Brittany Shelby-Phillips
Bio
A curious soul remarking on a human experience. 🧚🏻♀️💜
Stories (14)
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Treasure in the Shade. Runner-Up in I Wrote This Challenge. Top Story - June 2025.
For what felt like an eternity to a four-year-old, I impatiently waited by the screen door for the sound of the lawn mower stopping. While Grandaddy was out mowing the lawn, I discovered a gaggle of treasures at the bottom of some forgotten drawer that I was likely not supposed to be snooping in. Running through the house, I presented the priceless baubles to Grandma. Interrupting her pea snapping, I squealed, “Grandma, look what I found!” She looked up from her task and drawled, “I’ll saaayy,” her signature response to exciting news. “What have we got here, Brittany Girl?” “Treasures,” I responded proudly.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips7 months ago in Writers
Fine Tree
Do you like to sit in nature? Maybe a better question is, 'Are you able to sit in nature?'. For me, a restful sit is a natural craving, but I'm not always good at it. You might be thinking, "How can someone not be good at sitting? You've got a backside, don't ya?" Well, yes, physically, there are no barriers to me sitting. The journey to the seat is growing more precarious with each birthday, but once I'm down, it's smooth sitting. What I mean is, are you able to engage in the purpose of a restful sit in nature: to be present?
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips12 months ago in Motivation
A Heart for Whitney
Twenty-five years ago, underneath the steady beat of a squad of cheerleaders clapping and stomping as they rallied local spectators into the collective joy of a high school sporting event, was another steady beat. The silent but tenacious heartbeat of one cheerleader, in particular, Whitney Hubbard. Her young heartbeat with determination to fuel each of Whitney’s high kicks and toe touches that should have come naturally for her teenage body was a constant trial for a heart with tricuspid atresia. God may have formed Whitney’s heart with a single ventricle, but He made up for it with determination and perseverance. However, many years later, her resolute heart had reached the bottom of its well of strength, and surrounded by loved ones, a doctor informed Whitney she needed a new heart.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips12 months ago in Humans
A Lemon Tree Blooms in January
The scent of my potted lemon tree becomes overpowering as I walk through the living room to my office. Since the day a few weeks ago when I made room for it to wait out the winter in a corner opposite my desk, the tree has burst with blooms. There are two reasons I find this sudden blooming strange. Reason number one: I have had this tree for almost four years, and it has never bloomed like this. Sure, there has been one random bloom now and then, or two if the tree was trying to show off, but never like this. Reason number two… well, it’s January. The bright, sweet aroma is so at odds with the Christmas tree and trimmings still on display in the next room that one can’t help but find it strange.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips12 months ago in Motivation
Let Your Light Shine
Nothing on Earth could survive without the heat and energy the sun constantly gives. Not the tiny plankton nor the mammoth humpback whale, not the bouncing flea or the swaying tree. We are all here and coexist due to the gifts of the bright, burning star that is 93 million miles away, light and heat sustaining every living thing around us. These life-essential gifts are freely and automatically given constantly and without fail. Do you know any people like the sun? People who are freely and without fail giving of their warmth and light? While we are all too aware that there are no perfect people, one man seems to have been born with a “happy gene.” He was born with a natural predisposition to share his smile, joy, and zest for life with every person he meets. So it is no surprise that bright light, Brian Gray, has a hardwired need to spend as much time as he can enjoying the sun's warmth.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips12 months ago in Humans
Water is for Everyone
Somewhere this Sunday, a peaceful babe adorned in an heirloom gown is cradled by their enraptured parents and held over a basin of holy water. The priest dips his withered hands into the water and reverently bathes the baby's crown as he recites the blessing and invocation. A wayward woman has found her way to the baptismal tank at last. She wades down the wide steps toward the preacher, with his waders on and his sleeves rolled, into the warm, symbolic water. As she places her hand over her mouth and nose, he covers her hand in his and cradles her head with the other, preparing her for rebirth. His blessing over the wayfaring saint is given with a vibrato that reaches all the way to the back of the sanctuary before guiding her back below the cleansing water’s surface and up again with jubilee. Water is sacred. Water is essential. Water is gentle but powerful. Water is cleansing but also devastating. Water is transformative, and “Water is for everyone.” - Caroline Williams.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips12 months ago in Humans
The Discipline of Self-Love
The buzzword “self-care” has become synonymous with relaxing indulgences or guilty pleasures one can enjoy only in moderation. While the activities made popular by the self-care buzz have their place and benefits, there is another practice that will do more for one’s mind, body, and soul than a bubble bath or massage ever could. It is a simple, all-encompassing practice guaranteed to improve the quality of all other aspects of life. Discipline. Discipline is the purest form of self-care; no one knows this better than Nick Sella, and for Nick, his discipline is running.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillipsabout a year ago in Longevity
Crossing Guard. Runner-up in Small Kindness Challenge. Content Warning.
A stab of pain jolts me from my sleep. I must have made some sort of noise in response because I hear my daughter and granddaughter scurrying around me, roused from whatever spot they found comfortable enough in this cramped den to finally rest. I can’t open my eyes to be sure, but I know they are hurrying to either side of my reclining chair turned deathbed. They each grab one of my hands, and even though I can't see them, I know Theresa, my sweet baby girl, is on my right, and my precious granddaughter, Brittany, is on my left. I hear her say, "We're right here, Nana. Do you need some water?" We both know she really means, “Do you want me to roll this wet sponge across your lips?” I do not know for sure how long it has been since I lost the ability to swallow, but everyone in this room knows how long a body can go without water, and I am ready but afraid.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillipsabout a year ago in Psyche
Heralds of Spring
After weeks of the cold, dark hibernation season, nature is desperate for signs of awakening. Longing for a sign that the collective rest and restoration has been for a purpose: to rouse with a brightness more vibrant and alive than before the dormancy began. As will all things, nature gives the weary and cold survivors of winter the perfect herald to announce the coming rebirth and hope, the daffodil.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillipsabout a year ago in Families
Errors in Lessons
Most humans live their entire lives blissfully unaware of the many ways and tactics the universe works in their favor to teach them the lessons necessary to elevate their souls. These tactics are so inconspicuous that most humans simply assume these lessons are inconveniences or challenges, coworkers or passing strangers. However, the most effective method, in my humble opinion, is being assigned a dog.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips3 years ago in Petlife
Baptized By Death
The call I’ve been expecting for more than a decade came on Saturday afternoon just after St. Patrick’s Day. Looking down at my phone buzzing on the bathroom vanity, I see ‘Aunt Theresa’ and our photo from twenty years ago displayed somehow more intensely on my screen and I know it is here. All awareness left my body as I stood in my apartment, staring blankly into the bathroom mirror as my aunt heralds the message that the time has come to say goodbye to my father. In the midst of the long-awaited news flooding my hazy awareness, I’m ashamed of myself; ashamed the news Daddy’s time has come to cross over Jordan is not enough to keep me from noticing how dirty the bathroom mirror is and I need to do better about cleaning it.
By Brittany Shelby-Phillips3 years ago in Families
