Danielle Eckhart
Bio
Writing has always been there for me, and it will always be a part of me.
Stories (24)
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Open February 25th: An Honest Letter to The Hopeful Finalists
Today is February 25th and the Vocal+ Fiction Awards Finalists will be announced. Twenty-five talented writers will be ecstatic! The other one thousand will be disappointed. There's a 97% chance that I will be a part of the latter. Call it damage control, this is a reference letter to return to as needed.
By Danielle Eckhart4 years ago in Motivation
Forget Mondays & Januarys
By now, you've likely listed all the different ways to transform your life for 2022. Whether it's to become healthy, meet new friends, start your own business, adopt a pet, drink less, or smile more: Most people use this time to reflect on the past and plan for the future.
By Danielle Eckhart4 years ago in Motivation
The Lotus Effect
"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche Why is it a person can go through an event that shakes them to the core, rattles their soul, or breaks their heart and they later say "I wouldn't change a thing."? We dislike or fear what causes us pain, yet in some situations, the lesson we learn may be worth the cost of such struggles.
By Danielle Eckhart4 years ago in Motivation
Self Love For 'Devalued' Kids. Top Story - October 2021.
It's no secret that the early years of our lives shape who we become as adults. Isn't it frightening how so much of our childhood is out of our hands? A devalued kid is someone raised with little to no praise, validation, positivity, or acceptance. The result is things like poor self-esteem, passive-aggressive or avoidance behavior, and people-pleasing personalities. Such behaviors may have begun as survival or coping mechanisms. As grown-ups, it feels as if we left our parents' house and packed the wrong baggage. We've held onto the baggage for so long we don't how else to live. We don't know where or how to start building the right tools we need to let ourselves grow into our potential. Omar Hameed describes The Devalued Self in The Devalued Self: Childhood Emotional Abandonment, Devaluation of the Self, and Anxiety:
By Danielle Eckhart4 years ago in Psyche
Undoing
Karla swung her feet out of bed. She listened for the noise of Secret Service agents patrolling the corridors. Harry slept in a separate suite alone. Her husband was estranged ever since his workers found the brown paper box. What an idiot, she thought, to think I'd get away with it.
By Danielle Eckhart4 years ago in Fiction
Follow At Your Own Risk
Rory didn't notice how badly I wanted to be her. Or maybe she was used to people acting strangely in her presence. She tended to get into trouble. Yet she could've smooth talked her way out of anything. I grew up on the straight and narrow side and I desperately craved the thrill of the risk.
By Danielle Eckhart5 years ago in Fiction
30 Days 'til Daughterhood
Father-Daughter day at school was one of my earliest memories where I knew something was off. The other kids spent the day pridefully showing off their desks to their dads. The sight of them, beaming with joy, stopped me in my tracks. I wondered, why was I alone?
By Danielle Eckhart5 years ago in Families
The Stars Above
Part 1 My life has been a series of misfortunes that started long before my birth. In the 2050s, chemical warfare between countries nearly destroyed our planet. Only a few years later, the last departing shuttle to Mars launched. There were never going to be enough for everyone. These one-way trips were named Missions. To make it aboard required excellence or nobility, neither of which my family had. The Missions held the leaders, scientists, and the rich people of the country. People like the rest of us were left to deal with the consequences. With the environment in jeopardy, chances of survival were slim. Impersonation of passengers was impossible. Each candidate was vigorously screened and hand-picked by government officials. Evidence showed project leaders plotted at the first sign chemical warfare was ruining our planet. News broadcasts boasted of a feat unprecedented in human history, as though hundreds of thousands of civilians weren't suffering. My parents, my sister Jane, and my brother Gregory were all I had. I used to believe we were better off. As if the black hearts of those who left would somehow make our planet sicker than the wastelands ever could.
By Danielle Eckhart5 years ago in Fiction
