As the great Teddy Pendergrass sang, it feels so good when you love somebody, and somebody loves you back. And when you love people, you care about what happens to them. You care about the things they do. It’s the benevolent thing to do. Right? Well…yes, and no. It’s great…

What’s the proper response to a compliment? — I have a confession. I’m not the best at receiving compliments. In fact, I was once terrible at doing so. I would deflect and find a way to inform the compliment-giver why they had no business complimenting me. Compliment my dress. This old thing? It wasn’t even my first choice…

My dad had a way of speaking. He had a lot of sayings — phrases and lessons he’d spout in his signature parable-esque style. One such thing he’d often say is “Believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see.” As time has progressed, I’ve learned to…

I pissed off the internet for daring to talk about my dad. This year will mark 14 years since my dad died. The passing of time has been strange, as it’s a bit oxymoronic. I’m not as sad as I was when he initially died, yet I don’t miss him…

The truth is that none of us really know what it takes to make a marriage last Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin are the latest celebrity couple to announce their uncoupling and with their announcement came a slew of posts from us non-celebrity folk who swear we can attest to…

My cup usually never runneth over and refraining from pouring out while I fill my own cup has been eye-opening Hi, I’m Je’Niece and I am a giver. *pauses for the obligatory response of “Hi Je’Niece!”* *waves awkwardly at you all* Ok, where was I? Oh yes, giving. Me. Because…

It doesn’t always look the way you think it should — “I understand she’s hurting, but she needs to get it together.” “He is out here acting a fool. His father would be ashamed.” “They’re out here like everything is fine so they must be alright.” “She doesn’t look like she’s grieving to me.” “I understand he lost someone, but that’s…

We love to talk about leaving the people no longer serving us. But at some point, we’ll be the person to be left because we don’t serve someone else. I was. — “Everybody that start with you ain’t meant to finish with you.” That’s something my daddy would say. He’d say it often and I don’t think he was wrong. Everything, including relationships, has a beginning, middle and ultimately an end. I may go out on a limb and say especially relationships.

My grief and depression made sense to me, but I was shocked to realize I had anxiety as well — Peanut butter and jelly. Frick and Frack. Mac and cheese. Bert and Ernie. Mulder and Scully. Some of the most well-known pairings. When you see one, you naturally expect to see the other. They go together like hands in gloves (another one!). But there are some unexpected pairings. Whitney and…