Severe joy
I wanted conviction to tell me if I could be gay and Catholic. My convictions told me something bigger
by Will Martino
Memoir
Stealing my father
I’d long had a rocky relationship with my dad. Then, a predatory caregiver took over his life
by Mark Teich
Footloose in Havana
In China, I was used to treating my body like a problem. In Cuba, everyone seemed at home in theirs
Syren Chan, as told to Lavender Au
More than a mugshot
As a crime reporter, I wrote about people behind bars. I learned much more when I began writing to them
by Amelia Arvesen
My swindler sweetheart
I was a pushover with a habit of picking cheating men as boyfriends; then one of them pushed me too far
by Patricia Olsen
Converted by Sister Ruth
At a Texas convent, what could a sublimely uncouth sister in her mid-80s teach me about helping people?
by Ronald W Dworkin
The daughter I never had
I loved my three sons but still yearned for a girl. Why did this fill me with such shame?
by Emma Wilkins
Whispers in the wind
How I learned to hear the voice of my ancestors and speak Lenape, a language silenced for generations
Krista Nelson, as told to Dawn Fallik
Dog day blues
We were a new stepfamily, and only the puppy was missing. With Elsa, we lobbed a grenade into the mix
by Lily Dunn
Two lives drift apart and come together in a love story told one brush stroke at a time
Directed by Ian Bruce
The psychic who healed me
It was just like her – my bold, dead mother – to show up in my life again. Or was grief playing tricks on me?
by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
My husband, the gun nut
Three years into a blissful relationship, my partner picked up a hobby that sent me spiralling
by Lindsey Harrington
A ghost in limbo
Two decades of anorexia obscured who I was beneath my sickness. Then a stranger saw me
by Miranda Gold
Money
When an investment tanked and buried us in debt, we had to face the truth of how we’d gotten there
by Carol Berkower
A detour home, through Portuguese
Losing my mother tongue was painful and humiliating. Could learning a new language help me heal?
by Frances Nguyen
In the hole
A metaphor for depression became a catalyst, and I started to reinvent my approach to suffering
by Tasha Eichenseher