MELINDA K. BOWENS

To know me is to know I am a top-tier supporter of other people being able to make mistakes (or what they believe is a mistake) and grow som

If we had a friend who thought their life was going to cease to exist because of one perceived “missed opportunity,” we would quietly tell t

I think sometimes we view the loss of control as a scary, or even a point of failure sometimes. But neither of these points are true. Not b

Allow me to reintroduce myself…my name is (if you didn’t yell “Hov,” we really need to talk about your fun level in life). But let me stop stalling and get to why we’re here right now. So, what have I been up to? Great question! Well, in the past 90 days I have… -Quit my big girl job -Pretty much set my five-year plan on fire (you can still see the smoke if you look carefully) -And don’t really have an answer to the question “so what are you doing now?!” Now, do not take any

For some reason, we like to think if we knew all the details of everything coming, we would be more inclined to participate without hesitati

I don’t like to ask for help…or feedback…or suggestions…or advice…or anything that would make it seem as though I don’t have it all together

Join Chrystal Evans Hurst and myself as we have an honest chat about being happy when you're really just over it all!

But I’m Right…And Why That Doesn’t Matter Y’all, I looooooooooove being right. I don’t really mean right as in always doing the right thing, I mean right as in always having an answer and never being wrong. Even when I’m wrong, I tend to be super confident in my wrong answer and concede to the fact that I’ll find the right answer later. Being right has to be one of my favorite pastimes, directly behind college football and eating French fries with no regards to weight gain. T

Y’all, I looooooooooove being right. I don’t really mean right as in always doing the right thing, I mean right as in always having an answe

When I first thought about how do we hear the voice of God, the first image that came to mind was trying to find the perfect radio station i

Ummmmm, God…This isn’t what I ordered “Everything will be all right in the end. If it is not yet all right, it is not yet the end.” Now, I know some great philosopher probably spent his/her entire existence trying to reach ultimate peace in life before he/she uttered that amazing phrase. Or it was John Lennon. Or it was a quote from this movie called “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (thanks Google). And then I heard it secondhand from some guy on Twitter. But that’s neither

You Deserve Love Love. It is a four-letter word we hear so often from those we love. Yet, we are sometimes left with scars from people who either said they loved us back, never said it, or never provided the actions behind the word itself. Because we often don’t take the time to heal these scars, we began to participate in one of the most destructive activities known to humanity – the false sense that we don’t need love to survive. You know that person who would rather deal w

#BreakingTheCycle: So About This Brokenness Thing… When I was in graduate school, I had a friend that loved to make mosaic artwork. She said that it was something she enjoyed and she took such pride in her work. Now, I had no idea what mosaic artwork was, I just knew she was my friend and she was excited (which is really all I needed). I learned a little later that this form of art involved break sheets of glass and piecing them together again. My first thought was to just u

#BreakingTheCycle: But It Wasn’t Perfect Well, we’re on the “emotions” part of this series and we’ve done a hefty amount of soul searching; especially with our not so great feelings. So, you may have saw the title for today’s posting and thought this was another dive into how the people in our lives weren’t perfect and how they may have hurt us. Just a heads up, it’s not that kind of posting today. Is it true that we’ve had people in our lives treat us less than stellar and

#BreakingTheCycle: Those Sneaky Emotions! After finishing graduate school, I had the most amazing opportunity to be a children’s therapist for a school system nearby. Even though I serviced kindergarten through 12th grade, there was always something about by elementary kids that I loved so much. It was probably because no matter how much of a fake adult I thought I was being that day, to a six-year-old I was as real of an adult as it could get. I also loved how creative (or

#BreakingTheCycle: The Defense of the Past The past is the past…right?! Well, kinda sorta. Whether it be in real life or a movie, we’ve heard someone utter the words “the past is the past.” And whether it be in real life or a movie, we’ve probably given that statement some serious side eye (with a sprinkle of deep sigh). Because even though the event itself may be over, those remnants still linger rather vividly at times. So what are those remnants? I mean those flashbacks th

#BreakTheCycle: The Defense of Stubbornness “I’m stubborn, not deaf.” Of all the phrases I say or have said on a regular basis, this had to be in the top 7 (probably more like top 4, but let’s not dwell on that part). I have said this before, but not only did I say it often, I believed it strongly. The idea of someone repeating the same thing to me over and over again didn’t soften my stance, I just dug my heels in deeper. Now, I’m not talking about that bad advice that the

#BreakingTheCycle: Defenses I was taking a BuzzFeed quiz today on college mascots (because that’s what every productive adult does in the middle of the day). After I answered the series of questions, my results said that I was a college sports fanatic. Which is partially true! But I am more specifically an Auburn University football fanatic! I spend the entire football season stalking the polls to see where the team will land each week. Like any other zealous football fan, I’

Fear is not a factor…Or maybe it is For much of the early 2000’s I was mildly addicted to this reality show on NBC called Fear Factor. If you don’t remember the show, here’s a brief recap. Each episode, numerous contestants would presumably complete dangerous/frightening stunts and competitions with the hope of winning a large cash prize. I’m not quite sure if it was the competitiveness, the challenges, or my sheer disbelief that someone would participate in those activities

I’m Dedicated...For The Most Part Verse of the Day: Matthew 6:24 “You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one that the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (CEV) “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” (MSG) “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; yo