Dear Daughter, I Promise to Let You Fall
Gillian Barnes Gillian Barnes

Dear Daughter, I Promise to Let You Fall

As I hold you in my arms, squeezing and rocking you to sleep, I can’t help whispering things to you like “you’re alright”, “I won’t let anything hurt you”, and “nothing is going to hurt the baby.” And all of that is sort of true…nothing life-threatening is going to happen to you.

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Ready to Grow
Free Writing Gillian Barnes Free Writing Gillian Barnes

Ready to Grow

Being in Maine has been a strangely magical experience. For instance, often times when I eat lunch looking out toward the mountain range, there is no one for miles. In Massachusetts, that wouldn’t be possible, and if by rare occasion it was, it would feel lonely...or even threatening. Like someone might be lurking. Waiting. You are not alone in many places in Mass (there are exceptions, but those places are extremely expensive to live in or remote).

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Monsters That Go Bump in the Day...
Gillian Barnes Gillian Barnes

Monsters That Go Bump in the Day...

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that yesterday a bird tried to say “hello” to me by way of the ceiling in my bathroom. “Hello” is a more polite word than I would have used yesterday…but it remains what is in my head today.

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You Have to Pay
Gillian Barnes Gillian Barnes

You Have to Pay

Alright. This is going to come off as a rant, though it absolutely isn’t the intention of the piece...

…here’s the punchline: you have to pay artists! 

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Tea and Potatoes
Gillian Barnes Gillian Barnes

Tea and Potatoes

What is it about food that makes the majority of us nostalgic? 

I started my work day yesterday talking about tea with my coworker. She mentioned that as a regular tea-drinker, she prefers her tea without sweetener or milk. I tend to agree with that choice.

However, as I was working on another task, I got to thinking how very opposite my Grandmother would feel about that. 

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