Thoughts from Chickadee

 The day of my big move has finally arrived. I will spend the next three days in a car with one of my best friends (who flew down from Minnesota to drive up with me), three cats, and some pretty fantastic playlists before settling into my new place. As I leave, I want to acknowledge the things I gained from this chapter of my life: A Master's degree 8 tattoos 3 cats The beginnings of a less contentious relationship with religion (HUGE shout out to St. Mark's Episcopal Church for providing a safe place to start that healing) An entry into the poetry community (I will miss the folks at Spoken and Heard nights!) Two life-long dreams related to working with animals achieved More fantastic friends than I can name A sense of self-sufficiency and confidence I can handle what comes next These five and a half years in Texas have been a lot of things, but mostly I think they were what I needed to prepare to really become myself and strike out on my own.   Here's to the next five ...

Ever since I learned to read in kindergarten, I have been a voracious reader. As a child I would regularly leave the library with the maximum amount of books I was allowed to check out (somewhere around 20 books), use a flashlight to read in bed way too late, and even read books under the desk at school. As an adult, I still use the library regularly and occasionally allow myself to go to Half-Price Books and buy a few books to add to my collection.  As I prepare to set up my dating profile and re-enter the dating scene, I decided to reflect on five books that have helped to shape my thoughts on romance (potential spoilers ahead). In no particular order, the books are:  1. Love and Misadventure , by Lang Leav  Love and Misadventure was the first book of poetry I ever added to my personal library. The collection follows a relationship from the exciting first butterflies to the brokenhearted ending. While the poems are short, they each perfectly encapsulate specific em...

Note from Chickadee: On occasion I will post pieces of original poetry. This is one such time. Written about a year ago, this particular piece has been on my mind as I prepare for my move in two weeks.    New Start, Who's This? There’s a lake surrounded by oaks and maples, the water lapping at a rough sand beach, and I- Wait. I’ve told this story before. I’m standing in a parking lot and thinking of how far it’ll take to get to- Nope, you’ve heard that one too. I’ve spent so much time peeling off pieces of myself for you to sink your teeth into, I’ve forgotten what piece goes where, which piece was meant to do what. It’s all a mess now on the coffee table in front of me, and I have this insane urge to just set the whole pile on fire and call it a day. I don’t want to see what this puzzle looks like when it’s put back together. I don’t think I liked it very much. This is the first time I’ve looked in a mirror since we started this game of give and take. Did I always...

Now that it's just four weeks to the day I have marked on my calendar to join Hinge and start dating, I've started spending some time thinking about what kind of person with whom I am looking to have a relationship. As is my habit, I decided to start by going to books, television shows, and movies as a form of research into my own feelings and reactions. I came up with a list of four characters who consistently make me swoon. 1. George Cooper, from the Song of the Lioness book series by Tamora Pierce                                                                                                         Illustration credit to Minuiko on Tumblr Song of the Lioness is the boo...