They always come at you sideways. The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote. Republicans have been pushing since early 2025 to get the SAVE Act passed. It would disenfranchise millions of people, but I want to focus on women in particular.
On Saturday, while I was making myself a chicken chimichanga, my nephew texted to let me know my sister had passed away.
At the beginning of each week, I make a list of goals. Sometimes, they are small. Most of January was scrapped because I couldn’t sleep. Waking up from flashbacks is horrifying enough, but at least I know what they are now and can process a little and try to get some more rest. The constant headache from no sleep is aggravating. Not being able to concentrate due to sleep deprivation is, well, tiresome.
I thought I’d change things up for this month. There is a lot of talk about how YouTube is full of garbage and not worth watching. While this can be true, there are still a lot of really cool, educational videos I watch in a way to educate myself on a variety of topics. Here is a selection of some of my favorites, all of which are less than 30 minutes in length. If the videos don’t show, their titles are also a link to where you can find it on YouTube.
Poverty-related trauma isn’t nice or fun or quirky. When people think being poor is just a quirky thing you do, it creates a narrative where you are poor because of your own personal failures and not because of circumstances out of your control.
Here are a few good things to watch, especially on those cold, winter days when you don’t want to leave the house.
Every year, at the end of November, I begin to think about how I’d like my next year to look while reflecting on where I’ve been and the progress I’ve made. This year, 2025 threw me a few major curveballs.








