(A short journal story by Irene B.) 📖 Accessible version: Read the full journal entry (PDF document) Practicing out loud Sharing some of my writing, these fiction bits as part of my creative reps, flaws and all. Keep going with your “thing,” too. Small consistent steps, even imperfect ones, make big moves forward.
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The Line Between Little Lies and Real Deceit
With the two-plus decades I’ve lived stateside, from across the merry ol’ pond, you’d think I’d be fully versed in American lingo, slang, and whatnot — at least among the amazing friends I’ve made during this time. Well, Luvs, you’d be seriously wrong. So, what’s a girly like me to do? I fake it, yep… yep. Kinda-sorta. The Scene Picture it, Maryland, 2025, and I’m deep in convo, and all is going great. Injecting laughs, creating laughs, and getting the full picture until someone throws in a term or catchphrase from their yesteryear, and all of a sudden, the laughter, for me, grinds a little to a halt. We got…
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Messy Journaling: What Happens After You Start?
So, did you start? And if you did, are you looking at pages and pages of random words, cut-off sentences, and scratched-out drawings thinking, Geesh, what the hell is going on here? It’s good, it’s all good! Because the thing you could easily miss about messy journaling: the mess actually leads somewhere. And no, it won’t necessarily all be wrapped up in a perfect and logical bow, but it’s not just venting, complaining, or scribbling random thoughts either—it’s a mirror. And if you’re willing to really look, that mirror gives you a pathway straight to your own growth. At first, messy journaling feels like you’re in pure survival mode. You…
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Are you Team ‘Need’ or Team ‘Want’ in a Relationship?
Yet another slight shift in my SincerelyIreneB posts, but not by my conscious choice, but this has been all over all my feeds for months, and my friend visiting got us talking about this exact subject. Not to mention, a week or so ago, two other friends of mine touched on this topic as well. What is it? The male loneliness epidemic. I’m gonna begin right out the gate with I know many, many a good man. Not the fake, mask-wearing kind, I mean, I do know too many of those, sadly, but I’m stating this so if you want to come at me as a man-hater type, then knock…
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How to Step In and Embrace Your Villain Era?
Villain = Evil, wicked person. Within this popular term or saying, “I’m in my villain-era”, I’m not for one second buying the evil part, but the wicked part is in fact wickedly delectable to me. Not (no longer) giving a damn about what anybody else thinks, being the bigger person, or taking the high road isn’t about you now doing wrong to others who wronged you (well, not always), but about taking back your power to choose. It’s not about resetting your personality to be stuck on cruel, but to finally be selfish—in the most positive sense of the word. It’s a return to yourself. Disclaimer: Also, never be the…
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How to Turn Midlife Milestones into Lasting Happiness
When my daughter turned 18, it reminded me of something simple but easy to forget: big birthdays are automatic milestones. They come with balloons, dinners, photos, and all the “you’re grown now, woohoo” speeches. There are umpteen scripts for turning 13 through 25 — the OG markers of independence, responsibility, and new beginnings. But guess what: milestones don’t just belong to the kiddos. Sure, we still celebrate those over 30 birthdays with or without parties with 40-deep friends, or sheet cakes full of candles; but it’s a combo of ‘yeah, you’ve made it another year and we love you’ — yet, unless we actively choose it, we don’t tie it…
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Why Birthday Milestones Aren’t Ends But New Paths Ahead
Last week, my baby girl turned 18. Like her sister, she’s always been one of the youngest in their friend groups, so her ‘finally turning 18’ was a big deal for her—in more ways than one. And while I was right there with her, mostly, it took a little wind out of my seeing my forever baby girl officially become an adult. Ish. Just thinking about turning eighteen is that moment many of us imagine long before it comes. Imagining what this vision of “adult life” is supposed to look like for us, from the TV shows, movies and books we consumed. Well, that’s how I did it, anyway. Of…
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How to Fill Your Life With Abundance, Not Assignments
Like everyone else I know, I still have bills, work, and endless to-do lists not going anywhere. But in my never-ending search to do more fun shit, as I’ve been flipping through my calendar and the last few months of 2025, it’s stacked more with assignments, not abundance. Yep, there’s holiday things, parties, pop-ins, etc., all of which I love. But I’m fully being greedy and I want more, tons more, of the smaller things that fill me up just as much as the big ones. More time with friends, laughing over foolishness, serious things, and everything in between. So that’s… Squeezing in spontaneous fun Shifting things around for simple…
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Are You Aligned With Your “Big Age” Life?
“Big Age” is a funny term I heard from many sources, definitely not one I made up myself, but I’ll definitely keep using. But people throw it around as if it’s a milestone you suddenly wake up to. Like, congratulations, you’ve hit an age—a Big Age—where society expects you to have it all figured out. Career, relationships, money, personal growth—the whole checklist. And yet, here you are, still figuring things out, still wondering if you’re aligned with the life you’re living, especially in this second chapter of ours. Most of us still are, and don’t panic, that’s really not a bad thing. Being in your “Big Age” isn’t about having…
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The Truth About “Catching Up”
And Why I Quit Trying. I used to foolishly believe that if I could just clear my to-do list, I’d finally feel caught up. But I was only clearing it up to make space for the next stack of to-dos, and the next and the next. Another work email to answer, another post to write, another idea I swore I’d get to once “things slowed down.” The older I get, the bigger the backlog seems to fill up, in all things. Half-written blog drafts. Unread books. Old voice memos with “brilliant ideas” I’d never started. And the work and family stuff is too mammoth to even mention. The lists, plural,…
