Who Rescued Who

Faith Grateful for Natalie (@poetessnat) curating safe spaces for SWFL creatives to write and share from our hearts. I cherish these workshops— the connections made and the writing shared. I always leave feeling inspired to create more and excited for the next gathering/event. Today, the theme was faith. We read a poem as a group, called “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. The root words were: Credere (Latin): to believe Fortis (Latin): strength Anima (Latin): “breath, soul” My writing implementing these words/concepts: Use my strength from God to believe the good in my soul. “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradtition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” ~ Colossians 2:8 Poem: "I am Her" The world can be dark and misleading I lean on God to give me strength and guide me Strength to know I am loved,  To believe I am enough To operate with pure intenti...

Last week, on August 10, I reached a milestone I had to work hard at every second of every day for 365 days: one year of sobriety. This is not my first sobriety rodeo, and I’ll continue to take it one day at a time, as I pray this time it sticks for the rest of my life. Since a young teenager, I’ve been struggling with substance abuse, never thinking I’d see (nor did I want to experience) a sober day. However, after some personal, life-changing experiences in 2022, I mustered up the courage to get sober in February 2023. After relapsing in 2024, I hopped back on the sober bandwagon on August 10, 2025. It’s now August 16, 2026, and I am officially one year and six days sober. I pray opening up about my struggles and journey can help others who can relate and may be struggling with addiction as well, or in recovery themselves. My sobriety is my life’s greatest achievement. I used substances for many reasons, one being to numb. Feelings can be difficult to face/navigate an...

This morning, August 8, Ruby (little doggy muse) and I attended one of Poetess Nat's Root Words writer's workshops. Natalie hosts open mic nights and writers workshops for the community, encouraging others to free their voice. I am beyond grateful for her time, energy and sacrifices she makes to uplift others by creating positive community events. Natalie told us today, "connect to the place you're writing from.. connect to your heart" She organized a thoughtful workshop, involving multiple individual writing sessions revolving around root words provided and one poem the group listened to at the beginning of the workshop together, called "Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas. The word I learned and felt most connected to today was pugnare, which is Latin for "to fight"; with courage being the theme of the workshop, I feel like the workshop brought out something I've held in, something that's attempted to hold me back. ...