finding balance

Once upon a time, I thought and felt crazy to use the word "coming out of the closet.” Yes, I did all I could do to come out of shame, lies, agony, despair, and beat stigma caused by living with HIV...

Blogging is something I've considered doing for a while however I didn't think it'd be this difficult. My name is Masonia, meaning "She Leads". However, somewhere along the way I got lost I think...

I feel my most safest when I'm in an airplane amongst the clouds In the sand at the foot of an ocean or near flowing water With my boyfriend With my children Sometimes with my mom I feel safe when I...

There are things that people may not recognize about me because they've just started getting to know me in the last 8 years

Seven years ago today I met the man that would become both the best and worst memories, and love, I have known to date.

“I still have a dream,” said Martin Luther King, “it is deeply rooted in the American Dream.”

Disclosing my HIV status is usually one of the first things I do when I meet people. I mean, it's not like, "Hey, my name is Ci Ci and I have HIV!" Nah. It's more like, if I begin to see that person...

I have been living with HIV for more than 12 years. Still to this day it baffles me when people try to use this as a reason to insult me. I must admit often times, more than not, I forget about it.

I had a situation that happened a few years ago that I don't think I've quite healed from.

The lights have come out all over town, in the department stores, on the city lampposts, and in homes and yards across the country. How I used to love those lights, along with everything else that made the holidays festive: annoying dinners with family, shopping in crowded stores, and watching memorized Christmas specials… but it was still special.