Writing*

All our circus, all our lions: Tightrope sitta

Scribbled: Filling in the blanks

Don’t tell my friends I’m speaking at Medium Day 2026: Community and the stories we almost didn’t tell

The wrongs that make me write: Subtitle included for search optimization, I guess

Trauma bangs: A little off the end

The time after the worst of times: Recovering hope and meaning after trauma

Pouring over: What keeps you warm?

Community care and the wind in our sails: Gift of the Black Pearl

The slow practice of recovery: I hope, you hope

Tainted love: Domestic abuse, imperial violence, and patterns of control

Grimace, you’re on candid camera: Fight unconstitutional surveillance in your town [free template!]

Political burnout and creative motivation: It’s not you, it’s everything

Reporting party: Evidence in the hand

The Mediocre Black Woman podcast: For the ones who grew up too soon

Take my breath away: Dat asthma

Happens to the best of us: All it takes

Reads for the exhausted activist: Oct. 2025 book club

Read it & weed book club: Get literature

In five years time: The luxury of looking ahead

Introducing: The Hide & Speak podcast

Recovery that doesn’t suck: Reading guide

St. Louis tornadoes show need for grassroots disaster response: Show me mutual aid

Google AI may be orangewashing Trump’s legacy: How algorithmic bias shapes collective memory and understanding

Falling apart (but make it art): Trauma recovery by design

Nobody wants to talk about your abuse: Surviving without the heroic ending

Take a break (or else): Hyperproductivity won’t get us to the finish line

Abusive systems built by abusive men aren’t made to hold them: Bozo in the Ozarks

Surviving with pride: 80% off lifetime subscription!

Misinformation loves company: A favorite trauma response turned act of resistance

Don’t keep trauma bottled up: Stickers as unexpected tools of the resistance

The Orange Rock method?: Laughing at dictators is bad for his health

Project management for laundry?: Lighten your load with this simple subtask method

Survivorship discount: Because if anyone deserves a discount, it’s you

Jay and silencing Bob: Freedom of expression and political Dogma

But… How are you, really?: Dropping the act so we can scream together a little bit

Moral noncompliance: Let history remember us as a problem for the bigots

Procrastinating productively: Hyperfocus as a distraction from coping

Accessible activism: Low bandwidth edition

Brux laid plans: Healthy living is a grind

It’s always something: Respite for the chronically unlucky

The hazy intersection of vulnerability and visibility in writing: The uncomfortable necessity of promoting my trauma

Don’t look at me: Traumatized, over-productive, and exhausted

National park lost and found: More like Gawn Wall

The most wonderful time to steer clear: Can stop, should stop

A hard and a rock face: Trauma responses, survival instincts, and healing through grit

Gaming the tooth fairy: Drama on the 2nd grade soccer field

If survivors were honest on social media: What ever happened to her?

The last day with my best friend: Nothing but a puppy

Dearly departed: Baggage at the terminal

Sorry for browning out at your baby shower, my dog is dying: Planning my good girl’s good death

Writer’s block and preparation as a coping mechanism: “Getting ready” feels safer than “getting started”

Staying soft in a harsh world (out of spite): Community Police Officer Smiley

It took years to understand that being a victim wasn’t my fault: No one deserves to have their will taken from them

The luxury of preventive healthcare: Insurance came through for once, and naturally I’m suspicious

Caregiver burnout and mistaking maturity for life experience: Early babysitting mishaps make child-free life sound like a welcome break

When you were young: Where can your inner child roam free?

Closet space: Trauma, denning, and managing the urge to hide

Dearest extroverts and mentally well buds: You can keep your peak hours

The final straws: Excerpts on hope, helpers, and finding freedom

What 100 articles on Medium taught me about writing: Getting it wrong so you can get it right(er)

You just got a “raise” and you’re furious: How to lose a dedicated employee

Good victim: (She seems fine to me)

Medium Boost? More like XXL confidence boost: Writing, climbing, and reaching new heights

The most sincere promise he ever made: Confiding my (first) assault in the wrong man kept me silent for years

Chalk therapy: Overcoming trauma symptoms through climbing

Taste buds: Love languages and kitchen floors

Loveable lump: Indescribable care, unmentionable loss

Somnambulance Chasers: Leaving all the rest

Takeaways from 2 years of Duolingo Spanish: Trauma survivors can stick with healthy habits!

4 helpful firearms safety reminders for my abusive ex: (To no one’s surprise, he was a cop)

7 reasons my narcissist accused me of cheating: An exhausting, but non-exhaustive, list

Potential energy: Objects at restless

Ain’t no lie: I am bi, bi, bi (even when I’m with a guy)

Wander, lust: Imagine trailing off…

Stuck on the puzzle: In search of the full picture

"Life savings” has never been more literal: The arduous journey from financial abuse to financial feminism

Why did she stay?: A brief and brutal history

A survivor’s year of talking smacks on the internet: 🎂 A little treat to celebrate 🎂

Overturned convictions, broken systems, and an abuser’s response to #MeToo: Ain’t no arrest for the wicked

Honeymoon phase: Facades of bliss and the cycle of violence

Would he recognize his own violence: Domestic abuse and the frighteningly real dangers of speaking up

Know thy shelf, heal thy shelf: Violence, hyper-independence, and delusions of home improvement grandeur

Rare glimpse into a survivor’s diary shortly after escape: Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020

Are you afraid of the podcast: Overcoming social anxiety to build community

Cocked guns & cocktails: The Easter egg hunt no one wanted

3 more inspiring reads for the CPTSD mind: Trauma recovery book club (part II)

The beast in me: Embracing animal instincts to combat stress

4 thoughtful reads for the CPTSD mind: Trauma recovery book club

Breaking free of the booby trap: Bras are obsolete and they can stay gone

More tales of gender discrimination from a former cop: Profiled by the fashion police

Medium Boost and Vocal Top Story in the same day?: What on Earth is Happening?

4 ways my CPTSD brain is annoying as hell today: Trauma can manifest in distressing somatic symptoms such as heart palpitations, chronic soreness, and headaches

Denial of the fittest: Intimate partner violence, survival mechanisms, and quiet reinforcements

Sorry “sorry”: Careless apologies by careless lovers

My worst financial mistake? Being an abuse victim: Rebuilding after escaping money manipulation

Just a traumatized “Black Cat” flinching from my partner’s “golden retriever” energy

Don’t sweat the small fluff: Celebrating little dogs and big wins

Dissecting a CPTSD nightmare: Why is my subconscious yelling at me this time?

8 fear conditioning tactics that taught me not to trust love: “Follow your heart” is dangerous advice for survivors

Keep it down: Verbal abuse, humiliation tactics, and intimate partner violence

Hidden costs and lasting shame of financial abuse: The debt that saved my life

Lesser known abuse tactics silencing victims: Communication and the life-saving impact of social supports

Coercive control and technology facilitated sexual abuse

To the ones who knew me before: Finding healing and comfort in pre-abuse connections

Canceled flight response: Coping with stress when life hits turbulence

Music video pitch: Absolutely (Horror story of a girl)

Driven to heal: Reclaiming the wheel from trauma symptoms

Late nights at the search bar: Inquiries from the recently traumatized

Penetrable: A warning from the quiet one who escaped

An article about my devastating breakup is blowing up: And I am cackling

The public health issue of nightmares: Dream a little dream of CPTSD

Buckets of betrayal: Post-abuse relationship recovery and lingering effects of betrayal trauma

Don’t mind me, I’m just Lemony Snicket-ing: What do you do when your love life has been a Series of Unfortunate Events?

The chip on my shoulder: An almost perfect resting place

POV: You’re currently bailing halfway through a solo hike (Except pretend your brain is supportive of you)

6 more grounding journal prompts for abuse survivors: Can’t stop, won’t stop growing

Talking about abuse is uncomfortable as hell: And I’m going to keep making it weird

Great news! This sexist is no longer a cop: Now he works for the Feds!

Women safeguarding women: The power of female community in times of uncertainty

I felt like a writer today: Vocal’s “Ode to Ordinary” challenge

8 transformative journal prompts for abuse survivors: Empowerment and healing through self-reflection

She’s so lucky: Ever since I was abused, I’ve started celebrating more.

Screaming into the void: I decidedly do not accept your apology

Run for your life: Domestic abuse, coronavirus, and the exercise that saved me

Escaping the “I can fix him” trap: Safety over limitless sympathy

Work hard, rest harder: Achieve peak relaxation by satisfying your senses

Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first: Abuse-surviving Swifties and community

Ask a survivor!: Welcoming your questions on trauma, healing, and mental health

Hair ties that bind: Love, elasticity, and entanglement

Safe & sound

Trauma makes it hard to consistently write: Writing is one of my favorite things, so why is it so hard to actually do it?

Insomni(ugh): U up?

My doctor lied so she could deny my contraception: Fighting for bodily autonomy in a post-Roe world

Predatory systems exploit the most vulnerable: Towing the line

Sincerely, a grateful trauma victim: Have you ever started telling a story thinking it was a funny anecdote, only to realize everyone at staring in horror?

Sexually harassed by a fellow officer: Supervisors said reporting would harm my reputation

Are they dismissive avoidant or just a dismissive asshole?: Learning to cope when it’s both

A survivor’s perspective on women’s rights: Abuse, autonomy, and the urgent need to protect reproductive freedom

Nurturing bite-sized, healthy habits post-trauma: Celebrating 365 educational days of Duolingo

Feel it to heal it: Overcoming disorganized emotions in trauma survivors

To all the boys I’ve kicked (part I): Consequences of rape culture

I don’t forgive my abuser just because he was abused, too: Navigating systemic abuse, personal responsibility, and healing

Self care or be square: Writing the wrongs in order to heal

Stripped teas: Remembering when we were new

The annoying trauma response born of narcissistic abuse: Overexplaning, explained

Healing, unleashed: Navigating trauma recovery with the help of my dogs

Urine trouble now: Rent increase warnings from the pee puddle in your stairwell

How “Come as You Are” got my motor running post-truma: Pumping the accelerator

Baby, you’re a firework: Explosive and dangerous, especially around alcohol

Healthy relationships are bizarre: Dating after abuse

We both reached for the gun: Fighting to stay alive in my own home

I saw the sign: Normalizing “relationship red flag” discussions with loved ones

The inciting incident: Origins and escalation of a multi-abuser survivor

Senses and sensibility: Coping with triggers associated with trauma

Memories of before: A moment of youthful serenity

Demolishing the deadly silence of abuse: Fighting forward