The Unfiltered Daily Lives of Women
Words by Sarah Hartley, Editor in Chief
During this pandemic, it can feel that we’re all trudging through day after day in the same way. But the truth is, my experience is different from yours and is different from anyone else’s. I am a mom of little kids and that experience looks different than a mom with older kids. It looks different than someone who lives alone. It looks different from someone who is caring for an elderly parent. It looks different from a frontline worker. It looks different from someone who has lost their job. And I want to examine these experiences. That’s why it felt like a great topic to address inside Illuminate, our writing community. We asked our Illuminate members to write about examining their lives this month, and below you’ll find a roundup of their take on this subject. We hope you’ll visit each post and maybe even meet your new favorite writer.
A Real (and Imagined) Examination of Life by Sarah Hartley
I hit snooze three times before I finally force myself out of bed, throwing back the covers and wincing at my sore muscles. I stumble two steps to my desk, grab my Five Minute journal and try to think of what I’m grateful for that I haven’t already mentioned thirty times.
A Day in My Life by Laci Olivia
4 a.m.
warm sheets, quiet house
cats cry, ready to go out
I am half asleep
An ideal vs actual day in the life by Ashleigh Bowling
If you’d flip through any of my planners you would come across a few “ideal routine” pages. From creating a morning routine, night routine, checking in with where my routines are now, I’ve tried planning out my days down to the hours. It’s so fascinating to re-read these and see how my mind has changed. Waking up at 6am to work out? HA. That does not seem ideal to me right now.
All the things that make up a life by Amy Rich
When my baby girl is scared of storms and, even at 14, she sneaks into my room and snuggles herself next to me and I breathe in the scent of her hair while she gently snores next to me. Her breathing matches mine and for the first time in months I feel like I have some control over her safety and well-being. I know that she will wake up and argue with me about everything from wearing her rubber bands on her braces to the thickness of her winged liquid eyeliner.
The Things We Carry by Jenn Norrell
As I write this it’s Friday and I am sitting alongside the dinette in our Airstream, my legs stretched out in front of me on the cushions sipping a cup of Aged Early Grey tea. My lap is full – with a blanket, a little dog wearing a sweater and my computer. I am thankful for their warmth. Snow is showering down outside the window and I can feel the chill of the air seeping in, a brisk 22 degrees. I should have known fall wouldn’t last long in Montana.
An Engineer Writes Fiction by Christi Hurelle
This is a storied timeline of two pens, two purposes. One pen writes reports and calculations on a construction site. The other writes articles and pitches as a freelancer. One story is fiction; one is fictionalized but mostly true. Both individuals are working (or attempting to) in the pandemic. Apparently, both hate the morning alarm but love long walks and Spotify.
An Examination of Life by Danni Brigante
You’ve seen the question come up on social media, I’m sure. It makes the rounds every year or 2, so if you didn’t catch it the last time, don’t worry – it will be around again.
“If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?”
For years, my piece of advice didn’t change. Given the chance, I would have told myself one single word:
“TRANSFER.”
life itself. by Eunice Brownlee
Once quarantine was announced, I had the idea in the back of my head that life would slow down and it excited me. I thought to the book outline that I had yet to start and all of the research I needed to begin and I lit up with hope that I could get going on this project. I looked at my stack of books to read with longing, believing that this year, I was going to hit my reading goal, no sweat.
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