Why I have trouble submitting work for publication…

Let's get real When it comes to submitting a piece of writing for publication, I am the worst. I fall into a perfectionist mindset when it comes to submitting my fiction writing to a program, paper, anything official. I feel as though every final draft is merely another draft so my work is never complete.…

Be Positive and Supportive

No family is perfect. People with less "functional" or "ideal" home lives can be indirectly making those of a more "functional" home life feel guilty for their healthy childhood. Our job is to cease the issue of shame and instead feel grateful for those with healthy home lives and hopeful for the human species. This…

A Critical Thinking: Creative Writing

Mom, This quarter in my Intro to Creative Writing class we explored the objectives of Creative Writing for the community and the individual, and we attempted to define Creative Writing as a profession and a writer. You may be wondering what it is, what makes your daughter a writer, and why it is important to…

What I’ve learned in Group Therapy

I began group therapy in January 2018 to navigate myself and better understand others in my life. This was something I was skeptical about, but now I enjoy it a lot and feel as though this is something I will want to continue next academic year along with my individual therapy. Our last session was…

Introverts and Extroverts

Extroverts need to learn from introverts how to be more independent, and introverts need to learn from extroverts how to be more dependent. What are these types of people? Introversion to extroversion is a scale with both on one side and ambiverts in the middle. An introvert is a person that gains energy from spending…

Ode to Janice Nelson

This month, January, a long-time resident that I have renamed Janice Nelson passed away. She had lived in the Hospice and Rehab Center (the Health Center or HC) in the retirement community in which I work as a server. She had been with us since before I was hired back in April 2017. She was a…

Rant: Why are places charging extra for Soy Milk?

So I know that there are marketing purposes to the recent addition of 60 cents to all Starbucks and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf drinks, but COME ON. What are lactose intolerant people supposed to do?! Expect to pay extra to not run to the toilet sick? I am not intolerant to lactose but…

Ode to Ms. Kitty

On the first of January, one of the residents at my work that we called Kitty passed away at the hospital. She had lived in the Hospice and Rehab Center (the Health Center or HC) in the retirement community in which I work as a server. She was so funny and social during her stay…

Ode to Janice Smart

A woman that I will call Janine Smart passed away this November. She had lived in the Hospice and Rehab Center (the Health Center or HC) in the retirement community, in which I work as a server, since before I was hired. Her daughter would visit her every single day. She rarely didn't show up…

Ode to Ms. Stone

One day after Christmas, a resident (that I will rename Ms. Stone) passed away. She had lived in the Hospice and Rehab Center (the Health Center or HC) in the retirement community in which I work as a server. Her name was sadly ironic, something related to cemeteries, which was amusing yet tragic. She had…

Ode to Jim Dull

On Christmas Eve, a resident (that I will rename Jim Dull) passed away. He had lived in the Hospice and Rehab Center (the Health Center or HC) in the retirement community in which I work as a server since I was first hired in April 2017. He was a funny man indeed. My first encounter…

Ode to Janine Cost

Janine Cost (a pseudonym I created to respect the real person's identity) was a woman of 100 years old in the Rehab and Hospice Center (Health Center) at the Retirement Community in California that I work for. When I began working in the Health Center (HC) in March 2017, Janine was only 99 years old…