In The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes, “We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” In the age of social media, this problem is only exacerbated. We who were young during the acceleration of social media are familiar with the decryments [...]
I Am Artist
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be an artist. I spent much of my free time after school drawing, writing picture books, painting, and begging my parents to pay for me to take pottery classes (they did not.) I always wanted to be an artist. I played music, I wrote, I drew, [...]
What To Do If You Don’t Get Into Grad School
Here are three important things to do and keep in mind after being rejected from all of the grad programs you applied to.
5 Unique Characterization Exercises That Don’t Involve Writing
Sometimes, to bring your characters to life off the page, you have to get off the page. It is good to get distance from your scenes to see how your characters behave outside of the context of your novel. Fun characterization exercises can help you get an even more solid grasp of your characters. Exercises [...]
A Bit On Going On and Bad Haircuts
It is Sunday night, and it is striking me that Sunday nights have taken on a whole new meaning for me. See, I gave up my coffee shop job earlier this year, and since then experienced a bit of a downward spiral. Thankfully, I managed to land on my feet and snag a full-time 9-5 [...]
The Trip Slows To A Close
My great escape is almost over. That is, this trip out west is winding down, and soon I will wind up back in the Greater Chicago Area back home with my cat and my friends. It has been a long month, it has been a short month, but mostly it has been...a month. What have [...]
Everything Goes To Plan If You Have No Plan
It's a new rule. I have called it, created it, pushed it forth into the world through this blog post. Let's stop planning! My sister, who doubles as my travel buddy for this month, would not be happy to hear about this plan, but since most of our plans have gone awry, this no-plan plan [...]
Week One: Variations of a Theme Called ‘Lost’
I am currently unemployed by choice. I am taking a month off to travel, hike, and reconnect with the outdoors. I flew to Phoenix where I met my sister, and we drove up to L.A. together to stay with my aunt for a weekend. From there, we coasted up to Eugene, Oregon, where we are [...]
One Year Out: A List of Accomplishments
Roughly one year ago, I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Elmhurst College with a degree in English. What have I accomplished this year? Well, it's not exactly the stuff the office of alumni relations wants to see on the alum updates surveys. A proper guide to life after college would tell you that I attempted [...]
A Complicated Shame
I am oscillating between states of deep anxiety and optimistic calm. This weekend, I bought a van. I spent money on this van, a good chunk of my savings, hoping that it would solve the teetering feeling in my chest. My idea was to live in the van for the summer and bum around my [...]
The Honors Student's Guide to Life After College 