Body Language

I Wrote an Essay on Sleep Paralysis to Finally Talk About Men’s Ugliest Urges

Once it happens, sleep paralysis tends to recur. It’s as if a spirit has marked your bed, like the first coming has irreversibly altered you.

Jan 06, 2022
How Do We Survive Suicide?

How much does my fear of owning this darker voice hinge on a cultural insistence that it’s unhealthy, even unnatural? What if I’m all of it?

Oct 26, 2021
Make New Memories, Our Story is Enough

I call our son. Mom, he says, after he has tapped the symptoms into Google, have you ever heard of transient global amnesia?

Mar 30, 2021
Right Now I Will Jump to That Spot Over There

Christina Bartson on improvisation, shutting out fear, and trusting her movement during the pandemic.

Dec 07, 2020
I Lost My Voice Before I Found It

Like so much in life, your voice works effortlessly—until, one day, it doesn’t.

Nov 09, 2020
Ballet Helped Me Reclaim My Identity as a Queer Iranian

Imagination could only take me so far. I was ready to dance—and this time my mom couldn’t say no.

Jul 20, 2020
The Small Beauty of Funeral Sex

There is something about sex that feels like an unequivocal “fuck you” to death, taking something back from that which has taken something from you.

Jul 15, 2020
A Scar Is Not a Story

The sentiment persists that scars construct character. I wish it were that easy.

Feb 03, 2017
After the Playground

I wanted someone to play with, but I wanted to create the rules.

Oct 14, 2016
The Grooming of the Bride

“You’ll feel like a baby,” she said. But I didn’t want to feel like a baby.

Jul 29, 2016