As a queer person who grew up in deep red rural Oklahoma, I was bombarded with the notion that my feelings and my existence were wrong. I was taught to be ashamed of my body and the pleasure it was built for. Whether it was by a sermon telling me I deserved death, or society…
Wellness
Silence and Solitude: The Two Lost Spiritual Gifts
By Eron Vito Mazza In a world that is hyper-connected, noisy, and bearing down on us at all times, I wonder if we even remember what silence sounds like. Solitude is sometimes seen as a luxury or as a punishment. Being separated from the class as a child, prisoners being separated from society behind bars…
“No” Is My Love Language
By Eron Vito Mazza It does not take a genius to know that we live in a world that demands more time, energy, and attention. We have jobs that like to increase our responsibilities, and we have personal lives that are always demanding more of us. Boundaries are vital for our mental, physical, and spiritual…
Revenge Is Sweet, But Forgiveness Has Fewer Calories
By Eron Vito Mazza “I’ve had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you’re carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing.” -Buddy Hackett Ah, forgiveness. We hear that we should do it, but more often than not, we don’t want to. We have been wronged, violated, even! We…
The Alchemy of Intention: Turning Thoughts into Reality
By Eron Vito Mazza What if I told you, on a certain level, we can create the world around us? Would you say I had gone crazy to think we had such control over some of the circumstances that occur in our lives? Well, I guess I have gone off the deep end, because we…
Stillness Speaks: The Life-Changing Effects of Meditation
By Eron Vito Mazza In this fast-paced, nonstop world, it seems if you slow down for even a moment, you will find yourself either left behind or ran over on life’s highway. But what if downshifting is what we’re naturally programmed to do? What if we are meant to take breathers instead of pushing ourselves…
These Lesbian Influencers Are Revolutionizing Reaching People in Need
St. Louis therapists Cindy and Christina Hardin-Weiss’s health videos have views in the multi-millions.
Planned Parenthood and the Metro Trans Umbrella Group Provide Gender-Expansive Care
A collaboration between Planned Parenthood and Metro Trans Umbrella Group has helped almost 700 gender-expansive folks in the region access gender-affirming hormone therapy in the past year and a half. The program, funded by a four-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, is called TRANSforming Community, TRANSforming Care, or TC2. TC2 prioritizes access for…
A Listening Ear, and So Much More: SQSH to the Rescue
Sometimes, you just need someone to talk to. For Luka Cai, that someone was hard to find growing up in Singapore — especially when it came to their queer identity. “I never had any positive queer or trans role models growing up,” they say, “so I had a lot of internalized transphobia.” Cai — trans-masculine,…
Self-Care Tips from the Pros: Make Your Plan to Navigate the End of 2020
Fraught with expectations and heavy on the socializing, the end-of-year celebratory blitz can be tough at the best of times. And — let’s be real — these are not the best of times. So we reached out to a few counselors in the city for tips on how to best navigate the waning days of…