XOXO

5. The Northern Mockingbirds AKA the Sentinels

They get last because as cute as they are as a couple, and as much as I appreciate them making a nest in the bush outside my window (hopefully I see some babies sometime soon, fingers crossed), Northern Mockingbirds are territorial as heck. They scare all my other birds away when they are being aggressive, and that is not okay. That’s

Easter always begins the same way for my family. My mother and aunt compete to see who can call my grandpa first on Easter morning to say, “The Lord has risen,” to which my grandpa will respond, “Indeed.” Last year my mom woke at the break of dawn to beat my aunt, but generally my aunt wins. Then my grandpa will call my cousins, brother, and me to relay the same message. As a whole, we’ve always been “indeeders,” rather than “the Lord has risen-ers.” This year is so bizarre because nearly

In the era of body positivity and radical self-love, the notion that “no one can love you until you love yourself” is, for many of us who struggle deeply to love ourselves by virtue of depression, anxiety, or the various other forms of mental illness, an unjust sentencing. At its core, the intention is pure. The modern-day proverb is a call to demand that the love we receive from others is of equal or greater value to the love that we give ourselves. However hopeful its intent, this idea

As October rolls into motion at UVA, I’m reminded of all the reasons my heart soars when the seasonal clock strikes fall. Yellow leaves on Rugby Road outline the branches they dare to escape from, and Lawn rooms stacked with firewood hint at wiggling toes against crackling fireplaces. The air tastes fresh like bus stop breaths on elementary school mornings and feels crisp like a farmer’s market apple. I’ve always been partial to fall. If the seasons were cups of porridge, I think it’s safe