Reese
@joyfulartist.bsky.social
Joyful artist, painter, collage-maker, designer, amateur photographer, nature-lover, writer, reader, traveler, empowerer, inspirer. charrisemccrorey.substack.com
My essay this week.
The Water I Learned to breathe
How grief taught me to breathe and to remember who I am
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February 2, 2026 at 3:31 PM
My essay this week.
We will not be saved a letter to the future.
We Will Not Be Saved
We can only save ourselves, by practicing love.
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January 26, 2026 at 4:43 PM
We will not be saved a letter to the future.
A deeply personal essay.
The Things I Put Away
How I learned to hold what I hid; a story about childhood trauma, survival, and how writing it heals me
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM
A deeply personal essay.
My essay this week, about Christmas without Mom, grief, and singing.
Still, She Sang
A story about the second year of grief, expectations, and crying jags.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM
My essay this week, about Christmas without Mom, grief, and singing.
Sometimes we forget.
I sometimes forget how blue your eyes are
An ode to marriage, the ups and downs and taking for granteds
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December 22, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Sometimes we forget.
A note about laughter.
Charrise McCrorey (@charrisemccrorey)
I was thinking about laughing just now, and how it pulls me in.
Full bodied, molar teeth showing, belly rolling laughter begs me to join, to laugh my own version.
The horrifying events of this era...
substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM
A note about laughter.
My latest essay about doubt. And love. And ice fishing.
I Wonder How I Could Not Have Known
Reaching back into fickle memory, into Winter, into a daughter’s doubts about love and safety.
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
My latest essay about doubt. And love. And ice fishing.
December 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
December 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
What if? A look at my past choices.
What if we knew we were made of stars, and not theoretically but actually?
Would our eyes be a little brighter, our hips sway with more passion?
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December 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
What if? A look at my past choices.
A poem I wrote today.
Grief and Joy
Grief taps my shoulder,
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December 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
A poem I wrote today.
My journey with shamanic practices. Photo credit in link.
I Stopped Hiring Coaches and Hired a Shaman Instead
What happened when I trusted spirit more than experts.
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:46 PM
My journey with shamanic practices. Photo credit in link.
My latest. Photo credit in link.
Almost Free
An intimate peek inside grief, loss, and freedom that is not free.
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:08 AM
My latest. Photo credit in link.
I wrote the words of my poem, Holy Moments, into the print I made with a Gel Plate.
November 13, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I wrote the words of my poem, Holy Moments, into the print I made with a Gel Plate.
A short poem, written and read by me here:
“My shadow is a toothache, deep in my soul.
My shadow is a well, from which wisdom is pulled.”
“My shadow is a toothache, deep in my soul.
My shadow is a well, from which wisdom is pulled.”
The Secret Life of My Shadow
Whispers from the dark, and how the light looks when it returns
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November 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
A short poem, written and read by me here:
“My shadow is a toothache, deep in my soul.
My shadow is a well, from which wisdom is pulled.”
“My shadow is a toothache, deep in my soul.
My shadow is a well, from which wisdom is pulled.”
Today’s tiny collage.
November 5, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Today’s tiny collage.
A story about love, loss and keepsakes.
What She Left Me to Hold
A story of love, loss, and the language that remains.
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A story about love, loss and keepsakes.
A letter to the future. Hopeful and inspiring. Photo credit in link.
Even in the Darkness, I Keep Planting Seeds.
What it means to love, create, and rebuild during dark times
open.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
A letter to the future. Hopeful and inspiring. Photo credit in link.
The essay at the link might give you hope. This is also original artwork.
Lava and Heat Lightning: Ancestral Sparks
I didn’t always think about them.
open.substack.com
September 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The essay at the link might give you hope. This is also original artwork.
September 2, 2025 at 11:55 PM
August 28, 2025 at 3:29 PM
August 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Day 26 of 100. Original tiny collage on wood panel. Self portrait made of watercolor, painted papers, catalog paper and ink. #collage #100daysofcollage #joyfulartist #selfportrait
August 26, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Day 26 of 100. Original tiny collage on wood panel. Self portrait made of watercolor, painted papers, catalog paper and ink. #collage #100daysofcollage #joyfulartist #selfportrait