Kern Carter's Blog, page 115
July 20, 2021
July 19, 2021
Call For Submissions: Relationships and Writing
Is there a connection?
Our relationships are core to the way we function and experience life. But they’re also a key part to the way we create our stories. Who we’re around, the people we interact with, the perspectives we let into our lives and our minds, it all creeps its way into our writing.
Knowing that, how do you think about your relationships? Do they play a big part in your writing? Do they impact your writing at all? Do you have to separate yourself from certain relationships in order to be your most creative?
Same rules still apply:You can submit to this or ANY of our past writing prompts. Just scroll through our previous newsletters. They’ll be marked “Call for Submissions.”If you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this or any other prompt, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call For Submissions: Relationships and Writing was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Maybe Letting Go is the Best Way Forward
How do you outgrow a mindset you’ve built your life around?
Photo By Kanaar Bell
It’s strange to accept,
That letting go,
Feels better than pushing ahead.
To trust that the flow of life,
Has always got your back.
Because trust can be hard to form,
If you’ve been scorned,
With memories of trouble,
Sneaking up on you,
While your guard was down.
If there was hardly a moment,
When your mind,
Wasn’t fraught with worry back then —
How are you supposed to let go,
Of that mindset now?
That,
Is exactly how,
Unlearning can be your first taste of freedom.
See,
It’s natural for humans,
To soak up new ideals,
Behaviors,
And knowledge.
What’s difficult,
Is changing the lens,
In which you view them.
If your race started young,
Then you’ll always feel out of breath.
Focused on beating the others,
Rather than bettering yourself.
It’s when you step away from the race,
The pursuit,
Of anything you believe you don’t have,
That you stumble upon a peace of mind.
Safe.
Snug.
So effortless to live,
You forget what it’s like
To be driven by fire.
So now,
You have a choice to make:
Surrender with trust
Or,
Hold onto the race.
Neither is right,
Nor wrong.
Just make sure,
That your choice,
Can soothe your soul,
And connect you to a place within,
That feels assured,
Strong,
And joyful.
Sometimes,
We need a reminder to smile.
There’s no honor,
In dying,
For a mission incomplete,
Or sacrificing for what you think,
Will finally bring you happiness.
You are the mission.
Happiness is available to you now,
In abundance.
So,
What are you chasing?
Maybe Letting Go is the Best Way Forward was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
July 18, 2021
July 17, 2021
Black Woman as Mule: An Exploration of the Mammy, the Jezebel, and the Black Woman’s Burden
Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out.
July 16, 2021
July 14, 2021
Sex, Drugs & Endometriosis
It’s as thrilling as it sounds.
Image by Maia LeggottIn case you missed it, CRY has started a new storytelling platform called Love & Literature. We invite a different writer each month to share raw, memoir-style stories broken down into four chapters which we share every Sunday.
This month, we’ve had our boldest story to date. It’s called Sex, Drugs & Endometriosis and is written by a gifted writer named Maia Leggott.
The first two chapters are already out and the response has been unbelievable. Check out the first two chapters yourself:
Chapter 1: IT’S TOO MUCH EFFORT TO GET P#SSY THESE DAYS
Chapter 2: CEASE TO EXIST
When you subscribe to Love & Literature, you get access to this and all of our other stories. Plus all of our future posts will be delivered directly to your inbox every Sunday.
Let us know what you think of each chapter. Maia is great at responding to comments so leave your thoughts directly under the post.
Sex, Drugs & Endometriosis was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
July 13, 2021
Wearing The Wand Of Vulnerability With Pride
“What happens when people open their hearts?” “They get better.”― Haruki Murakami
Call for Submissions — Are You Censoring Your Writing?
This is an interesting time to be a writer. We’re storytellers, journalists, authors, and bloggers all sharing our innermost thoughts for public consumption. But are we really being as honest and true to our feelings as we think?
Every single time we press publish, we risk offending the wrong crowd. And that fear has created a kind of groupthink that can be debilitating to creativity and authenticity. In other words, we can be writing not to offend instead of writing how we truly feel.
Are you guilty of this? Do you censor your writing so as not to be “cancelled?” Or do you put it out there without hesitation? How do you prepare your mind for feedback or criticism?
NEW RULE:You can submit to this or ANY of our past writing prompts. Just scroll through our previous newsletters. They’ll be marked “Call for Submissions.”
Same rules still applyIf you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call for Submissions — Are You Censoring Your Writing? was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
