Kimasia Ayers

You finish something, and it feels like it just wasn’t good enough. Whether it’s an essay, a job shift, a creative project, or even your to-do list, you might feel a twinge of shame creeping in. No matter how hard you try, it seems like you always come up short. The late nights, the overthinking, the times you looked in the mirror and felt like a shell of imperfection. Instead of celebrating your success, you’re babysitting that ugly voice in your head that keeps whispering, “You aren’t...

Most people don’t realize how much fear runs their life. Fear is a slick, slippery oil. It disguises itself as "logic," as it convinces you that you're just "being realistic," whispering in your ear that this isn’t the right time. It lies, telling you that you’ll fail, that everyone else has it together except you. It laughs behind your back at the possibility of failure, pretending to protect you while it coddles you in the arms of stagnancy. And before you know it, you've built a life on...

Healing ain’t easy, especially if you ain't ever truly acknowledged the pain.   Sometimes you’re jus’ too young to understand the weight on your shoulders- so you learn how to carry it well, but that doesn’t make it any lighter. Healing from homelessness, abuse, surgeries, and a bunch of toxic self-sabotage will teach you more than organic chemistry could ever.  Yet here I was, a 20-year-old Black girl from a hood, writing about being vulnerable and healing a heart that was stuck in...