Articles written by Jessica Kuzmier

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About me - Jessica Kuzmier

For several years, I ran a nonfiction ezine called First Church of the Streets. The idea was that the sacred and the profane are intertwined. Presently, I am writing memoir about my experience with complicated grief while a teenager and young adult.

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Politics, News & Issues > Food & Agriculture Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation claims 4,500 lives a day. What should we do about it?: 3 of 91

On a physical level, the most basic need all people have is adequate access to safe, sanitary water. It is essential, second only to the air we breathe. This would seem to make it a basic human right. Yet countless people around the world are denied access to this most vital of resources. Drought is one reason.&n...
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Escape: 1 of 17

So, you see some college girl spacing out, and you think, oh here we go again. That old teenage angst. You know kids today, they just don't seem to appreciate all the things that were handed them, these spoiled brats. You see this kid that seems to have it all; she gets to go to school, she lives in a free ...
Religion & Spirituality > Speculations & Criticisms Is religion a false sense of security: 1 of 14

Abraham Heschel, the Jewish philosopher, questions what role religion has in a post-modernist society. He states that in life, man has become too concerned with comfort, looking for religion to fit his needs rather than the other way around. Religion, in turn, looks to fit the needs of the customer, and becomes the servant t...
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Looking at the world through a car window: 2 of 24

I sat in the passenger seat of the Chevy van, a place which had sat on and off for the last fourteen and a half years. Humidity was building up in this early hot summer morning. In that steam, a drop of water crawled down the windshield, like a teardrop. In the state of mind that I was in, it seemed as though the van was cry...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Good-bye: True gardening stories relating to love, life and gardening: 23 of 257

Nature has a funny way of teaching lessons, it seems. Recently I received some instruction in this, although I was too thick in my human ways to realize this was the class I was taking. But that is also a lesson: too wrapped up in my plans to see past them, needing to have it all swept away for me to realize how little my de...
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Beliefs & Culture Testimonies: Christian: 6 of 63

Everyone has a past, something that they have to live with. As a peace activist and a human rights advocate, I have my own issues from the past, which have led to the life of service I lead today. My hope is by sharing my testimony, you will be inspired to change your own life, and realize that there is always hope for chang...
Politics, News & Issues > US Politics (Other) Human rights issues in the US: 2 of 16

Human rights in the United States has been a somewhat controversial subject over the years. One might think that a country that was founded on breaking away from the tyranny of monarchy, seeking justice and liberty for all, would naturally be a bastion of human rights for all people. But the history of this democracy has sho...
Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms How to resolve social conflicts: 2 of 15

Dealing with social conflict is one of the most essential jobs in our civilization. Without remedying the invariable dissension that is apt to come up amongst people with differing tastes and needs, no issue can be resolved, no project completed. No matter how much one may consider himself or herself a lone ranger, all peopl...
Travel > Travel Diaries & Adventures (Other) Travel experiences: Off the beaten path: 10 of 71

When I looked behind me, back over the trail I had walked, it felt like I had been in the woods for hours. High on this hill, this place felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. With the tall pines that seemed to go on for long times, and hills with nothing but wildlife and woods, the crisp air that surrounded us gave the ...
Relationships & Family > Family Dysfunction Breaking the cycle of abuse: 5 of 32

Breaking the cycle of abuse is a difficult goal to achieve. Even though the pain of being a victim is so great that a person swears to not to be like the abuser, this resolution is much harder to implement in practical life. Unresolved pain from the abuse and lack of healthy coping skills are two reasons why the ...