’s also because I know what’s it like to be a little girl and then a big girl and then a woman, [...]

Day of the Goddess

April 13, 2018By EmilyArticles, Journal
I learned recently that Friday the 13th was once known as The Day of the Goddess - before patriarchal times, before a woman’s menstrual cycle and bleeding became culturally shameful. Before the day was ‘unlucky’, it was a day to worship the Divine Feminine in all of us - men and women alike. Friday is [...]

The Art of Observing

April 28, 2015By EmilyArticles, Journal
A few months ago I sat down on a Saturday afternoon with a rare couple of hours to myself - no baby, no client, no housework. For the first time in about five years, I pulled out my watercolors and dusted off my brushes. I didn't know what I was going to paint at first, [...]

When I Was In Prison

June 8, 2014By EmilyArticles, Journal

Ten years ago, I made a decision that would change the rest of my life: I decided to live. That choice didn’t come easy. I had to descend to the deepest, darkest place I’ve ever been in order to see light.

To My Husband, On His First Birthday As a Father

March 3, 2014By EmilyArticles, Journal
First-time parenthood is a rush -- a flood of emotions, mistakes, tears and laughter. Too often, we focus on the needs of mama and baby and forget that new dads need love and support too. For many, they are the glue bonding new families together, carrying out silent acts of tenderness between the seams. I [...]

What I Gave Up For Motherhood

February 22, 2014By EmilyArticles, Journal
Recently, my husband and I were visiting with a few friends who had come to meet our daughter, then two months old. After sharing a few requisite stories about getting intimate with our daughter's poop, the conversation inevitably turned to a more sobering discussion on parenthood. One of them half-jokingly referred to having children as [...]

Finding Your Voice

December 14, 2012By EmilyArticles

My confession today is that I struggled for a long time to find ‘my voice’. This is a biggie for me. After all, it’s what I help other people do on a daily basis. The real challenge started about a year ago, when I decided to take my business in a different direction. I wanted … Read More