January 18, 2020 How Do You Know? Growing up, I often times daydreamed about love. Call this a result of all the princess movies I watched or all the Disney VHS tapes my parents kept on hand, but I couldn’t help myself. All the books I read had some love component, whether platonic or romantic, and all the stories I wrote had a little bit of love intertwined into the mix. Even if I wouldn’t admit it, much like everybody else out there, I was anxious to find love of my own.
November 30, 2019 Sparks Fly Coming up the front steps after my parents, Sam and Luke were both tugging away at a black Guns N Roses t-shirt. Both of their eyes shone gold, brighter than the lights above them. They both turned to us, dropping the t-shirt to the ground. Mom glared at them and crossed their arms.
November 2, 2019 In Seconds The slam of my locker was a blessing. It was finally the end of the school day and I could gladly spend my free time tonight with my best friend, Anna.
October 28, 2019 Gratification or Gimmick? Our world is far too instantaneous. We have cell phones that allow us to access information in mere seconds, social media platforms that allow us to send messages to friends around the world in no time, and the climbing total for the MegaMillion lotto is displayed all around the country. Our society, whether we like it or not, thrives off the idea that somehow, some way, and somewhere, whatever we want is going to come to us right away, when we want it, and by total chance. That, unfortunately, is a giant lie.
October 5, 2019 Redefining What Homesick Means A year ago, I sat in my apartment in Taiwan, staring out at the concrete jungle. Part of me felt completely at ease eating my Bento boxes, writing every morning before work, teaching kids English, but another part of me felt this pull back to America. Like I knew I needed to come back for my next chapter. Truthfully, I was homesick.
September 21, 2019 Work Now, Play Later As a twenty-five year old single woman living in America, I’ll admit: the struggle, unfortunately, is very real sometimes. Life gets us down and we have to get back up, but that’s how it is, isn’t it? There are challenges, ups and downs, but we prevail in the end. Something I have never understood, however, is when we make deliberate, pleasure-based decisions and purchases that keep us down when all we want to do is get out of whatever rut we got stuck in.
July 20, 2019 Clean Eyes A couple of months ago, there was this ten year challenge going around on various social media, mostly Instagram and Facebook. I remember looking through photos (and yes, I did post one just for fun) and thinking to myself that I literally look the exact same. My hair was more or less the same length, color, and I was more or less happy to the same extent, at least upon first glance at the image. But if you dug beneath the surface, Marie of 2009 and Marie of 2019 are very different.
June 29, 2019 Twenty-Five Tips for Twenty-Five Years Recently, I celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday, and coincidentally, my first birthday in the states in three years. It was weird to say the least, realizing all that had happened in the last three hundred and sixty-five days. My twenty-fourth year was jam packed: living abroad, visiting home, traveling around the island of Taiwan, my first Chinese New Year, moving home, and so much more in between all of the aforementioned.
June 1, 2019 Copacetic Clare Tapping my foot against the tile floor, I checked the clock adjacent to the door. 2:58. Despite the exciting video that Mrs. Namira had put on during psychology, time was moving slower than sloths. And the more the narrator droned on about Sigmund Freud, the sleepier I got.
May 11, 2019 The Power of Words As children, we spend much of our days dreaming. We wake up, daydreaming about last night’s fantasies of candy houses and fairy tales. During class, our mind wanders away to worlds unknown and situations unseen, thinking of another time. And then, we return to our slumber, to our special worlds that only we know, until we have to wake and reenter reality.
