Memoir
Taming Wild Uncertainty
We are all, always, trudging forth into wild uncertainty. Will I still have a job next month? Do I understand this emerging technology well enough (i.e. are my decisions about using AI for some menial tasks but not creative ones correct)? Will I be able to keep both my kids in university this year? My uncertainties are not yours, but I know you have them too. Regardless of the unique nature of uncertainties, my best life solution -- when I am not tempted by that space where worry meets self-pity -- is to dive into my most creative tendencies and write my way through. So, I am regulating that impulse and committing to doing one new thing every week for a year. It's a big deal for middle aged folks, believe me. We love our comfort zones, but I haven't found a new show to stream since the end of Riot Women and The Other Bennett Sister, so now it the time to break out. Last night, my friend Rose invited me to see Mimi Oz with Silver Reeds at LaRev . New to me bands, a new to me venue and a new kind of hang out for one of my Camp Neekaunis friends and I. It's a good place to start, I think. In my experience, the emotional response to doing new things is at worst, a "well, that was OK, but I don't need to do it again," to absolute euphoria that lasts for days. This is how doing new things 1/52 worked out:
By Kate Baggott2 months ago in Chapters
The Little Pepper
The mornings seem to start like every other morning. Which people may find boring or routine. I find my mornings enjoyable. It is early, almost the break of dawn. The air is warm; still, there is a breeze. Making the early morning pleasant. It seems impossible to start my morning the same way every day. With meditation and coffee. Opening the doors and watering the plants. Truly, I enjoy this moment in the morning. This morning was even more enjoyable as I watered my little pepper plant. It gave me such excitement this morning that I wrote this chapter today. What one act or slight change in what may seem routine can change your mindset for the rest of the day? As I watered the plant today. I decided to add some remaining soil I had. To the plant. As I did. The little pepper came off the plant.
By Katherine Aguilar2 months ago in Chapters
Reflections of The Strawberry
Reflections of The Strawberry By Katherine Aguilar Reflecting on my chapters of The Strawberry, I realize that all the trinkets I have gathered throughout my life have made me who I am today—a writer, sister, and substitute, plus whatever other jobs have come my way. I was placed in each position for a reason. If I misunderstood the message I was hearing from God. He made it work, and I have been used to live for others and not for myself. That may sound as if I feel like I have sacrificed what direction my life had taken had things not turned out how they have so far, when I was in all those years back. Feeling alone and forgotten. I cried out to God. He answered, and When he told me I would never walk alone." I knew He meant it, and I haven't felt alone ever since. Life has been a rollercoaster. I have friends and family come and go. At times, they come back again. People will come and go in my life. I know the one person who will not go is God.
By Katherine Aguilar3 months ago in Chapters
Dig For The Positives
Introduction This piece is a threading together of a few things that happened this weekend in the Vocal communities and affected me. life throws things at us, sometimes expected, sometimes not, but we do have to deal with them, and if possible take some good from them.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 3 months ago in Chapters
One Nice Day
In 2025, I was working security at a biker bar. It was the kind of place where trouble rarely announced itself politely. I had already broken up a few fights, stepped between drunken men with wounded pride, and learned to watch hands more closely than faces. I was never entirely comfortable in that role, but somebody had to stand at the door. Somebody had to make sure everyone made it home without turning a bad night into a permanent mistake.
By Alejandro Arango3 months ago in Chapters
The Bridge
In 2019, I came back from Mexico carrying more questions than answers. I spent nearly a month in a hotel near the Port of Los Angeles, trying to decide what came next. Acting had already given me more than most people ever get. Speaking roles on television. Short films. Projects I had helped produce myself. Years of training, auditions, small victories, and the stubborn belief that eventually someone would look at the work and understand what I was capable of.
By Alejandro Arango3 months ago in Chapters
Diary Entry #5
Devlyn was the love of my life, or so I believed. From the moment we met, everything seemed perfect. Everywhere I looked I saw green flags. He was everything I thought I wanted and for the first time in a long time I believed I had finally found my happy ending. Until one day those green flags didn't seem so green anymore. The mask he wore in the beginning became too heavy for him to continue holding up, and before I knew it, the man I thought I knew and fell in love with slowly disappeared. One by one those green flags faded until they became a blazing shade of red. Before I tell you how my fairy tale turned into a nightmare, I have to take you back to the beginning- to the day I met the man I believed God had finally sent into my life.
By Purple Diamond4 months ago in Chapters
Diary Entry #4
Remember how shy and quiet I mentioned I was growing up? I realized as I was writing these entries I believe I became that way because I was too busy watching, waiting, and listening for the next mean thing someone had to say about me. Another mean whisper, another mean or disgusted look on someone's face from looking at me, another mean inside joke other kids were saying about me. I was too busy bracing myself for hurtful things to be said about me and then pretending like I didn't hear anything once the words left the others kid's mouth. Like I said, I loved school... I just didn't love being picked on for reasons out of my control, or something that I was already insecure about.
By Purple Diamond4 months ago in Chapters
The Violet Diaries- Entry #3.
Before I ever questioned my complexion or reflection, I questioned nothing about myself. At home I was surrounded by love. My mom and grandma... (and even my dad, whenever he was around) from a very young age made me feel beautiful, special, important, accepted, and deeply loved. They complimented me, encouraged me, and poured so much affection into me that I genuinely believed that I was enough exactly as I was. I wasn't looking for flaws because no one at home had ever made me feel like I had to look for them. I loved the skin/ complexion I was in. I never even thought twice about it. In my head it was just... skin. I was always a girly girl so the only thing I cared about when it came to my skin was keeping it clean and moisturized like I was taught. Same with my hair. I never looked at it as needing to look a certain way. I always trusted that my mom knew best when it came to the hairs on my head. Soon that would all change.
By Purple Diamond4 months ago in Chapters
