Chloe Cuthbert- Writing in the Wings

*Reposted from Medium.com As some of you may know, I have published a memoir, Reclaiming the Light ,which is available on Amazon via Kindle or paperback. It deals with childhood abuse, domestic violence, and the journey from victim to survivor. It is my story, but it could be anyone’s story. I would like to offer a signed copy to someone who has not had the opportunity to obtain one, or would just like their very own copy from me. :) In order to qualify for this giveaway, I just ask that you leave a private note here with your email address so that I may contact you if you are the winner. I will be posting this giveaway on my twitter account as well with the same request, and on the day of the giveaway, will be assigning a number to each email and enter them into a random number generator in order to choose. You may also choose to subscribe to my blog, here and leave a note there. I post a lot of my articles there as well, and other posts about self-help, self-awareness, self-improvem

Now wouldn’t this be wonderful? To be covered in paint, without a care in the world, with a grin plastered on our faces, happy and carefree.  Well, why aren’t you? How did you make yourself smile today? Yesterday? Last week? In today’s fast paced world, it is rare for anyone to take the time to think of their own personal development, their own personal needs, their self-care. We are so caught up in the here and now, the selfie moment so to speak, we don’t take the necessary time to stop and smell the roses.  Stress, anxiety, and depression have become commonplace in our society. As we get older, especially women, studies have shown that benzodiazepine prescriptions increase. The majority of these prescriptions are not even written by psychiatrist, but by our regular internists. What does this say about how we are living our lives?  Rather than set aside a few moments per day to work on ourselves, we take pills to ease our pain, physically and mentally. Another testa

A quick note, if you have not already done so, please take a moment to subscribe to my blog. This will ensure that you don't miss a post, as it will come direct to your email! It doesn't cost a thing, except a moment of your time. We’ve all had that gut-wrenching moment in a relationship. You get that text. Or hear the words out loud. We Need To Talk. Shit. But it doesn’t have to make your blood pressure go up, or make your heart race, nor do you have to allow every life altering scenario run through your head until the moment arrives for THE TALK. But I’ll tell you a secret. In order for all of those things not to happen, you have to put in some work first. Before “we need to talk” ever comes out of the mouth of your partner. Yes, relationships require work in order to work. And it’s not 50/50, not if you want it to work. It’s 100/100 folks. Well, in a perfect world, which we do not live in. So, since nothing and no one is perfect, let’s just leave numbers out o

And speaking of focusing on happy, my book is doing pretty well! If you'd like to purchase the Kindle edition, it is available  Here Originally featured on  The Post-Grad Survival Guide  on Medium.com, where I have graciously been given the title of Writer! Thanks,  Tom ! If you'd like to read my blog in your email, click the subscribe button! Each post will come to your email, no gimmicks, nothing to buy, just my blog, free! I graduated from college the first time in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Chemistry. There were a number of pharmaceutical companies where I lived at the time, and I always enjoyed science and chemistry in school; so it seemed a logical choice. I have never once used this degree, unless you count the years I sold used laboratory equipment obtained from surplus sales.  I graduated from college for the second time in 2010 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree, majoring in English Literature. This one I did for me. When I was a li

Hi everyone! I've posted a new article over on Medium I would love for you to check out! I talk about the One Word movement, where you choose one word to carry with you through the year, instead of making those pesky new year's resolutions. It's a pretty interesting concept. I  hope you enjoy! If you would like to read my blog in your email, please click subscribe! One Word Article

I've published a new story on Medium. I've linked it below. Members can "clap" for it, which is their version of liking a story. If you're not a member, you are allowed to read 3 stories for free each month that are marked member stories. Membership is $5 a month. The stories are pretty great, not just mine of course. I like how it works. Your membership goes into a pool, and your claps work like this...each time you clap a story, it pays the writer. At the end of the month, the claps on the story are tallied and a portion of the membership dues are paid to the writer. You can write if you'd like, or you can just read. Obviously, if you aren't a writer and you just want to read, that's cool, your membership just goes towards the writers you are clapping for. You get 50 claps per month. If you really like a story, clap more than once! Thanks for reading everyone. Also, check out my Social Media page, on my home page here. I have linked all of my social

I received my first review today for my novella, Reclaiming the Light. I never expected to get a 5 star review, much less the words that followed. I have no idea who left the review, but to whoever it was, thank you. I truly can not express how thankful I am for them. For a writer, and someone who is rarely unable to keep her mouth shut, I am rendered almost speechless. I have always had a hard time accepting praise. I'm sure it goes back to childhood, and rarely being told that something I did was good, or that I did a good job. When I do receive praise, I usually beg off, or I find something wrong with a job well done. This is something I am still working hard to get over. It is difficult to teach your own children to love themselves, to accept praise, and to be different people than you are yourself, when you are still struggling with it on your own. But I try, and I guess that's all I can do. Thankful, that is the word I am trying to bring with me into 2018. Revie

I wanted to share something that is part of the novella, Reclaiming the Light , that I just published. It's a blog post I published last year around Mother's Day on an old blog and I felt that it should be included with the stories I shared in the book. If you haven't gotten a copy of the book via Kindle or paperback, this will give you an idea of some of the things you have to look forward to! So, it’s the day after Mother’s Day, and my mind drifts back as I’m washing dishes. I was using a piece of steel wool to scrub a glass baking dish, and for some reason I thought, “When did I learn to do this?”. I wasn’t taught by my Mother. My Mother never taught me anything about washing dishes, or cleaning at all for that matter. I learned to clean a bathroom from staying over at a friend’s house as a kid. They had cleaning chores and if I stayed over, I wanted to help in order to make it go faster, so we could play faster. We had a cleaning lady starting about the time I was in 3

I have been quiet as of late, but it was for good reason. I have been working hard on my first novel, and early this morning, I finally clicked the publish button! I had a number of projects in the works, but the one that kept drawing me back in ended up becoming one I never thought I would share with the public. It began life as an untitled document, where I would go to vent. Essentially, a diary of sorts. I would write poetry, short stories, memories and the like, whenever I would have writer's block, and just let my fingers fly across the keyboard. I started realizing that I was spending more time on this than I was on the things I wanted to write. So, I began to go over what I had written, edit, add to, etc. And a story emerged, my story. It was not an easy story to write, but it was even harder to put out into the world. But what I have to remember, with each breath, with each post, each promotion, is that it is a story that should be shared. Not in order to have anyone feel s