Shelby Salerno
Bio
I am currently getting my creative writing masters in the UK but was born and bred on the west coast of the United States. I write in all possible formats and cover a range of topics, but mostly I write to help myself/others cope with life
Stories (7/0)
A Life to Be Proud of - Claire Wineland
Unfortunately, as I write this, Claire Wineland will never see my words. After a lung transplant that led to a stroke just a few weeks ago, Claire died at the age of 21. An avid vlogger, entrepreneur, foundation owner, and public speaker, Claire didn’t waste any time making her mark on the hearts of everyone she encountered. She was one of those wonderfully unique souls whose essence was contagious, and who’s view of life is admirable especially since she faced a day to day deterrent. Claire was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was young, which led her to create a dialogue about how to treat people who are sick, what death is like and her ownership of death, and her vision of living a good life.
By Shelby Salerno6 years ago in Humans
Soul Sisters
I found a photograph of a woman I don’t know. I discovered her stuck to the back of my wobbly, creamed colored closet door, stapled to a patch of washed out wood. The image was crooked, tilted just so that the well-dressed, promptly poised woman within the photo appeared to be gazing curiously at me with sepia eyes. I gazed back, more dumbfounded than worried. Though, being alone temporarily in a two story, two and a half bedroom home in the nowhere depths of Detroit, I should have been rather concerned. My thoughts were elsewhere however, mostly wherever the attic hatchway lied that I had been intent on finding, not the picture.
By Shelby Salerno6 years ago in Horror
Mental Illness Means Travel More
I'm afraid of change. Change means discomfort, disorder, lack of control, the unknown. Ah, there it is. What I'm really afraid of: the unknown. This is why my emotional support animal, Winnie the Dog, and I ended up in Swansea, Wales, this summer. I'm not just afraid of the unknown however, I'm afraid of quite a lot of things if I'm being honest, and trust me, I am. I'm afraid of the deep ocean, disappointing loved ones, making anyone unhappy regardless of our relationship, failing a class, my extension cord short circuiting and causing a spark that causes a fire in the walls and then I have to quickly grab my dog and make an escape, and so on. That is exactly why I needed to move out of the country, however temporary or permanent. I haven't decided yet and in the face of fear the opportunity is kind of exciting!
By Shelby Salerno6 years ago in Wander
The Pen and Its Writers
I’m going to share a secret with you: I do not write with a pen, the pen writes with me. Though sometimes I can’t seem to follow where it leads. Sometimes I simply don’t want to, so I don’t, but then again I always come back to it and ask for forgiveness because I yearn to learn about the words that must be “said.” Either way, I am a slave to the creative word. I am a slave in the best and worst of ways to which the interpreter (you) may distinguish. I was unwillingly (for my lack of knowing) cast into this position, but I have willingly taken it as my destiny. I am ruled by the energies around me, and my hand is driven by the pen for which I hold tightly in my grasp. My mind is my own, but the thoughts that penetrate my skull emerge from the voice of the universe. Sometimes the words I relay do not make much sense, but in my heart I know that there is sense in the nonsensical.
By Shelby Salerno6 years ago in Journal
