In Fight Mode: When Survival Looks Like Defiance
Trigger Warning: This post contains references to traumatic childhood experiences, including recalled memories of abuse and descriptions of the author’s trauma responses. Please take care while reading. I’m surprised I wasn’t born wearing a tiny pair of...
There is Life After Hidden Abuse
Writer’s Note: I previously wrote about my experience being a victim of psychological abuse. Two years from my first writing, I find myself in a much better place in my recovery, and I want to share new insights. I also want to recommend a book by Shannon Thomas that...
Finding Freedom in My Individuality and Overcoming the Fear of Not Being Liked
I still remember the name of their exclusive club: CHABELCK. In seventh grade, the children at my middle school traded their Nintendos and Polly Pocket dolls for iPhones and Barbie dolls–in the form of minions for their social cliques. Soon after the school year...
My Skin Knows I’m a Survivor
One sweltering July when I was fifteen, I was camped out on a shaded picnic bench at nerd camp. While furiously pushing the buttons on my calculator and drilling exercises for my upcoming exam, I heard rustling in the grass ahead of me. When I looked up, I saw a small...