Adventures, Unabridged.

GRIEF TALK // The 11 Words That Changed My Life

By: madelinemillsip November 19, 2019November 20, 2019

Grief and Loss, Life and LoveFeature, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Life After Loss, Sisters4 Comments

It’s as bad as it can be. It’s Over. It’s Over. My Dad’s tear-filled words shook me to my core. Between shallow breaths of traumatic, shocking despair, I let out a string of dilapidated I-can’t-do-this’s. With his words, our life imploded, crashing down in horrific slow motion. In a single moment the world became grey.…

GRIEF TALK // My Cherry Blossom

By: madelinemillsip March 13, 2020March 12, 2020

Grief and Loss, Life and LoveGrief, Grief Journey, Life After Loss, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Sisters, Suicide PreventionLeave a Comment

March came barreling down on me,As if unannounced.As if my brain decided that this year,And maybe every year,March would simply no longer exist. Because,How could it?How could it be almost a year?How could I survive this year?How did I survive this year,Without you? The answer:A piece of me didn’t.A piece of me will be forever…

Love From, Rachel // I am not a sculpture, I am a garden.

By: madelinemillsip March 10, 2020March 10, 2020

Life and Love, Love From, Rachel#bipolar, #bipolarawareness, #Feature, #grief, #griefjourney, #lovefromrachel, #mentalhealth, #mentalhealthawareness, #poetry, #selflove, #sistersLeave a Comment

This is the next piece in a collection entitled: Love From, Rachel. My Sister’s deepest desire was to publish a book of poetry. It would tell the story of her survival, the story that would keep herself—and one day, others—alive. When she died, she left behind 15 journals from her 5-year battle with mental illness: the…

Love From, Rachel // Two Belugas, Two Blue Guys

By: madelinemillsip January 26, 2020March 10, 2020

Love From, RachelBipolar Awareness, Feature, Grief, Life After Loss, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Poetry, Self Love, Suicide Prevention, WritingLeave a Comment

This is the second piece in a collection entitled: Love From, Rachel. My Sister’s deepest desire was to publish a book of poetry. It would tell the story of her survival, the story that would keep herself—and one day, others—alive. When she died, she left behind 15 journals from her 5-year battle with mental illness:…

Love From, Rachel // Rachel Millsip

By: madelinemillsip January 23, 2020January 23, 2020

Love From, RachelBipolar Awareness, Grief, Grief Journey, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Poetry4 Comments

This is the first post in a collection entitled: Love From, Rachel. My Sister’s deepest desire was to publish a book of poetry. It would tell the story of her survival, the story that would keep herself—and one day, others—alive. When she died, she left behind 15 journals from her 5-year battle with mental illness.…

WEST COAST TRAIL SOUL-O // Letting The Light Pour In.

By: madelinemillsip December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

Adventures, Grief and LossAdventure, Backpacking, British Columbia, Feature, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Grief Talk, Hiking, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Rim National Park, Trail Running, WCT, West Coast TrailLeave a Comment

There are hundreds of moments spent evaluating risk in the outdoors: bears, cougars, rising tides, slippery ladders, kelp-covered rocks, hand-pulled cable cars, strangers, nights alone, inclement weather. As a soloist, there are no second opinions. Your choices are yours, alone, to own. But to me, the most jarring solo-moment occurred while I was spending an…

GRIEF TALK // (SOMETIMES)

By: madelinemillsip December 15, 2019December 15, 2019

Grief and LossBipolar, Bipolar Awareness, Grief, Grief Journey, Grief Talk, Life After Loss, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Sisters, Suicide Prevention, TattooLeave a Comment

“Maddie you and I should get matching tattoos,” Rachel said. “Mmmmm no thank you,” I responded. Tattoos weren’t my thing. “We could get yin-and-yang. One side of it on each of us—because we are entirely opposites in every way, yet together, we are so well-matched, both so necessary. Together we are beautifully full,” she explained.…

GRIEF TALK // I Wear My Dead Sister’s Clothes

By: madelinemillsip December 1, 2019December 1, 2019

Grief and Loss, Life and LoveBipolar Awareness, Feature, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, Mental Health, Sisters, Suicide Prevention2 Comments

Before you read onward, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe you’ve already decided to stop reading, overwhelmed by the shock of my confession. Maybe you are curious because you had not considered where a loved one’s possessions would go, after death. Or maybe, you have your own stowaway of items, once cherished by your loved…

By: madelinemillsip November 18, 2019December 5, 2019

Adventures, Grief and Loss, Life and Love, Love From, RachelPoetryLeave a Comment

The sun does not shine so that the world will see it;
I want to be like the sun.
Rachel Millsip

ORCAS MARATHON // Still Here. Still Me.

By: madelinemillsip November 17, 2019November 24, 2019

Grief and Loss, Trail RunningFeature, Grief, Marathon, Orcas Island, Pacific Northwest, Trail Running, United States, WashingtonLeave a Comment

As I flew through the descent, it came: a moment of pause; a moment of appreciation. I thought, “she would be so proud of me.” And it wasn’t in a you’re-face-to-face-engulfed-by-grief-so-anything-you-manage-to-scrounge-up-the-courage-to-do-you-should-be-proud-of, kind-of-way. If she were here, she would beam with pride because I put myself out there, in the position to fall, to stumble, to…