Renee Long
Breathing Underwater
A thick black line appears in the distance, stretching six feet across. As the shadow grows bigger, it starts to undulate. It has wings.
Dreaming of Predators: Entrepreneurship and Healing Creative Wounds
And entrepreneurship is petrifying. Of course my throat is closing. Of course my body is resisting. Of course I wake from nightmares clutching my neck. Vulnerability once meant death.
Poem in Which Jesus Christ Sprains His Knee Fishing in Bethsaida
He twists it good, too. He wasn’t paying sharp attention to the angle of his foot / As he pulled the boat to shore. He pins his foot beneath the hull, moves his /Hips the wrong way, the knee slips. Down he goes...
How to Love Your Ugly Feet
Against your white wood ceiling, your feet and ankles framed in the dark denim, there’s a little beauty. This is strange because your feet are the last thing on your body you’d acknowledge as beautiful....they tell you, We carry you. We will keep carrying you.
Reconciling Humility and Self-Worth in the Age of Ego
The light you will gather and spread in this world is uniquely tinted, and if you choose not to shine this light, in the words of the great Martha Graham, it would be lost to all of us. You are a child of creation. Shine what you have, and be brave.
Again and Again
One breath. One coin. One baby step. Again and again and again until we turn our heads and see a thousand steps in our rearview––until we see how we’ve changed...It's okay. Tomorrow, we begin again.
Suffering: Whispers in the Noise
I’m praying for the hurting, yes. I’m praying for the recovery and grace and light to flood where water and fire and pain and evil have raged. But I’m also praying to use my body and my voice better, for my feet to carry me where I can help.
Minimalism, Mindfulness, and Movement
Twice in the last five years, I moved across the country. The first time was from Florida to Portland, Oregon. The next time, and most recently, from Portland to San Diego. Both times, I sold my things and packed only what I could fit in my Suzuki. Both times were a burning cleanse.
5 Favorite Blog Posts to Revisit in 2017
As the Ruminate blog editor, I get to read a lot of exceptional work, but in the New Year, I find it important to pause and revisit my favorite pieces of writing. With so many beautiful articles, it's difficult to narrow down my favorite Ruminate blog posts.
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The Waking is an online literary magazine and a part of the Ruminate creative community that houses high-quality literary writing about what it’s like to be human. We are interested in short-form prose and image-text hybrid work. This art can be beautiful, it can be strange, we just ask that it feels true.