Hi. I’m Rebecca Denison. I write about love, nature, courage, and HIV.
Love
I love people. All kinds. The more we differ, the more we get to learn. Sometimes, the hardest person to love is ourselves.
- The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Othering & Belonging Institute
- Show Up Hard: A road map for Helpers in Crisis, by Shannon Weber
- Unlocking Us Podcast with Brené Brown
Nature
I see nature metaphors everywhere. When The Universe whispers, I listen.
- AllTrails.com — A mobile app to help you plan your next great outdoor adventure
- Seek by iNaturalist — A mobile app to ID plants and animals
- Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed
- I also love to bring a journal and pens on hikes. Preferably not fancy ones.
Courage
Courage means pushing beyond fear in order to be vulnerable, try something new, acknowledge mistakes, let go, and/or tell the truth.
- Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles & Ted Orland.
- The Lightmaker’s Manifesto: How to Work for Change Without Losing Your Joy, by Karen Walrond
- Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted, by Brené Brown
- Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl
- The Power of Vulnerability (Ted Talk), by Brené Brown)
- Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement, by Tarana Burke
HIV
HIV Basics
If you don’t know much about HIV but want to learn… Thank you!
- HIV Basics
- HIV and Pregnant Women, Infants, and Children
- Why Language Matters: Facing HIV Stigma in Our Own Words
- HIV Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), or Treatment as Prevention
HIV Websites & Communities
If you are living with or affected by HIV: You are not alone!
- EGPAF (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation)
- ICW (International Community of Women Living with HIV)
- NMAC (National Minority AIDS Council)
- PWN-USA (Positive Women’s Network – USA)
- The Reunion Project
- SisterLove
- Transgender Law Center
- US PLHIV (People Living with HIV) Caucus
- The Well Project
- WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases)
HIV Books (Mostly Memoirs)
I haven’t completed my book, but these authors have.
- All the Young Men, by Ruth Koker Burks
- Bent but not Broken: My Story of Resilience, by Noerine Kaleeba
- Body Counts, by Sean Strub
- To End a Plague: America’s Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa, by Emily Bass
- Let the Record Show: a Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, by Sarah Schulman
- Lethal Decisions: The Unnecessary Deaths of Women and Children from HIV/AIDS, by Arthur J. Ammann
- My Unexpected Life: an international memoir of two pandemics, HIV and COVID-19, by Martina Clark
- The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive, by Marvelyn Brown
- Never Silent: ACT Up and My Life in Activism, by Peter Staley
- A Positive Life: Portraits of Women Living with HIV, by River Huston
- Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality, by Celeste Watkins-Hayes
- When We Rise: My Life in the Movement, by Cleve Jones