Cliff Dwelling

Life sometimes affords you possibilities and opportunities you never even imagined.
These moments make my heart swell, knowing that despite struggles, I am making the right decisions.

Today I was afforded the amazing chance to act as a guest speaker at a conference in honor of International Women's Day, hosted by The Cliff Dwellers organization. You may know that last semester I took a class called Oral History: Art of the Interview. As my final project I put together a performance that was part spoken word poem, part monologue taken directly from the text of my interview.

Thanks to the support of my professor, I was able to give my performance in front of a packed room or area female professionals and female students from area schools.

So in a full room on the 22nd floor of a building looking out on the partially frozen lake, I ate a slice of cherry pie, gave a speech while my hands shook, and for the first time in weeks, I felt really good about myself. That's what matters right? I knew that what I was doing was important-not just to me but to the people in front of me as well.

As I was walking out, I realized that the sun was finally out and that I really didn't need to put my gloves on. I feel good about today.