The name comes from a poem my mother wrote when I was nine years old. I was the kid who didn’t fit—bright, curious, restless, full of questions no one was asking. Biracial at a time when that wasn’t common in Texas. More than anything, a force to be reckoned with before anyone knew what to do with me.

The poem was meant for a school talent show and is sweet, funny, and encouraging, reflecting my mother’s efforts to make sense of her child, who doesn’t quite follow the rules of convention. But looking back, I can see what was really happening beneath the surface. The poem wasn’t just about me being different. It was about how much harder it is for the world to hold space for difference.

I learned early to soften my edges. To make myself smaller, quieter… easier to digest. Society, and sometimes even the people who love us most, tries to round out the corners that make us who we are.

Years later, my mother wrote a second poem: Hats Off to Meghann. It celebrated those same edges. Her way of saying, “You made it.” She saw me starting to turn what used to be “too much” into drive, purpose, and independence. What once made me difficult became the same thing that made me capable.

That’s what this space is about.

This isn’t about rebellion, though rebellion will likely surface. It’s about understanding. It’s about what happens when you stop trying to fit and start paying attention—to yourself, to the world, to the friction between the two.

In some ways, this is a personal journal made public. An invitation to stumble upon ideas still forming.

I write about a variety of interests. About death and life, politics and society, philosophy… relationships. About the push and pull between individuality and expectation, the cost of authenticity, and the strange kind of peace that comes when you stop trying to fit the hole and start reshaping it.

I don’t shy away from friction anymore. Or from growth. As I grow older, I find myself running toward the discomfort of becoming something other than what was expected (while being annoyed that it takes so long).

The goal was never to fit. It was to carve out space for what is.

Square Peg Meg _{Written by my mother in 2000}

Sometimes I’m kind of nervous
When I’m starting out the day.
My mama says, “Just do your best
And things will be ok.”
Sometimes that’s pretty easy
And I’m really very good.
When everything goes well for me,
I do the things I should
But other times it’s very hard,
Embarrassing but true.
The smallest things distract me
From the things I’m supposed to do.
A whisper from across the room,
A shadow on the wall;
I feel I must inspect them
To see and hear it all.
And then before you know it
The time has passed away.
The teacher’s grading papers
And I’m not sure what to say.
It’s just as bad at home
When I’m supposed to do a chore.
Mama swears that half the time
You cannot see my floor.
And then I get in trouble
And it makes me feel so sad.
Can’t they understand
That I’m not trying to be bad?
So Mom took me to the doctor.
He said it’s ADHD,
Which means it’s hard to concentrate
And I wiggle constantly.
The doctor gave me medicine
To help me to sit still.
But it kinda makes my stomach hurt.
Sometimes I feel quite ill.
On the weekends I don’t take it
And my mom just lets me run!
She wants me to relax a while
And have a little fun.
And she took me to a new friend
Who tries to help me find
The smartest way to deal
With just whatever’s on my mind.
And I can tell her anything
And she won’t tell a soul
She just helps me fit my square peg selg
Into the world’s round hole.
And though it is still hard for me,
I know that I can bear
Most anything till I get home.
I have a square hole there!!

Hats Off to Meghann _{Written by my mother in 2008}

Hats off to Meghann
for soon she will be
Escaping the clutches of MISD.
Hats off to teachers
Who have what it takes.
Hats off even to those
Who retired in her wake.
See, she’s gotten proactive
About education,
And skipped Junior year
For a quick graduation.
The round holes made it hard,
But Meg had her say
And fashioned some square ones
In her own special way.
Now she’s making big plans.
We don’t know what she’ll do.
Oh, I can’t wait to see
Who she is when she’s through.
We’ll witness her spirit!
Her beauty will shine!
As she conquers the world
One square whole at a time.