True Stories | Chosen Family: International Adoption
At the end of our thirties and after seven years of marriage with two heartbreaking miscarriages along the way, my husband and I had reluctantly settled into the acceptance [...]
hope
Personal Essays | Caregiver First, Elizabeth Second
2009, early high school. If you had asked 15-year-old Elizabeth to describe herself with three terms, “caregiver” would have been first. Before student, before sister, [...]
6 Ways You Can Spread Kindness, Hope, and Good Cheer With Just a Pen
You’re probably familiar with the saying,“The pen is mightier than the sword,” coined by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and for good reason. The idea [...]
Notes from Nanea | Dear Little Brown Girl
My dear Sweatpants & Coffee tribe, I created this space, with the help of many amazing and talented people, with the intention of offering comfort in a chaotic and [...]
Sweatpants & Soul | Revival
I was born on thirteen forested acres, in a trailer on the American River Canyon in Northern California. Whenever my parents had any extra money, it went into renovating this [...]
That’s What She Said | Dumb Lies You Need to Know During Hard Times
We tell ourselves dumb lies, especially when times are hard. The voices that live in our heads tell us lies about our value, but here is some truth. [...]
Sweatpants & Soul | Fibromyalgia: The Power of Being Seen
It was November 2013. I needed to drive from Tennessee to New Jersey (and back) within nine days to get my car inspected at home during my Thanksgiving break from college. I [...]
Sweatpants & Relationships | A Letter to Myself in the Wake of Divorce
Previously Published on http://www.theradicalnotion.com/letter-wake-of-divorce/ I wrote this letter roughly a year after divorcing my son’s father. I was living in a [...]
Notes from Nanea | Ordinary Sad
My dear Sweatpants & Coffee tribe, I woke up the other day feeling sad. There’s the Big Sad, because, you know, terrible, not-fun life events, but then there’s also [...]
Sweatpants & Self Care | How to Keep Your Sanity Through Grief Anniversaries
As April rolls into May each year, I begin to feel the waves of major depression. Fuzzy thinking, sleeping all the time or not at all, no appetite versus wanting to eat all [...]
