Clarify Confusion

IWow. Mic DROP. It seems so obvious, but I finally get it. A million things became crystal clear. Why do we allow ourselves to live in a state of confusion? When you really want something, you’d rather assume “if it’s not a no, it’s a yes.” That leaves hope and room for things to go your way. To flip it – “if it’s not a resounding yes, it’s a no,” can be hurtful. Why assume rejection if there’s a 1% chance? But living in the 1% is a constant state of not knowing, and that is almost worse than being rejected. As the Queen of the Silver Lining Scenario though, this is very hard to reconcile. . . . Read More

Don’t Change the Subject

Race in the United States of America – one of the most uncomfortable topics we avoid talking about. As a Black person, it is often tiring to answer questions or have to defend something you know exists. Blending into a society that wasn’t built for you. Demanding a seat at the table, knowing full well your voice isn’t always wanted. The tireless effort of constantly having to validate your existence. Meanwhile, you see others go through the same interviews, hang out in the same crowds, and not have to endure what you have to endure. This doublethink you must do Every. Single. Day. . . . Read More

Corona Perspectives

Today is May 2, 2020. I’ve been quarantined at home for 6 weeks, along with much of the state and country (USA) due to COVID-19, also called the Corona virus. I could list a laundry list of things I’m not allowed to do anymore, but instead, I want us to take a moment and think of the perspectives of others and what they may be going through. I remember living through 9/11 and it was so surreal, the country was in shock, questioning if it really happened or if we were just delayed in waking up from a horrible dream? Today seems much like movies and novels that were imagined decades ago, and so it does seem surreal, but this is our new reality. . . . Read More

The Semicolon Movement

I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing, but I glanced over at someone’s wrist a couple years ago and I saw a tattoo of a semicolon. As a writer, I have always loved the semicolon. It allowed for more dramatic pauses or showing incomplete thoughts in characters as they wrestled with what to do. But to permanently mark your body with a punctuation mark? That’s serious! I never saw that person again, and even if I had the chance, I wouldn’t have asked them about their form of expression on their body. So I did what any curious person does after they see something interesting: I googled it. And it was here that I learned about Project Semicolon . . . Read More

Love is Complicated


Part of stepping outside your comfort zone is realizing that you don’t know everything. In particular, love is such a dynamic and complicated science that we really can’t predict it. There are so many factors that affect the interaction of two people – factors such as childhood issues, daddy issues, distance, trust, personality, communication, availability, priorities, attractiveness, self-esteem, and faithfulness, to name a few. That doesn’t even take into account where you live and who is available to you, the activities you engage in, and the myriad of factors that influences who we meet and when. So, it’s nice to hear some experts, if anyone can be an expert in love. . . . Read More

Go See Hidden Figures

Please go and see the film Hidden Figures. I saw it today, and, well, WOW. Such an inspirational film. If you are not familiar, Hidden Figures is the fact-based movie about three African-American woman – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson – who directly worked on calculations at NASA in order to to get astronaut John Glen to be the first American to orbit the earth. What makes this story phenomenal is that all this is taking place in the 1960s in segregated Virginia. As you can imagine, the women face many subtle and not-so-subtle racism and prejudice because of their skin color. . . . Read More

Your Worse Enemy May Vote FOR You

voteJump Out Your Fishbowl is not a political blog, so I’m not going to discuss the presidential candidates here (check out personal blog for rants and raves), but I will discuss our civic duty and things you can do that might certainly be outside your comfort zone this election.

My main agenda in this post is to get YOU to vote (if you planned on skipping this election). I have very strong opinions about who should not be president, but I will save that for my personal blog. Politics and government classes were a long time away so I did some fact checking on Wikipedia (don’t judge) and other sites. Shoutout to my middle school history teachers (MSTM!!). I am of the mindset that if you don’t vote, don’t complain, but this is such an important election this year. I am constantly hearing people say that “my vote doesn’t matter” and that is simply not true. Here’s why:

Not selecting a candidate is not saying “I can’t stand either candidate,” it’s saying “I prefer both candidates about the same.” . . . Read More