My Life In A Not-So-Nutshell

CW: sexual violence. The topics I avoid the longest are the topics that desperately need to be written. It's usually just a matter of time before I get to that point of physically putting my thoughts into a cohesive piece, which, is always hardest on these particular subjects. Today's topic is forgiveness. I grew up Catholic, so I think I've always grown up with the concept in my head that forgiveness is, ya know, important. The only problem is, I never knew how to forgive exactly. It's probably why for a large portion of my life up until the last year or so, I had suffered from crippling anxiety and panic disorder, but that's probably another topic for another day. So... forgiveness. How do you forgive? Is it always needed? Is it always possible? These are questions that I could've never told you the answer to six months ago. These are questions I am still learning the answers to, but the point of this post is to share what I have learned thus far in my

I got a tattoo on the day I turned 18. I'm 22 now, so I figure the real test of maturity is deciding whether or not you need to find someone to cover up/remove said-18-year-old-Maggie tattoo. A little backstory here: my mother's favorite movie is "The Shawshank Redemption." I had seen this movie dozens of times throughout my adolescent years and into young adulthood. It's not exactly the jolliest movie to date, but the underlying theme of 'hope' was something I really appreciated and was captivated by. I decided that, after serious deliberation between a Mumford & Son's song lyric & a quote from the film (I know, I know...), that my first tattoo would be a quote from my mom and I's favorite movie. I love my sweet mom, so it just seemed fitting. And the quote talked about hope, so I digress. The tattoo reads: "There's something inside, that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours." "Wh