if you lowered a microphone to the dirty street outside my home, you would not hear much other than the rumbling of wheels trekking through the gravel. The sounds of school bags swinging to the ground as students wait for the bus, with perhaps a background noise of hurried footsteps tap-dancing down the pavement.

​if you decide to lift a microphone towards the sky, perhaps you will find a different story. One of crows shrieking something foul between phone lines, or the...

Mrs. Jones was, perhaps, the most bland teacher I ever had the pleasure of meeting. She welcomed her class, wrote the textbook page number on the board, sat on her comfy chair in the front of her classroom and read a book.

Many of my friends  insist she was never our teacher - they would not remember one so boring - but how could I forget one so impacting to my life.

Now, as I write this, I admit I...

Renting a broken home for two;

The difficulty in believing that your humanity is what validates your own self-worth is a chaotic divorce between your thoughts and heart. Self-respect is knowing that accepting happiness is far from selfish but is instead the product of freedom and is worth the pain of acceptance.
 

I suppressed a giggle every time the car drove over a speed bump, trying my best to ignore the seatbelt digging into my side. It hurt, even more when we went past the speed bumps, but I had a job to do - one that I would not fail. Finally, I see bright lights through my squinted eyes as we arrive to a quaint looking house. Inside I could here soft music, something Ma' would play whenever she pours a...

Refuge, a simple term to describe the complexity of love and safety in an environment of chaos.

To a little 8 year old girl in venuezela, refuge is not having to worry for the next meal gracing you plate but rather how much butterfly clips you can fit in one braid.

For a 15 year old boy in Burma, refuge is not having to gaze down a barrel, your life threatened to comply - but instead having the freedom to...

          Social Media, in laymen’s terms, is a hub filled with hundreds of sites that allow us to communicate, inform and collaborate with the outside world. On the other hand, Social Media can also be used as a harmful platform, used to cyberbully and misinform others. We are, right now, the most interconnected we have ever been with humans outside our own little world – yet whether this is a benefit or disadvantage is still up to debate.
 
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Self respect is knowing your boundaries, respecting your body, your morals and beliefs, ones that will keep you grounded and unchanged, ones that wont change for other people or popularity.

​Self respect is sometimes being alone, respecting your silence, your reflections and thoughts, keeping a moment or two of the day to focus completely on the maze that is your mind and heart.

​Self respect is acknowledging your flaws, respecting them for what they are, because they are what make...