Welcome to the Diary
Looking to see the impact your love letters are making? You can find it here! We keep this space stocked with all the updates, encouragement + good news happening in our community! Be sure to bookmark this page and come back and visit us whenever you need a little boost!
The Only One
You may specifically not identify with being Black, female, or a minority in a field dominated by people who may not share your ethnicity, background, or culture. However, I do believe that most people can identify with feeling lonely, out of place, disconnected, or like no one understands how you feel or what you’re going through. You may be looking for your “Waldo” amongst a sea of people around you—only to leave feeling that you are the “only one”. I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. You may feel lonely, but you are never alone.
How Being an Au Pair Changed My Life
Being an Au Pair taught me: When people take a chance on you it is the most beautiful gift. Whether that is in a job, a relationship or even an experience like being an Au Pair. All you have to do is give it your all and show up with open arms for what you are going to learn. You cannot wait for life to happen to you. You must go and live it.
How to Find Companionship When You're Lonely
Fighting loneliness is hard, and if you’re in that fight right now, you’re not alone. I hope you feel more empowered today to face the struggle head on. Just like other emotions, loneliness will come and go, but with the right tools we can maneuver through it and find the true companionship we crave.
How Poetry Saved My Street
Week after week, I entered the street with a new poem. And each week our community grew more connected…We are on this planet, this neighborhood, this street for only a short time. You might as well know your neighbors and love them too.
Asking for Help
I realized that there is strength in asking for help, and that interdependence, community, and trust is the true mark of self-reliance.
Supporting a Friend Through Pregnancy Loss
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of how you can show up for a friend who has experienced
pregnancy loss (or how to ask your friends to show up for you):
Simple Ways to Love on People When Gift-Giving is Your Love Language
Here are a few simple acts to try to love on people when gift-giving is your love language, but you want to avoid giving any more material things to your loved ones:
How to Show Kindness in the Most Meaningful Way to Others
We know from the concept of love languages--five ways we all give and receive love as identified by Dr. Gary Chapman--that certain actions and words mean more to some of us than others. In the same way, with any non-romantic relationships, friendships, or family in your life, we can take the time to show kindness in a way that resonates more deeply. As you take time to contemplate what this might mean for the person in your life, here are three questions to ask yourself to lead you towards discovering the kindness-spreading magic.
Alleviating Loneliness
It is a sad truth that many people today feel lonely, and a global pandemic has not helped. How do we reach out to those we know who are lonely? Obviously, you could write them a letter (you were expecting that on this blog, weren’t you?!), but here are some additional practical and creative ways to let them know you are thinking of them, that they are important, and that they are loved.
Forgetting Myself in Order to Find Myself
Here are some tips to find a lasting love for volunteering!
Choose Love, Eat Breakfast
It is hard to deny the power of love. A difficult situation can almost always be turned around when one person decides to bring love in. That is why I get up every morning and choose to love my husband with breakfast. When I don’t feel love, I do love. The doing creates something in me. If I want there to be joy, happiness, and love in my marriage, I have to do my part to bring what I can offer to the table.
Slices of Cheese and Smiles from Strangers: Lessons from a Year with No Friends
The empty moving truck slowed in front of our house, coming to a stop in the very spot in which a similar truck, full of our belongings, had parked only twelve months before. My husband’s fellowship training had brought us to Northern Virginia for a quick, one-year stint, and the completion of his program meant it was time to move again. Twelve months between moves meant having unpacked boxes in the basement, pictures we never hung on the walls, and many places we meant to visit but never did. Twelve months between moves meant I didn’t make a single new friend that year.
Six Ways to Be a Friend Who Feels Like Family.
Finding people is half the battle. Once we’ve found them, how do we move from the touch and go of superficial conversations and a few scrolls on our six inch screens? Trial, error, and a few acts of courage have taught me a few things.
Let's Find Shelter
We are yearning to come in from the rain. We are searching for safe spaces where we can rest and recover. We want to be welcomed – not in the polite way of strangers, but in the warm, reassuring way of family.
Finding Your Marigold
As women in our thirties, we recognize that not everyone sticks around, nor would we want them to. We have learned the difference between the marigolds and the weeds.
Love Letters for Marie-Pier
For the first week I did not receive a single letter, so I was getting a little worried. What if no one wrote? But then, this week, everything changed. 1 letter on Monday, another on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 11 on Thursday and 22 on Friday!
Making Memories and Building Friendships.
Here are some ideas to bring creativity to your friendships.
The Openness of Friendship
And the best gift we can give is the gift of our willing and open selves in friendship.
Tuesday Night Goodbyes
The month of August taught me how to say goodbye to the Everyday People.
How to survive "Zoom Gloom."
As many of us prepare to end our summer by jumping back on the computer (for work or school or date nights), there are some ways we can be proactive in battling the endless cycle of cyber meetings: