In prison, you can be anyone or anything you want to be. It’s like going back to the dark ages before social media when you had to take someone at their word about who they are and what they do, because it’s not like you can just Google someone here. People are quick to take advantage of this and will spend countless hours in peoples ear pumping them up for causes they have no knowledge about. Before I came to prison, one of my dearest friends, who had been through the federal system, warned me emphatically to stay away from the jailhouse lawyers. I even had to pinky swear to not let people get in my ear about anything. It seemed a little excessive, but apparently he felt like it was a big deal. Honestly my eyes just glazed over and I stopped listening, but the topic was sure to be brought up again. Once I got here, it didn’t take long to figure out why this was so important, and it’s easy to see that it goes far beyond legal matters and extends to pretty much anything that can pull on your heart strings. If you have a loved

Being at a prison satellite camp, there are only around 270 people here on average and it is a revolving door with a constant change of people. Some people are here for a month while others are here for 10 years. This is a working camp, so finding a job is part of the deal with your stay. There aren’t a ton of jobs here, but there is more than enough for those folks that want to work, and really put themselves out there. Some of the jobs here actually support the men’s prison next door, such as the warehouse positions and the departments for HVAC, welding, electric, garage, etc. Some other prisons offer apprenticeships for these departments and others, and although I hear things like that are on the way, they don’t offer the apprenticeships here just yet. However, there are a lot of possibilities to learn new things and create new opportunities for yourself. With nothing to lose, encourage your loved one to get out there and try new things and take advantage of this time. Encourage them to let go of what they thought their life was supposed to look like and help them to imagine the

10. WARM COOKIES AND COLD MILK ARE GOOD FOR YOU. I battle my inner fat girl every single day, so I don’t know that I agree that warm cookies and milk are good for you. I would agree that it can boost morale and bring a little comfort and its ok if you indulge every once in a while, because in prison you do need a special treat to remind you that you are human. Don’t get used to this, and don’t let it become a bad habit. If you have struggled with addiction, food can easily become a drug of choice. They say men come to prison and get fit and women come to prison and get fat. There is some truth to that. Here, we are trying to fight that and counter act that phenomena by encouraging movement. People get here and feel sorry for themselves and get stuck in a mode where all they do is search to seek comfort. I encourage people to be ok with being uncomfortable. When you are in prison, you are in a tiny world, and when something goes wrong in this tiny world, it is easy to overreact. I personally know

It doesn’t matter where you find God, salvation is perfect no matter where you get it. There are a lot of people that snub their nose at the thought of religion in prison. Some people refer to it as jail house religion, I call it a divine detour and I thank God for it. I believe my downward spiral would have swallowed me whole, without this stop on my way. That is what happens when you are going crazy seeking something, anything, to fill this longing in your life that you just can’t explain and just can’t be satisfied. It may feel like a black hole, but it’s the crater that lingers until you fill it with God. You can hustle all you want, but only grace will get you where you need to go. Grace will take you above and beyond anything you could imagine. I was in prison long before I came here, and I have come to realize that so many people are. Everywhere you go there are people that attend church as a habit, but they aren’t present, and people chant prayers like a broken record and are simply on auto pilot. Here things are a

All my life, I have loved to create, craft, and make beautiful projects that would often surprise even me when they were done. I love projects, I loved the process, I was grateful for the value it added to my life and the joy it brought to others. My mom always told me I was an artist, and I believed her. My mother is an artist and my daughter as well. We have a lot of wonderful memories that involve creating something beautiful and I can always retrieve happiness thinking about them. Coming to prison, I thought that part of my life was just not going to exist while I was here. Already engulfed in the feelings of failure, when I thought my creative side couldn’t come along with me, I was devastated. I think I mourned the death of the artist inside of me. Walking through the prison doors, you can’t help but to lose your sense of community, lifestyle, and your day to day life overall seems destroyed. Being in a hurry can murder your creativity and coming to prison slows life down to a glacial pace, and so it makes sense that I was completely wrong, creativity

I can receive five books at a time through the mail and my cousin surprises me with a package of books almost every month. She is awesome and has been a cheerleader through this whole crazy adventure. She goes to a thrift store, prays over the books, and then picks out 5 random books to send. It’s fun to get these because I never know what I am going to get. I can’t say I would have picked a lot of the books, but I sure have enjoyed reading them and passing them on. One of the books in the last package was “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. It is an entertaining little book full of random stories, but the first chapter is my favorite and really intrigued me. When I got to page 4, he provided a list of basic concepts or rules to live by, and I decided I would apply those to prison life and blog about it. I guess I could call this one, “Dear Lori Loughlin, this is all you need to know about prison.” Living here is simple, I mean simple. You truly go back to

So many people know they need change with their overall health but don’t know how to take the steps to change the trajectory of their life. Well, federal prison will sure change your life and could cause destruction or deliverance. It is up to you to navigate that negative change and turn it into a positive one. Health and fitness goals can be met here with encouragement and the right frame of mind. So if you have a loved one incarcerated or you are on your way to prison here is a little about me and my life as a gym rat in federal prison, I hope it encourages, you and brings you hope. Working out is my jam. I love it. I feel most alive when I am doing some crazy workout and I especially love talking others into doing these crazy workouts while telling them they are going to love it. While I am explaining what we are going to do, they look at me with loving daggers in their eyes, at least that is what I see. I can’t say I loved group fitness before prison, but now it has become a passion of mine since I

Some of the lessons I’ve learned in prison are priceless. I would never have signed up for this experience, but I must admit I’ve kind of turned it into my own personal experiment on myself, and others. I try to be as present as possible and notice my weirdness and compare it to real life when I was on the streets. I remember when my horses would have different issues and my trainer would tell me to change their environment for at least 30 days and see what changes occur. Well, I have definitely had my environment changed for almost 2.5 years now, and as I really begin to take inventory of myself and the world around me, I’m shocked to realize what I find. There really can be comfort, happiness, and peace in having less choices and focusing on more important things. Once I realized this, I started asking others their opinions on this bizarre phenomenon. Much to my surprise, many were seeing what I was seeing. Less is more and simple really can be better. Now this didn’t happen to me right away, but suddenly, I finally noticed there was this weird peace and calm with my extremely

Visitation in prison is a highlight and full of teachable moments. Where else on earth will you sit face to face with your loved ones and have heartfelt conversations for hours on end with little distraction? Here it’s just you and your loved one. There are no cell phones, no TV, no wandering off, no naps, and no getting busy doing something else. The lessons I’ve learned in visitation are something I will take with me when I leave. To sit in front of one another and talk, really talk, is something that is just so special. Before coming here, I can’t say that happened very often, with technology and distractions everywhere, it’s not always easy to do. I remember always seeing people at dinner or family gatherings and everyone is doing something besides paying attention to the people that are right there in front of them. Learning to be present and connecting with one another is a gift. I don’t recommend coming to prison, but I want to continue what I have learned by having visits here when I leave. I have yet to have a bad visit and being with my loved ones in person lifts my spirits beyond words.

As a federal drug offender in Missouri, I had to turn myself in to the marshals at the time I took my plea. I honestly cannot say I was clear on this detail until it was truly time to deal with it. After perfectly walking the line for three years on pretrial, I guess I didn’t think this moment was ever going to happen. If you or your loved one is in this situation, please check the laws and talk to your lawyer and really LISTEN and find out what is called for when you take your plea and get prepared. Get your life and your brain on board with what is coming and if turning yourself into the marshals is the route you must take, then brace yourself for this part of your journey. After writing on self-surrendering to prison, I felt it was necessary to tell my cautionary tale about turning myself in to the marshals because these are two very different experiences. 1st, let me back up and tell you a little back story to clarify and help you understand some things about me. When I was getting close to graduating high school and it was time