This review is of a book of short stories and poems called Estranged Behaviour: The Underbelly of Society written by Tanita Ross-Cady. This book was truly unexpected in such a refreshing way. The author writes with authenticity and honesty. The book takes a closer look into the life of a bartender and a server. The author describes encounters inspired by her years of service with dark humor and a perceptive eye of the people around her. Her words will have you lost in reflection one moment and choking on your drink when you read an unexpected punch-line that has you bursting out…
Author: Liz Newman
Liz Newman
Liz Newman is a blogger and a poet who writes primarily about life, love, and relationships. She wants to help people find the comfort in their circumstance and the beauty in the chaos of their every day lives. You can almost always find her with a book in her hand. Her other loves include, family, fitness, and her fur-babies.
Depths of the Soul, written by Elizabeth Diane Daniel. This is Daniel’s second book with Creative Talents Unleashed publishing company. This book has a very soft and truthful feel to it as you peruse its pages. The author is transparent with her emotions, and it is obvious that she spills her heart onto each page with intention and grace. Throughout the collection, there are some recurring themes: childlike wonder, love, loss, and the difficult realities of being a writer trying to make it in a world of social media. An excerpt from “I’ll Bring The Matches”: “Point me in the direction of a…
Bloom for Yourself is a beautiful collection of poetry with a softness and a kindness that pulls readers in from the very first page. The writer is refreshingly relatable. She uses nature as a symbol for so many of the elements within ourselves: love, self-worth, pain, and healing. A quick favorite poem of mine is called “Seeds of Dreams”. The poem reads: “’But how do I grow with all of this sadness planted in my bones?” I asked. ‘You grow the way some of the strongest flowers grow,’ she said. ‘When the darkness is most upon them; amongst the silence of stars—each…
As I was planning my new year’s resolutions, I found myself writing a sentence from previous years: “try more meditation to help ease stress and anxiety”. This gets carried over year after year, with the afterthought, “yeah, I should probably give that another try” as I write it again and forget about it. This year, I decided to give it an honest effort. I had heard about an app for your phone called “Headspace”, so I decided to download it. To give you a little bit of background on the app, it was founded by Rich Pierson and Andy Puddicombe.…
I watched a butterfly flutter into the open window of a sun-room. It was elated as it soared through the air, exploring a new place, the gold and black colors of its wings radiant as the sun’s rays danced along them. But, after awhile, the butterfly was ready to return to the wild, to the wide-open spaces and luscious landscapes. The butterfly flew back toward the window, but in its wanderings, it had gotten turned around. It flew to closed window after closed window, while becoming all the more perplexed. It could see its destination on the other side of…
There is a reason people love the New Year and the concept of starting over with a clean slate and a new beginning. And, if you kind of lost yourself this year, it can be a good time for reflection about what will and will not make the cut for this next chapter of your life. The most important part about making your resolutions? Making them because you love and believe in the version of yourself you want to be, not because you hate who you are. So, here are some resolutions worth making this year. 1. Resolve to let things…
“This Is Us” has stolen all of our hearts. The show induces gut-wrenching sobs and moments of reflection on life’s most challenging times. After all, we are all just trying to make sense of our world. So, it was especially beautiful when Kevin, a guy who has grown a lot over the series already, had this incredibly insightful way of looking at life and what our time here means. “Life is full of color. And we each get to come along and we add our own color to the painting. And even though it’s not very big, the painting, you sort…
In this day and age, we have so many outside pressures telling us who to be and when to be it. We are constantly bombarded with outside information about what other people our age are doing. And with that information comes comparison. Is there something wrong with me if I’m not doing those same things? If I take one big step in my life, does that mean that my next moves are already mapped out for me? If I decide to change courses, does that mean I’m a failure or that I’m behind? The answer is no. Because the beauty of…
How many times have you talked yourself out of taking a big step by saying things like, “Oh, that’s just not for me.” or “I’m just not the kind of person who does that stuff”? The world is run by the people that go after their dreams, no matter how it looks to anyone else. They aren’t afraid to try and fail and branch out because they know it’ll get them one step closer to their goals. So why should we limit ourselves? Sometimes, we don’t have the confidence to see our worth through our own eyes. So, we look…
I know how hard life has been for you lately. You’ve been overwhelmed and underprepared for how chaotic things have gotten, and you’re fighting for the ever-elusive sense of control that could make you feel normal again. The unexpected has been closing in from all sides, and you don’t know how much more you can take. You’ve been holding on for so long, and your grip is giving out. But, please. Hold on just a little bit longer. Hold on in honor of how far you’ve come. Even on your weakest days, you persevere. Look back at where you started…