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There’s something disorienting about realizing the rules have changed in the middle of the game. For millions of Americans coming of age after 2008, this became a defining experience—graduating into a recession, watching “entry-level” jobs require years of experience, and discovering that doing everything “right” no longer guaranteed stability. The American Dream didn’t just become…
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There’s a kind of honesty that comes after the worst has happened—when you’ve survived what you thought might kill you. It’s not the wisdom of greeting cards or the neat arc of Hollywood redemption stories. It’s messier, more complicated, and more real. This is the honesty that drives the most powerful healing narratives in women’s…
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There’s a moment in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” when the narrator stops mid-sentence, unable to continue describing a particular memory. The page seems to hold its breath. As readers, we feel that pause—the weight of what cannot be said, the story that refuses to be straightforward. When we read literature that deals with…
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The difference between self-acceptance and self-romance We’ve all been told we need to love ourselves more. Stand in front of the mirror and feel overwhelming affection for what you see. Write yourself love letters. Plan romantic dates with yourself. Feel the kind of warm, protective, “I would do anything for you” feeling that you have…
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Why self-recognition feels impossible sometimes Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt like you were seeing a stranger? Not in the physical sense—thought that happens too—but in the deeper sense of not recognizing the person staring back at you. Like you’re wearing a life that doesn’t quite fit, playing a role you never…
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“To essay is to try – and what greater act of courage is there than a woman trying to name her truth in a world that has silenced her?” – Anonymous The essay form is having a feminist renaissance. But this resurgence isn’t about the stiff academic compositions we learned to write in school. It’s…
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Book Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart Have you ever felt like there was something wild and untamed inside you that the world kept trying to contain? Something that whispered of older ways, deeper knowledge, power that didn’t fit neatly into the boxes of society built for you? If so, Emilia Hart’s debut novel Weyward will…
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Why emotional labor and performed wellness are draining us “How are you?” my coworker asked as we passed in the hallway, and without thinking, I responded with my automatic “I’m good, thanks!” while my internal monologue was running something more like: I’m overwhelmed by deadlines, my anxiety is through the roof, I had a fight…
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I picked up The Mountain is You during one of those periods when I was clearly getting in my own way but couldn’t quite figure out how to stop. You know the feeling—you want something, you have the capacity to get it, but somehow you keep creating obstacles that prevent you from moving forward. Brianna…
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How ‘being yourself’ became another performance. Ever notice how the harder you try to be authentic, the more artificial it feels? There’s something deeply ironic about the amount of effort that goes into “just being yourself.” We’re told to live our truth, show up authentically, and stop pretending to be someone we’re not—but what happens…
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Kat McAdaragh 