“Winning the lottery means having an Ali type in your life. You get adventures, growth in skills, a greater capacity for kindness. You’re more dog, more rainbows, laugh more, skip more and are more inspired”

Thanks to my life guru, Lan Pham for her kind words. Everyone needs friends who describe them so eloquently.

Bio

I wanted to enter this world feet first. I swear, if the doctor hadn’t intervened, I would have hit the ground running.

I’ve never really fitted in, it’s not that I’m a rebel, nor am I trying to be difficult or different. I just don’t always…

I have known with complete confidence, I do not want to be a mother, since I was 6 years old. Luckily womanhood does not equal motherhood.

Parenting is hard! I may not be a parent, but I appreciate how tough it is. I have enormous respect and admiration for all you parents out there. I am in awe of your commitment, patience, and diligence.

The thing is, living childfree is also a valid life choice. I endured years of pressure from my ex-mother-in-law who begged me to have a baby. She did not accept my choice. She did not listen…

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” — AESPOP

Thank you to each and every one of you who follows Spread the Ripple. And of course, thank you to all our writers for spreading stories of kindness out into what can be such a dark world.

I don’t know about you, but when I read stories of kindness, I experience warm fuzzy feelings and a boost in my energy and mood.

The ugliness of the world can drag me down. As a warrior, I turn towards a battle and fight instead of retreating. But sometimes I…

We should be celebrating your 11th birthday today
But we’re not

I wish I could have seen you with a full sugar face
But I will never see this

Your arrival created a utopia
Your exit left a tsunami
My external world devastated
My internal world fragmented

Even in your death, you teach me to live
In your memory I find solace
In our bond I find comfort

My wounds have healed
But there are scars, forever etched on my soul
I seek you daily, I feel you with me

Your eyes burn into me
I can smell your sweet perfume
I…

“I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are, all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said” — Freddy Marten

I’m not sure what compelled me to write about my small boobs. What started off as a feminist piece about a completely unacceptable comment from an old colleague, became an empowering piece representing small chested women everywhere.

This piece garnered a lot of attention.

Is it because the word “boobs” is in the title? Is the popularity of…

Can you keep up with the stories of all your favorite writers? If so, I would love to know your secret.

I understand some people may not feel the need to read all the stories a writer publishes. But I also know, there are many out there, like me, who are super loyal to their favorite writers.

I have built a fantastic community here on Medium. I have made connections with other writers, which I value deeply. And I know many other Medium users feel similarly.

We have weaved these connections through mutual appreciation and support for each other’s writing…

I can still feel the excruciating pain of being left out. Whilst we often box this experience into our childhood, it can also surface as adults. The hurt from exclusion or feeling overseen is real. It is a feeling, which, for a long time I felt ashamed of. I attributed the cause to myself. I believed I was not good enough, and it was my own fault.

As a consequence of this, I go out of my way to make sure everyone around me feels involved and included. At social gatherings, my spidey senses can feel if someone feels awkward…