Smudged Lipstick


My favourite adjective-come-verb in the English language is: to disarm (adj. Disarming). It’s such a lovely compliment to call it “a disarming smile.” as in: Your countenance has moved me in such a way that I’m dropping my weapons/I didn’t see you coming and you knocked the wind out of me/I didn’t have time to put up my walls/we could’ve been at odds but instead you’ve won me over. You disarmed me. This is the story about my fight with beauty and how lipstick of all things, is what eventually disarmed me.

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Sticky Post

Whisper Gardens


I’m learning to listen to all the dreams I whisper and “joke” about so that I don’t have to to reckon with the extent of my longing. The whispers are like seeds: tend to them for they’re trying to tell you the things that you’re not ready (or willing) to know about yourself yet.

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I’m Lovely not Lonely & Belong, deeply

“I’m lovely and lonely and belong deeply to myself”. All hail Queen Warsan Shire. Let’s break this down really quickly. Lovely: is one of my favourite words, it’s pure and unambiguous. Lonely: some people think that alone means lonely. I am not some people. My name is Ntoetse Lerotholi and I believe in community, I Belong. I’m also one of the most social “loners” you’ll … Continue reading I’m Lovely not Lonely & Belong, deeply

Anatomy of a Pandemic Heartbreak

A heartbroken human is a raw human. You get to confront all of the stuff you usually swat away. You learn the depths of your sorrow, the cost of your loss and the limits of your crazy. And hopefully you treat this raw exposed nerve version of yourself with grace and without judgement.

We’re all living through a pandeminc and we’ve all had our hearts broken.

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Open Love Letter: Womxn’s Month Edition

I’m so proud to be part of a generation of women who are coming for everything. We sit on the shoulders of the many women who came before us. While the views have improved, we’re also constantly ducking the glass shards that are almost constantly falling from the ceilings we continue to shatter.

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