All posts of flourish

Our Relationship to Our Bodies: Jowairia Khalid

By Jowairia Khalid In Islam, we’re taught to prioritize our physical and mental health, and both go hand-in-hand. Islam means peace, so peace within the world, our relationships, but also within ourselves. We believe our bodies are a gift from God, and to take care of them is a form of worship. Ensuring I nourish […]
1 year ago

Our Relationship to Our Bodies: Nyla Vance and Nova Brown

Nyla Vance (Right) flourish: What is your favorite thing about yourself? Nyla Vance: My brain. What do you like about it? I like how — I don’t know. I don’t like Earth, I only like God.  What is your favorite thing about your sister? When she plays with me.  What is beautiful about your sister? […]
1 year ago

Our Relationship to Our Bodies: Kanaan Rhodes

By Kanaan Rhodes For me, tattoos enhance my perception of my appearance. I got my first tattoo when I was 18 years old. It was a simple design, but it started a lifelong journey to decorate my body — now, I have more than 50. The feeling of empowerment that comes from getting a new […]
1 year ago

Our Relationship to Our Bodies: Susan Winkler

I have a love-hate relationship with my body. Because I hate being disabled. But on the other hand, there’s always a worse-case scenario, someone that’s worse than I am. And sometimes, mentally, it affects me, even after 20 years, but I have ups and downs with life, like anyone does. But I’m thankful that I […]
1 year ago

Caring for Yourself: When you realize you won’t be able to have children

By T. Rayme Keenan, LCSW Growing up in the culture of the Heartland, we often learn faith, hard work and family are the most important values. But what happens when, as an adult, we’re unable to recreate this reality we grew up with, specifically due to infertility? What happens when, as women, we’re unable to […]
1 year ago

Michelle Mia Antallan: What have you been thinking lately?

Thank you for being the first early inspiration in my life; being the first grandchild allowed me to have all the perks (and favoritism, I think) to learn from you. I am very far away from home and you are getting older; I can’t stop thinking about having fears of you getting sick or something […]
1 year ago

Johniqua Fort: What have you been thinking about lately?

A timeless letter from your mama … I’ve started this letter over and over countless times. Few times on paper, several times in my head. A simple question of, “What is something you’ve been thinking about lately?” turns out to be not so simple, honestly, because I am always thinking about everything. If I had […]
1 year ago

Anwyn Suhr: What have you been thinking about lately?

Do you ever catch yourself getting lost in the past? It’s been a bad habit of mine lately. Today, I filmed a beautiful wedding in this old cathedral full of artwork, sculptures, intricate wood carvings. And as I observed each work, each Biblical painting, each deliberate carving of the sculptures, I found myself lost in […]
1 year ago

Leni Santoro: What have you been thinking lately?

Perhaps it is because spring has come that I have been thinking about when you were little and we would plant the garden together. Or perhaps it was seeing the way the sun shone on the grass after the early morning rain shower, releasing into the day a thousand small, shining glimmerings of a garden […]
1 year ago

Olivia Cisneros: What have you been thinking lately?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to keep the peace — less on the world-peace scale, but more so on the societal scale. One type of peace helps protect the country, but the other helps protect the camaraderie in our everyday lives. But this is challenged when we fight over opinions. Opinions, by […]
1 year ago