I have always felt safest underwater. My fondest memories are childhood summers spent at home with my strong, capable, joyful father sitting in a chair counting laps. He would be happy to just sit, and count well into adulthood. I knew he was there, waiting, whenever I came up for air, lingering a moment too …
The Highway Halfway Mark I wonder, I do. I cannot help but wonder what’s down the road from the place I have ever truly called home. The wood and grass and nails and bolts, the wet familiar dew smells and giggling baby sounds. The joy and the sorrow. I can’t help but observe and wonder. The funny, peculiar, crooked …
To steal all that was pure and innocent Before she had the chance to experience All the changing shapes of her body The first kiss, crush, giddiness, and her exploding sexuality Making her feel dirty and ashamed Carrying secrets that did not belong to her Not yet a woman, barely a girl, and merely a …
There comes a point in life when you must accept the reality and the gift that is the passage of time. While I know in my heart, our time grows shorter and shorter I can’t help but be bitchy, mean, selfish and lose my patience daily. I have not been the easiest child. The woman …
Host Amalia Natalio Colyer of KarmicKindness conversation with Guest Author Jackie Cioffa: SS: The Manic Mind (Episode 2: Part 2) Soul-Full Sessions Listen on Apple Podcasts Part 2 of a captivating conversation with Jackie Cioffa about what brought her to The Red Bench (literally and figuratively), the stigma around mental illness and what we can do to foster …
Kindness and self-confidence become the noose around my neck in a shallow world filled with self-absorbed, self-obsessed, fear-fueled desperate “look at me” cries for attentionGuiltyI try not to dwell on the fake realities, about you and him and her in their filtered out of focus world, as redundant images scroll past my screenAnd an overwhelming, …
Feminine Divine Dear God, I haven’t been talking to you much. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I lost my faith for a long while. I lost myself, too. I forgot I was your perfect creation. I forgot the privilege it is to be female. I forgot I was able to create life, to make …
Battered & Abused Yet you still chose to Rise A man you thought you knew wore an ugly disguise Teeth kicked out your mouth what an ugly demise Battered & Abused Yet you still chose to Rise Through the ashes and the pain You changed Filled with Rage Of a Woman Trying to protect her …
My love affair with Prince runs long, hard and deep. His ability to stretch beyond the limits and create music that is absolutely unique and alive filled the crevices of my broken mind with hope, dreams, and possibility.
Briana Smith, Spectrum News In “The Red Bench,” Jacqueline Cioffa gives readers a glimpse of her journey as an international model who suffered from bipolar disorder. The Auburn native shares her recovery to peace and hopes this inspires others to do the same. “There are 46 million people living with this disease, and suicide is becoming …