READING BETWEEN THE PINES

Tag: hope

  • 25 Days of Giving Day Twenty-Three: Believe

    —

    by

    Stacie Chadwick
    in

    In 1992 I was twenty-two years old and living in Chicago. The market was tough for recent college grads, and after a part-time series of temp assignments and waiting tables, I took a job selling industrial products on the south side of town. It wasn’t a career move by any stretch, but it paid the bills and afforded…

  • 25 Days of Giving Day One: Pay A Stranger A Compliment

    —

    by

    Stacie Chadwick
    in

    Greetings from the land of Gemini Girl in a Random World, better known as Siberia. It’s that time of year again, and instead of posting porn-inspired Elf on the Shelf pictures like everyone else you’re connected to on Facebook, I thought I’d try something new this holiday season. Inspired by a genuine lack of desire to…

  • For The Voices We Can No Longer Hear

    —

    by

    Stacie Chadwick
    in

    I’ve never really used the word “evil”. I don’t like it. Pronouncing it turns my mouth in the wrong direction and my face into an ugly sneer. The word is as powerful as the actions it’s meant to describe, and it makes me feel uncomfortable. Even the juxtaposition of consonants and vowels is wrong, like…

  • Colorado is Burning

    —

    by

    Stacie Chadwick
    in

    I’ve always been a big non-believer in luck, at least the kind that bleeds bank accounts dry because it’s tied to an arbitrary sequence of numbers that careen down a treacherous path to nowhere. The definition of luck I subscribe to isn’t random. It can’t be bought or sold. It’s more of that mathematical equation…

  • My New Dog is Gone

    —

    by

    Stacie Chadwick
    in

    When I started this blog a few months ago, my intent was simply to build an audience to support the book I’m writing, so an agent could cyber-stalk me and see that people were interested in what I had to say. Or so I hoped. But as I began to post, a beautiful yet unanticipated…