Shannon Paige - Embodied Poetry Yoga

03/01/2026

07/08/2025

06/20/2025

Facts.

Sometimes… I have to remind my closest friends and allies (and self!) of this… fact… multiple times a day. The rearview has lots of lessons learned and the future will most certainly have more than a few potholes… but we can do hard things… because we HAVE already DONE hard things. We have said yes. We have said no. We have learned that ‘let me sleep on that’ might have been a better response. We have loved. We have lost. We have said hello too late and we have said goodbye too soon. We have missed the chances we didn’t take and missed more than a few that we did throw our hearts into… but… we did… make it through. We will just have to, separately and together, keep stepping forward.

05/15/2025

So… I did a thing. I ate an elephant.

I was just conferred, this past weekend, with a Masters of Public Service from the Clinton School of Public Service - MPS!!! I was supported and surrounded by family and friends (many of which, I am sure, were just as shocked as me that I made it through the intense & demanding program). I graduated with a 4.0… and worked full time - but actually work helped me more than hurt me… and were my constant antidepressants.

Saturday, I think I travelled a little out of my body: during the ceremony, I remember seeing my name printed in the program, I heard my name called, and felt the graduate colors placed across my shoulders… but it still feels like a fever dream.

What doesn’t feel like a dream is more of a “who,” the people I have met here in Little Rock. I have been able to spend time, finding a new life - finding a smile I never thought I would feel come across my face again - serving and researching mental health issues facing children and families in Arkansas. To be honest, I do not know how I got my brain to work or how I managed the course load. But, as one of my best friends said just two and a half years ago when I moved into my very old 152 year old home… and was unpacking myself into a new life, “the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time…”

I ate an elephant.

I have been asked what comes next. Here. Here is home now. I have begun my PhD and my Masters of Legal Studies. Two degrees that I hope will help me advocate better for wrap around mental healthcare for K-12 students that grows into a reduction of stigma.

Over the last several years, I have missed him more than words. I am crushed that he is now missing the good things. He is missing not just my graduation, but my beginning of my PhD studies, my research… He missed me shooting for & missing a dream job - but at least I got a second interview. I feel him looking over my shoulder, at times (though he certainly doesn’t help with any spelling) and I know the signs when he is around… little white feathers, the presence of the number 108… a song… a million other little things that only we knew.

You too can do hard things.

04/20/2025

The only ones for me…

01/07/2025

Patience visited me
And it reminded me
That good things take time to come to fruition
And grow slowly with stability

Peace visited me
And it reminded me
That I may remain calm through the storms of life
Regardless of the chaos surrounding me

Hope visited me
And it reminded me
That better times lay ahead
And it would always be there to guide and uplift me

Humility visited me
And it reminded me
That I may achieve it
Not by trying to shrink myself and make myself less
But by focusing on serving the world and uplifting those around me

Kindness visited me
And it reminded me
To be more gentle, forgiving and compassionate toward myself
And those surrounding me

Confidence visited me
And it reminded me
To not conceal or suppress my gifts and talents
In order to make others feel more comfortable
But to embrace what makes me me

Focus visited me
And it reminded me
That other people’s insecurities and judgements about me
Are not my problem
And I should redirect my attention
From others back to me

Freedom visited me
And it reminded me
That no one has control over my mindset, thoughts and wellbeing
But me

And love visited me
And it reminded me
That I need not search for it in others
As it lies within me.

Words by Tahlia Hunter

Artwork by Jungsuk Lee
💛

10/28/2024

Walking love letter…

07/23/2024

Forward… no matter how stunted, no matter the limp… no matter… we take small steps.

07/18/2024

Fact.