Dying to Adventure

  After my cancer diagnosis in October 2016, and several subsequent cancers since, my craving for adventures simply cannot be quenched. I feel most at peace in nature. It is the one place I can breathe deeply and escape the morbid, clinical reality I find myself in day to day. It opens me to the

Choose Your Own Adventure

  After the birth of my little man, I looked at self-care and adventure in a similar way (spoiler: both negatively). There wasn’t time, I didn’t deserve it, my job was to focus entirely on this little thing I created because if I hesitated for a second, if I shifted my attention minutely, it would

New Mama to Ultra Runner in a Year: How I Reconnected With My Pre-Baby Self

  When my son was around nine months old, our family was beginning to settle into a routine as a clan of three. Just when I started to think, “Hey, we’re getting this whole parenting thing down” is when the hormone-induced haze began to fade away and my mind started to wander back to my

A Daughter’s Perspective

  Every mother hopes her daughter will possess strength, independence and self-confidence. And for this mother, I could not be more proud or overjoyed, that my daughter is finding herself, and is acquiring these key attributes. A few years ago Meg was in the midst of a deep depression and anxiety. As her mom, I

Parenting Through Grief

  My childhood memories of our massive canvas Coleman tent situated perfectly next to a creek in the north Georgia mountains are as engrained in who I am as swim meets and neighborhood block parties. Within every one of those memories is the man who led the show. He would talk about that tent like

Redefining My Second Pregnancy

  My body is changing at a ridiculously fast speed, my hormones are soaring, and my stomach feels bloated and uncomfortable pretty much around the clock. You can also add nauseous, moody, constipated, and always having to pee to the list. I have to remind myself that my body is taking on one of the

Mount Adams: Learning to Breathe

  Let’s start at the beginning. In 2016, I made myself a promise that I would summit Mount St. Helens. I grabbed my hiking partner and told her that we were going to do this damn thing. No excuses. Halfway through the summer, we both got pregnant. We were determined and didn’t let that stop us from reaching

Getting Out as a Single Adventure Mama

In 2017, I became a single parent. I can’t say it happened suddenly – I had felt like a single parent long before my husband left. Somehow, when I began divorce proceedings, the reality of my task sunk in: raising a child, single-handedly, while maintaining some semblance of sanity. Needless to say, I grew a

Perspectives on Self-Love from a Psychologist and New Mama

My baby girl is ten months old, and a bittersweet tug on my heart tells me I’ll probably only be breastfeeding for a few more months. On the one hand, I cherish that time with her, so naturally I dread the thought of this special chapter ending. On the other hand, I know that a

You Don’t Have to be a Mama

Hi, my name is Taylor. I have two cats, and that’s about the closest I’ve ever been to having a living, breathing creature dependent on me for its continued survival. I have never had the pressure of wondering how my actions might impact the “adults” my cats will grow to be, nor do I have