Feeling Is First

I have started to collect my poems into chapbooks and sell them for $10 each. It is a strange thing to sell one's art. It is uncomfortable to ask friends, family members, and followers to buy your art. When so much content is free, it's easy to be picky about what we pay for. Certainly I, myself, am picky about which art I pay for.  I appreciate artists who are transparent about their finances and their intentions, so I want to offer up my own honesties on those topics. Here it goes:  Our Current Financial Situation We are a polyamorous family of 8 living on one income. My husband is a computer programmer with a good salary. My partner is a college student working on a computer science degree. My main gig at the moment is being Teacher Mommy to our five kids.  I worked outside the home before the pandemic. Most of my income at that time paid for childcare. Maybe I will work outside the home again in the future. Maybe I will continue to focus on parenting and art. We’ll s...

One of the best things I saw on the internet this week was the quote, "Self-love without self-awareness is useless." Yes! This quote has been attributed to Qasim Chauhan and Xochitl Frausto, but I don’t think anyone knows who actually said it. What’s important is that more and more people are moving beyond the narrow perspective of self-indulgence as the only type of self-love.  Indulgence absolutely has its place and time. It feels so good to love yourself enough to embrace opportunities for indulgence without fear. It feels so good to let your belly be full. It feels especially good to share treats with others in a sincere spirit of celebration without any guilt.  But indulgence every day isn't self-love; it's just harmful. We limit the kids to two treats a day unless it is a special occasion. Right now the favorite treats are cookies and fruit snacks. We say, "Treats are good for our happiness but bad for our teeth." If I limit the kids, shouldn...

Him: How many kids do you have? Me: 5 Him: Like all 5 are your kids? Me: What do you actually want to know? Him: What? Me: I have 5 kids. They are my kids. Do you want to know how many pregnancies I had? How many births? If some of my kids are adopted? If I breastfed? What do you actually want to know? Him: *silence* OK, so I barked at the dude. But he is neither the first nor last person to ask me some variation of the question, "Which of these kids are REALLY yours?" Yo. I just told you. They are all mine. I cook their meals and wash their pee-soaked clothes. I bandage their scrapes and clip their finger-nails. I zip up their coats and braid their hair. I read with them and play with them and sing with them. I hold them and comfort them. Every. Single. Day. They call me Mama. All five of them call me Mama. And why shouldn't they? Aren't I doing everything to fulfill that roll? Look, I'm happy to answer your earnest questions. One woman said, "...