reframing femininity
I courageously take a step into the expanse of my heart. There is so much to explore. I see a series of mountains and valleys, varying in height and depth. I look up and notice the sky. The sun is bright, and the color of the clouds varies from the brightest white to the darkest…
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Snooze, snooze, snooze. One week ago, four days ago, thirteen hours ago. As the dampened street reflects an early Saturday morning shower, my email inbox sprinkles out reminders set from the past week. A musical playlist, a “must read again,” and “your story doesn’t end here” (thank you, God!) fill the subject lines of emails,…
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“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 I notice the black turtleneck as we meet. As we sit down, I hear her sigh deeply. She looks at me, eyes searching. Neither…
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A dream within a dream. If I were her… In my dream, I wake to a day of expanse. Perhaps expanse is insufficient a word? Spaciousness? That might be more suitable. Because as I wake, my chest feels light and airy.
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My exhausted, swollen-faced four-year-old son snuggles into my warm-on-the-outside, yet broken-on-the-inside, body. Our eager eyes wait for nurses, who scurry past our jail-like cell window until the hour mark has passed again without any communication. This brand of déjà vu is palpable. We’ve been through this before, so now the wait doesn’t seem to carry…
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I am hypersensitive and therefore unable to take in much news or social media. As much as I want to be educated about what is happening in the world, I have learned that the best way I can be a part of the solution to the problems that are breaking open all around is to…
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It was dinnertime on a Sunday, which means the countdown to bedtime had started a little early and was slightly more enthusiastic than normal. I had been craving cauliflower for a while, which isn’t something I’m particularly proud of, but here we were. My husband and two daughters looked on as I picked up the…
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Daoyou Feng, 44-year-old woman Xiaojie Tan, 49-year-old woman Hyun JungGrant, 51-year-old woman Yong Ae Yue, 63-year-old woman Sun Cha Kim, 69-year-old woman Soon Chung Park, 74-year-old woman
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“The Woman in Red” can mean many things in our culture. She can be the woman that bears the shame of cultural stigmatization that comes with being female and feminine. The biologically associated monthly “red” cycle that reminds her that she is female. This cycle at various points in history was so stigmatized that some…
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*The following is posted in honor of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This post includes words that may be triggering for some trauma survivors. What comes to your mind when you see a woman standing on a corner alone, under the glow of a street lamp? Close your eyes for a moment.
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