Diane Masiello is a part-time writer and a full-time mom, wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law. Like many who are currently part of the “sandwich generation,” – those who still have kids at home but are also taking care of aging parents—she is also trying to find the time to carve out some space for her own passions. In her earlier life she earned a Ph.D. in Education from New York University, and worked as an Instructor of English, then Assistant Professor of English at the University of Tampa. In 2003 she left academia to raise her two daughters—the longest, hardest job she’s ever held, and the most rewarding. During her time in academia she edited and contributed to a variety of academic publications, but her greatest joy was the publication of her first short fantasy story, “The Sunspot,” in CrossTime Science Fiction Anthology Vol. II. She has her own blog, “Afternoons with Coffee Spoons,” which started as a mommy blog but ended when she realized her daughters had become old enough that writing about them without their permission seemed invasive. She has just completed her first young adult fantasy novel, Keeper, and is starting on the maze-like road toward publication. She is thrilled to be a part of The Gloria Sirens and looks forward to the conversations her blog posts may inspire.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” –Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
“We come back [out of the grips of a depression] . . . as survivors. Survivors who don’t get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it. Survivors who wake to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand. I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle, and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.” –Jenny Lawson
“Most survivors insist they’re not courageous: ‘If I were courageous I would have stopped the abuse. If I were courageous, I wouldn’t be scared . . . Most of us have it mixed up. You don’t start with courage and then face fear. You become courageous because you face your fear.” –Laura Davis
“Vulnerability is actually a strength and not a weakness–that’s why more and more mental health is such an important thing to talk about. It’s the same as being physically sick. And when you keep all those things inside, when you bottle them up, it makes you ill.” –Cara Delevingne
“Dear Person With Mental illness,
You are not a monster. You are a valuable, unique, wonderful human being who deserves everything grand that this life has to offer. Come out of the shadows and stand proudly in who you are. You are not damaged. You are whole, regardless of having a mental illness. I like you the way you are. I wouldn’t change you. I see you differently than you see yourself. I am not afraid of you or your illness . . . I am amazed by you. I am amazed by your courage, willpower, gifts, and talents. I accept you, and your worlds of light and darkness.” –Rachel Griffin
“You look at me and cry; everything hurts. I hold you and whisper: but everything can heal.” –Rupi Kaur
“Before I was formally introduced to my anxiety, I called it by a bunch of other names–nervousness, weakness, timidity. Employers called it laziness, distractedness, and ‘not being a team player.’ My ex called it clinginess. My mother called it oversensitivity and immaturity. But we were all wrong, and learning that we were all wrong, that there was an actual medical thing going on, overwhelmed me because it meant that it wasn’t a tornado of character flaws that landed me where I was. The problem was not that Ii simply chose not to be ‘normal,’ that I allowed my fears, baseless as they may have been, to conquer and dictate so much of my life. The problem was my brain. It was a chemical imbalance, something physical, not imagined.” –Tracy Clayton
My ride was not unique. It wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t fun. It was basically like me–comfortable, stable, and safe. No surprises. Reliable. Always there, waiting to be needed.
Here’s to the kids who live
who live and dare us
stand aside
may they embarrass us
show us who we are . . . .
Here’s to the kids who live in us
to the kids who live and demand
we act
in the doing
here and now
awestruck and unafraid.
–Aja Monet
I release you,
my beautiful and terrible fear.
I release you.
You were
my beloved and hated twin,
but now
II don’t know you as myself. . . .
I take myself back, fear.
You are not
my shadow any longer.
–Joy Haro
