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Solo Female Traveler
By Sammy Ginsberg On the train to the Teignmouth Poetry Festival, I felt this strange tingle from the bottom of my vagina to fall in love. I realized in that moment that I was alone. I had been traveling alone for the last two weeks, and yet I’d never really thought about it. I was…
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The Price of Validation
By Sammy Ginsberg I am a writer. And so are you. You can’t see whether someone is a writer or not, they don’t wear symbolic ties or rings. They look like everyone else, because they are everyone. To me, if you’ve ever written an essay, you are a writer. If you’ve ever gotten dressed in…
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Seeking Validation
By Sammy Ginsberg I stopped reading books and attending literature events because they made me feel jealous. Even though I loved them, I could not ignore the negative emotion I felt during and after. Why were they good enough to be published and I wasn’t? What made their voice more important than mine? I was…
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Self-Validation
By Sammy Ginsberg “Actually I think armpit hair is sexy,” I look up to see my friend’s face staring at me like I’ve said something crazy, “Just kidding!” I feel this odd pinch in my chest, but ignore it and enjoy their laughter instead. Fuck, I’ve done it again. This is one of my ‘Sammy’…
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STEM
By Sammy Ginsberg I almost gave up. I almost chose money instead of love, blamed sexism for some of my problems, and gatekeepers for the rest. I almost let the man keep me down. For a brief moment, I thought that I had been duped. My younger brother is a software engineer in SF; he…
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Imbalance
By Sammy Ginsberg Even though I consider myself a feminist, and thus believe that every single person’s thoughts and ideas are valid and should be respected, I could not apply that mentality to myself. I constantly silenced myself to avoid upsetting people by disagreeing or challenging them. I constantly said yes even when I wanted…
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Indecision
By Sammy Ginsberg I got home to London, got some laundry done, and then got broken up with. Yep. My boyfriend came on over and announced upon his arrival, “I have decided we shouldn’t be together anymore.” No small talk, he had his own agenda. I was going to tell him about my epiphany, I…
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Silence
By Sammy Ginsberg “So that’s why Jesus said, ‘The meek will inherit the earth’.” I’m driving home from Sara Maitland’s talk with my AirBnB host Jon, a retired pastor, and we’re discussing Abraham. Jon admires Abraham, the way he listened to the voice of God even when he disagreed. Even when He told him to…
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What did you think?
By Sammy Ginsberg I’m lying in my bed at the Globe Inn feeling very alone. Starting to feel anxious and think it’s time for a nap. What am I doing? Does anyone care that I’m in Tamworth? Does it matter that they care? What is life without caring about others? Why am I here? Why…
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Shouldagone
By Sammy Ginsberg I hopped off the train at Tamworth; looked to my left and I saw a Dominoes sign; looked to my right, and I saw a Jewsons; looked center, and I saw a warrior queen sculpture. Yes, that was a parody of “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. And yes, I did…