Articles: How to Feel Like You Have More Free Time Even If You Don’t
You might think that if you had more hours in a day—or you could magically clone yourself Multiplicity-style—you’d feel more satisfied with your life. Maybe you’d sign up to run your first 5K, end your…
Interview: Dismantling the Patriarchy by Reclaiming Her Voice
Reading, I found myself at first nodding with recognition and then, more than once, shouting yes as Bassist launched into another enlightening polemic about how women are called emotional or insane or vindictive or hormonal…
Articles: Talking to kids about food waste
Like many working parents, Sophie Jones is pressed for time—especially when it comes to cooking for her family. “I love going to the store to pick out a rainbow of vegetables for a new recipe,”…
Articles: How to Make Your Days Off Feel Like a True Break
Take a minute to recall your last vacation. Maybe you jetted off to an exotic seaside location and awoke to the sound of crashing waves or snuggled up in front of a fireplace at an…
Essays: How to Feel Less Depleted by the End of the Workweek
In my previous job as a strategy consultant, I felt lucky when I managed to sleep more than four or five hours a night. During the workday, I subsisted on our office stash of espresso…
Articles: Why Bicycling Might Keep Kids’ Mental Health in High Gear
Science has repeatedly proven that physical activity contributes to improved mental health. “Exercise, no matter your age, is the single best thing you can do for every organ in your body, including your brain,” says…
Articles: Is it Time for a Digital Detox?
Punam and Ornob Roy’s two children were on a strict digital diet in spring 2020. Their son, Ishan, 7 at the time, was in first grade; their daughter, Mila, was 5 and in preschool. Neither…
Essay: How Tech Actually Helped My Marriage
During the first year-ish of the pandemic, I counted down the minutes until I could crash into bed. But every night, as depleted as I felt, I stayed awake to indulge in a guilty pleasure…
Podcast: Laughter Cannot Be Outgrown (on the 6-Minute Stories Podcast)
A daughter understands how to find her mother, again.
Humor: I Am a Mom Who Hates Adventure and I Have a Bone to Pick With You, Our Family’s Zipline Tour Guide
Chet, was it? Hi, Chet. When my three children and I saw your misleading billboard — “Family Fun: Ziplining Adventure 5 Miles Ahead!” — we were strapped into seat belts inside a Chevrolet with air…
Essay: How to Get Mental Health Support – On Social Media
I have emetophobia, an extreme fear of vomit. I kept this secret from almost everyone. When I tried to explain to close friends, they typically replied, “I hear you; I can’t stand vomit,” having no…
Essay: This Protein Bar Literally Tastes Like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
In fourth grade, I made a giant 3-D replica of my favorite candy: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I can’t remember the point of the assignment, but I’ll never forget bursting through the classroom door with…
Essay: Tetris Helps My Stress and Anxiety Fall Away
UNTIL LAST WINTER, I hadn’t played video games since my parents let me combine allowance and birthday money to buy an original Nintendo Entertainment System, the old 8-bit home video game console with two buttons…
Essay: What to Do if a Young Child Expresses Dark Thoughts
When parents accept their child’s reality and seek help, they can steer them toward a healthier place, which can help prevent dark feelings from bubbling up later on. “Young children’s brains are much more influenceable,”…
Essay: My Daughter Convinced Me to Host a Backyard “Restaurant” in the Middle of a Pandemic
For two years, my 6-year-old daughter Ruby has begged us to open a “restaurant” in our backyard. Before the pandemic, I would take 30 seconds to explain why we couldn’t do it, then I’d redirect…
Craft Essays: How Humor and Essays Became Timeshare Partners in My Brain
My first draft of an essay about losing my mom to cancer was a doozy. An overabundance of adverbs wasn’t even my biggest problem. I was going for “personal essay,” but landed squarely on “journal…
Essay: Three Seasons in a Shared Bed
Six days after my wedding, my mother received a diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer. I paused my new marriage to care for her. When we found an open clinical trial, my mother and I…
Essay: The Quiet Shame of Parenting with a Fear of Vomiting
When my kids were 4 and 2, we drove to the mountains in North Carolina to share a cabin with friends for a weekend. The first thing I noticed when they arrived was how pale…
Essay: Learning to Love Again
My parents were married for 40 years. As a kid, I watched them fold their arms around each other every night after my dad got home from work. I thought of them like a clam:…
Craft Essays: It’s Nothing Personal: How Essays Make Secrets Seem Silly
When I published an essay recently about my lifelong struggle with emetophobia, the clinical fear of vomit, my dad sent me a text message: “Wow! I’m surprised you’re willing to publish something so personal.”
Profile: Becky Santoro of Foster Village
COVID delivered a blow to an already strained foster care system. Therapy and support service availability dwindled. Courts delayed hearings. Abused and neglected children lingered in bad situations. But Becky Santoro and her team at…
Essay: Rekindling a Tortellini Tradition
My dad panned the counter, awkwardly clutching his laptop to show me doppio zero flour (a specialty flour used to make pasta) and a glass bowl containing minced chicken, egg, nutmeg, and pecorino Romano filling….
Profile: Lynne Daley of Bank of America
She marched (and jumped) through a 22-year Army career—and uses what she learned to help other veterans at Bank of America
Podcast: Interview with Anna Christie (on the Emetophobia Help Podcast)
A discussion of my history with emetophobia and the article I wrote for the Washington Post.
ESSAYS
How to Feel Less Depleted by the End of the Workweek (SELF Magazine, 2022)
How to Use Tech to Foster Intimacy (SELF Magazine, 2022)
How to Get Mental Health Support - On Social Media (Wired, 2022)
This Protein Bar Literally Tastes Like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Bon Appetit, 2021)
Tetris Helps My Stress and Anxiety Fall Away (Wired Magazine, 2021)
Learning to Love Again (Unity Magazine, in print, 2021)
Tiny Love Story: Three Seasons in a Shared Bed (The New York Times, scroll all the way down the page, 2021)
The quiet shame of parenting with a fear of vomiting (Washington Post, 2021)
Barely Visible (HaveHasHad, 2021)
My Daughter Convinced Me to Host a Backyard "Restaurant" in the Middle of a Pandemic (Good Housekeeping, in print and online 2021)
What to Do if a Young Child Expresses Dark Thoughts (The New York Times, 2021)
My Therapist Says I'm Apologizing Wrong (Elemental, 2021)
Rekindling a Tortellini Tradition with My Dad (Unity Magazine, in print, 2021)
In her last days, my mother built a bridge to the grandchild she'd never meet (Washington Post, 2020)
Key Ring Chronicles: Knotted Ribbon (McSweeney's Internet Tendency, 2020)
I Planned to Take a Psychedelic Trip to Battle My Anxiety (Huffington Post, 2020)
A Simple Observation (on Italian Language and Living) (Ovunque Siamo, 2019)
ARTICLES
How to Feel Like You Have More Free Time Even If You Don't (SELF Magazine, 2022)
Interview with Elissa Bassist: Dismantling the Patriarchy by Reclaiming Her Voice (Creative Nonfiction, 2022)
Talking to Kids About Food Waste (National Geographic, 2022)
How to Make Your Days Off Feel Like a True Break (SELF Magazine, 2022)
Why Bicycling Might Keep Your Kid's Mental Health in High Gear (National Geographic, 2022)
How to Kiss Someone Like You Mean It (SELF Magazine, 2022)
Is It Time for a Digital Detox? (Charlotte Magazine, 2022)
HUMOR
Pumpkin Carving with Kids BINGO (The Belladonna, 2023)
Dorothy Parker Explains Remote Kindergarten (McSweeney's Internet Tendency, 2020)
I am a Mom Who Hates Adventure, and I Have a Bone to Pick with You, My Zipline Tour Guide (The Belladonna, 2022)
Password Recovery Questions for Women Who Kept Their Names After Marriage (The Belladonna, 2020)
I Opened this Neighborhood Florist Shop Because I'm Thirsty for Power, and You, My Employees, Better Be, Too (Points in Case, 2021)
My Superfood Cupcake Business Ruined My Life And Drained My Bank Account And The Same Fate Is Available To You Today (Slackjaw, 2021)
I'm Ready for My Slightly Overdue Bikini Wax in Your Salon (The Belladonna, 2020)
Realistically Renewed Vows, Four Years After Our Wedding (Slackjaw, 2020)
Everything I'm Afraid Might Happen if I Unmute Myself to Speak on Zoom (Slackjaw, 2020)
Literary Quotations, Revised to Explain My Very Good Decision to Take a Pandemic RV Trip (Weekly Humorist, 2020)
Nine Mindfulness Practices to Help You Endure Virtual Summer Camp (Points in Case, 2020)
How to Talk to a New Mom (Slackjaw, 2020)
Seven Mishaps at Whole Foods that, Looking Back, Were Only Partially My Fault (Points in Case, 2019)
I Am the Middle-Aged Jumper at the Trampoline Park Who's Definitely Not Too Old for This (Points in Case, 2019)
Mindfulness Hack: How to Use 4th of July Consumer Explosives to Augment Your Meditation Practice (Little Old Lady Comedy, 2019)
Daily Itinerary of the Two-Week Old Green Eggplant in My Refrigerator (The Belladonna, 2019)
CRAFT ESSAYS
How Humor and Essays Became Timeshare Partners in My Brain (Brevity Magazine blog, 2022)
It's Nothing Personal: How Essays Make Secrets Seem Silly (Brevity Magazine blog, 2021)
PROFILES
Becky Santoro of Foster Village (Charlotte Magazine, in print, 2022)
Lynne Daley of Bank of America (Charlotte Magazine, in print, 2021)
Home Edit: Charlotte Edition (Charlotte Parent Magazine, 2021)
OTHER FUN THINGS
No Laughing Matter (6-Minute Stories podcast, a reading of my essay from the Luck and Opportunity print anthology, 2021)
I Come as a Thief (6-Minute Stories podcast, a reading of my essay from the Trouble print anthology, 2021)
Emetophobia Help podcast S2E6- I was interviewed about the story I wrote in the Washington Post (2021)
Judge's comments halfway down the page on my contest-winning essay, Queen of Birthdays (2020)
New York Times Parenting published my "Tiny Victory" in their January 30, 2021 newsletter: "I used to get mad when my 3-year-old dumped out soap in the shower; but now I buy the cheap liquid stuff on Amazon, refill old pump-top bottles, and let her go to town. She gets clean, and I get 20 minutes. — Nikki Campo, Charlotte, N.C."
My essay is featured on Good Housekeeping's freelance pitch guidelines web page
Two of my stories were featured on award-winning journalist Amy Paturel's website as examples of how to build character in essays
Chicken Soup for the Soul has published two of my stories, in this book (Nov 2021) and this book Feb 2022)