Everything I’ve written on Medium is now organized by subject — Hello there! If you’re new to my page, figuring out what to read and where to find it can be tricky. Don’t worry: I’ve got you. To make things easy for everyone, I’ve used Medium’s handy list feature to separate all my work by subject. Below, you’ll find stories covering…

Spoiler: It doesn’t involve a mansion or fancy car — Everyone has fantasized about winning the lottery. It’s fun to think about what it would feel like to go from working every day to overwhelming wealth in just a few days. Many of us long for the freedom to quit our jobs, eliminate our debts, trade our used cars for…

Lessons learned from serving on a murder case — Before she even stood up, I knew that potential juror number thirty-two was going to say something chaotic. Earlier, as all hundred or so of us potential jurors stood in a nervous throng outside of the courtroom, Thirty-two had approached me randomly to explain that she was “beyond hungover.” …

8 Tips to help you avoid causing additional pain — When I was 22, one of my best friends died. It’s hard to talk about this as my experience because, in many ways, it was a collective journey. Hazel died less than six months after graduating college, so every part of her story is full of friends and classmates, family…

An open letter to white readers — For five years, I waited tables at a quirky theme restaurant in Beverly Hills. In my time there, I watched a lot of co-workers come and go but today I want to tell you about Evan. Evan was a white guy from a well-off family. Rather than live off of…

How to handle the barrage of neverending violence in our nightly news — For thirty days I slept on our green second-hand couch despite my fiancée’s pleas that I join her in our bed. Every night I fluffed the couch cushions, tucked myself in under a weighted blanket, looked out to the streetlights, and asked for a peaceful sleep. …

If you haven’t already, embrace your current space — My wife and I live in a one-bedroom apartment in a lower-income part of town. From our complex, there are no cool bars to walk to or parks within jogging distance. In fact, our complex is so far removed from any business that Uber drivers and friends alike struggle to…

I didn’t realize I was a lesbian until I was 20 years old. At the time, I lived in Virginia and would journey up to DC every few weeks to let loose at Phase One, a lauded lesbian bar that had welcomed women like me for almost half a century…

Do it today — I have a mean case of burnout. Between work, homemaking, relationships, a side hustle, and trying to heal some deep-seated trauma, I’m kinda spent. I spent most of last week limping to the finish line for my winter break. As of 5 pm Thursday, I have eleven glorious days where…