An Open Letter to My Body

Dear Body of Mine, I owe you an apology. I have not liked you.

Guest UserNovember 30, 2020body image, women writers, women's health Comment

Prayer as A Longing of the Soul

I stood with my head buried deep in the pantry, scavenging for anything that I could eat without preparation.

Guest UserNovember 27, 2020women's health, mental health, eating disorderComment

Educated: A Soul's Price

There are certain events, certain moments in time most people would rather forget.

Guest UserNovember 18, 2020women writers, women's health, sexual shameComment

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

“Oh my God...I am just like my Mother!”

Guest UserNovember 11, 2020women writers, women's health, mothers and daughters, mental healthComment

Too

I remember the first time someone told me that my body was too heavy.

Guest UserNovember 4, 2020women writers, women's health, body image, healing, mental health, empowermentComment

Dancing in the Darkness

I’ll admit that I never said, I'm depressed. I didn’t recognize it.

Guest UserOctober 28, 2020women writers, suicide awareness, mental health, women's healthComment

The Story My Body Tells: Hopelessness and Resilience

I fight to not be defined by all the battles my body has fought.

Guest UserOctober 26, 2020women writers, women's health, autoimmune, resilienceComment

Because We're Girls: Mental Health and Inner Strength During COVID

And under everything was my anxiety, deeply rooted in a traumatic childhood of abuse and neglect.

Guest UserOctober 2, 2020covid-19, covid, corona virus, women writers, women's health, motherhoodComment

Words from No-Man's Land

I grew up believing the world was honest, but I have learned to keep guarded.

Guest UserSeptember 30, 2020women writers, relationships, abuse, women's healthComment

I Was Forced to Have a Hysterectomy

Six years ago in the depths of winter, I was waiting for an Uber ride outside the Mall of America in Minneapolis, fanning myself in 20-degree weather. The elderly woman next to me, looking confused, asked if I was hot. She held her jacket tightly as she looked at me strangely, as if I were an extraterrestrial.

Guest UserSeptember 28, 2020women writers, women's health, grief, menstruation Comment

To Turn Around

Today, I dressed myself like a young-adult novel heroine.

Guest UserSeptember 21, 2020women writers, women's health, covid-19, community, relationshipsComment

Drowning Saviour

She wept under the stream of a hot shower. She tried to form the memory.

Guest UserSeptember 18, 2020women writers, women's health, empowerment, spiritualityComment

Against All Odds: Spiritual Abuse and Claiming the Goodness in Disability

I want to yell from the mountaintop how proud I am to be a disabled woman who has found her voice.

Guest UserSeptember 14, 2020women writers, women's health, disability, spirituality, abuseComment

Waves

Before endometriosis, I never knew what people meant when they said their stomach was “swimming.”

Guest UserSeptember 11, 2020women writers, women's health, menstruation, griefComment

Ovarian Instinct

How often are you in pain? my doctor asked.

Guest UserSeptember 9, 2020women writers, mental health, menstruation, health, women's healthComment

Before Time

I got my period at eleven, hid it from Mami and everyone else for over a year for all those reasons never spoken.

Guest UserAugust 28, 2020women writers, women's health, mothers, daughter Comment

I Am Not Okay

For me, the shame did not set in after this experience. It’s the shame that led me here and inextricably linked to my Imposter Syndrome and it’s deeply rooted relationship with physical health.

Megan FebuaryDecember 2, 2019invisible illness, ovarian, women's health, article, chronic illness Comments

No One Told Me About Motherhood

It became every bit of me. A fear that surfaced once I could feel her kicks.

Megan FebuaryNovember 27, 2019motherhood, writer, essay, nonfiction, literary magazine, writers, women's health, preganacy Comment

Watching My Daughter Writhe in Pain

I will be my daughter’s curse. I will watch her as my mother watched me

Megan FebuaryMay 16, 2019pelvic pain, my body my choice, women's health, writing, nonfiction, essay, daughterComment

We Shouldn't Be Ashamed to Talk About Vulvar Pain

My name is Pam, I'm from Mexico City and I suffer from Vulvodynia. If you don’t know what it is don’t worry, most people don’t. But, if you want to learn about something that affects 6 million women’s lives in the US alone, you should keep reading.

Megan FebuaryMay 7, 2019pam clynes, vulver pain, women's health, reproductive health, sex, nonfictionComment