Anna Gillcrist
Stories (5)
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Bikinis, Hair Dye, Paint, and Depression.
While attempting to recall some of the various instagram products I purchased over the course of this 104 degree, fever-dream of a year, I had a difficult time recalling any of them. Not because I showed any kind of restraint when it came to my social media spending, (I truly did no such thing and it #haunts me ;)), rather, because I bought SO much SO randomly. At least, that’s what I thought. I decided to take a look at my spending history over the last 12 months to try and get a sense of what I was ordering off Instagram, and when. Diving into my Wells Fargo app to assess a years worth of financial damage remains to be one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. Yet to my great surprise, it turned into an incredible exercise of self-reflection. I came to realize that my purchases were much less random than I thought. Most of my social media spending spikes occurred during the most difficult stretches of this year. They were an easy, feel-good, burst of serotonin that would give me something to look forward to. Now let me be clear, I’m not knocking all social media spending. That would be entirely unfair. You see, my Instagram purchases were ultimately what led me to discover a skillset I never knew I had, and that skillset has turned into a steady source of income.
By Anna Gillcrist5 years ago in Humans
Hide and Seek
Raylein was about to explode. She had been standing behind a 1990 Dodge Caravan for an hour and a half. Everyone else had been caught, and Jax had started to yell throughout the scrapyard, pleading for her to quit. But Raylein never quit. Hide and seek had become Raylein’s specialty. She found herself day-dreaming about it constantly. Hiding was a comfort to the 13 year old. It was the only time of day she felt safe. She couldn’t hide from her stepdad in his 15 by 72 foot trailer home. There, she was constantly found. In the scrapyard, Raylein found comfort in the nooks and cranny’s of discarded junk. The moldy trunk beds of 30 year old Toyotas cradled her like a warm nest. The feeling of a tractors’ rusty metal against her back was as soothing as a soft blanket. She was a hider, never a seeker. Disappearing was something she usually prided herself on, though now her skill for hiding was a nuisance not only to the other neighborhood kids, but herself.
By Anna Gillcrist5 years ago in Humans
Screech
Jane had started to notice. She was a light sleeper. Roy wasn’t, so Jane had to shake him awake every time she heard it. Well, “had to” was a bit of a stretch for Roy. After all, he woke up at 4 am for work 5 days a week, and being roughly shaken out of a deep sleep once at midnight and a second time at 3 am had started to wear on him.
By Anna Gillcrist5 years ago in Humans
