Embrace the transition and fearlessly expose your wings!
I was breathing deeply. I was gazing at golden leaf piles. I was spooning warm stew. I was creating a masterpiece of September muses and then, as quick as the chill in the air after equinox annexation, I was drowning. I felt the burden of breathing grow heavier than my will to exist. My shoulders… Continue reading Seasonal
After a very unprofitable summer on Medium, I made the decision that it was time to look elsewhere for paid opportunities. The company is going through turbulent growing pains, and it’s obvious that many writers are unhappy with the lack of communication about a problematic algorithm. The evidence is damning, the denial is irritating, and the… Continue reading How A YouTube Video Snapped Me Out of A Downward Spiral
General relationship cliches harm us more than they’ve ever helped us. These days, it seems anybody with over 10k followers could be considered a relationship guru. Virality has become equivalent to truth and anyone’s advice can be spread around to the masses, whether it is credible or not. One phrase that I’ve witnessed the internet cling to… Continue reading Why You Don’t Need To Love Yourself First In Order To Be Worthy Of Love
To those who envy the people who are allowed to go off the deep end and then recover. To those who are aware that they just can’t. Life doesn’t stop. The clock is ticking. Some have a ticket and some don’t. To those that know they’re holding everything together and it’s not even for themselves.… Continue reading High Functioning
Kae Hardin is a black, nonbinary trans survivor of domestic violence from Portland, Oregon. After escaping an abusive relationship, it has been a difficult adjustment for her to live independently, as it usually is for survivors. To make matters worse, she was recently let go from her job. Since becoming unemployed she's had to face… Continue reading Fundraiser By Kae Hardin
When are we going to stop shaming people for liking themselves? Since middle school, I’ve struggled with my self-image to a debilitating degree. That was when I remember noticing that school felt less like education and more like a cut-throat beauty pageant — the aspired prize being a slinky, doped-up teenage boy. Once I started comparing… Continue reading I’m So Vain, I Bet You Think My Selfie Is For Attention
I am doing the best I can. When I fake a smile. When I fool you with false confidence. When I feign self-belief just to manifest it into the eventual truth — someday. I am doing the best I can. When I contradict myself. When I calculate and manipulate. When I'm cynical of every detail… Continue reading Human
I live in a speck of a town on the edge of a state so vast I often forget we are minuscule. I'm not quite the big fish I expected I'd be as I gawk between walls of stone masterpiece trickling with wide- not small- rivers- not ponds- or gaze at the living room window… Continue reading Calm and Center
Uncomfortable. Out of place. It doesn't feel right yet, because I'm always chasing satisfaction like it's going to turn up in a rearing “Aha!” moment. I grew up inhaling film tropes and memorizing fictional stories like they were the homework I always neglected. I didn’t just consume them, I believed in them. I was going… Continue reading Escape Does Not Heal
Consider how the irresponsible coverage and social media wars have impacted survivors of intimate partner violence. A majority of the work I publish usually relates to victims’ rights, narratives, and awareness about intimate partner violence. I mainly write about the female experience, as I can only describe what I know. But I have always supported… Continue reading The Internet Discourse Surrounding Depp v. Heard Has Been Re-Traumatizing Victims Since Day One
Eternal Metamorphosis 