Maxwell Meier 6/30/26 Maxwell Meier 6/30/26

A Queer Reflection on PNW Wedding Planning

Wedding planning during Pride month brings forth newfound realizations, opportunities for self-reflection, and chances to make amends with past traumas, which makes June all the more special.

Lynette Evans 5/22/26 Lynette Evans 5/22/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Power of ‘No’

There is a specific kind of intoxication that comes when you re-enter the dating world with a healed heart. You’re feeling good, your body looking like tea, and your capacity for joy is wide open. But I had to learn a hard lesson recently: Just because a man has the charm to grab your attention doesn’t mean he has the integrity to hold your space.

Maxwell Meier 5/4/26 Maxwell Meier 5/4/26

To Seattle, With Autistic Love

Growing up in the South, stigmas can run wild, branding you. Queer? Hide that shit. Autistic? Mask it at all costs. I learned to let people perceive me like a shadow. I showed enough of myself to let people get a sense of me without letting anyone in too deep.

Lynette Evans 4/15/26 Lynette Evans 4/15/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: No More Dry Biscuits

I have realized that my heart, the very center of my desire, has the amazing capacity to recognize beauty in more than one mirror. I find myself in a season I never expected: navigating deep feelings while standing firmly on newly discovered ground. This wasn’t a planned destination; I didn’t set out to audition hearts or be out here all in my feels. But here we are! As a woman who has been refined by the scorching fires of two divorces, I have realized that healing doesn't make your heart smaller—it makes it more discerning.

Lynette Evans 3/24/26 Lynette Evans 3/24/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Archetypes of the Ascent

I look back at the years between those two endings, and I see three specific archetypes. These weren't just men; they were tutors who held up mirrors to my soul, helping me identify the high-caliber requirements I didn't know I was allowed to have.

Lynette Evans 3/1/26 Lynette Evans 3/1/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Ghost of 22

It wasn't until my life was threatened that I found the boldness to move. I learned that staying isn't succeeding if you are being annihilated in the process. It is always, always okay to leave a table where love is no longer being served—even if you’re the one who set the place.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 2/21/26 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 2/21/26

A Meditation of Self-Love this Black History Month

Black history month comes every February, but before, during, and after my brown skin shelters me. The first line of defense between the softness within and the harsh exterior. My mind has been cultivated to love everything about myself.

Lynette Evans 2/13/26 Lynette Evans 2/13/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Luxury of Letting Go

“Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. You look ten years younger.”

That’s what a man told me recently, and I had to smile. He didn’t know he was looking at a woman who had survived a tsunami. He didn’t know that just as I had finished a hard, honest conversation with myself about the state of my marriage, a hidden betrayal hit me with a force that nearly annihilated me. I had no time to brace for the impact; I just had to decide if I was going to swim or float away aimlessly.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/3/25 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/3/25

Dark and Tender: Healing Black Men with The CUT Project

Aaron Johnson (he/him) is on a mission, the type of undertaking that comes to you through lived experiences. Ben Wilson (he/him), the producer of and participant in the short film Dark and Tender, invited me to attend the film’s screening at the Seattle Black Film Festival. The film, which aims to be a larger documentary, tells the story of the CUT Project.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 6/7/25 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 6/7/25

Kink Subculture Can Provide Liberation, Decolonization Through Consent + Expression

It’s very different from my experiences growing up moderately religious in the South. It took away the shame and self-blame. In heteronormative, vanilla sex, there are too many unspoken expectations, too many assumptions about what’s going to happen, that some people just begin following the script without any sort of communication. This, I believe, leads to situations like what 17-year-old me experienced, where I left thinking I had led someone on and realized years later that I was actually assaulted. I don’t know if he knows this though.

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