“Abandon All Hope” | Lisa Rotarius “GEEK” |

MEA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in our bi-annual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth, and others. Each author or poet who submits work to us is afforded the chance to work one-on-one with a mentor to polish their work or learn new skills and techniques.

Our editors are based all over the country and includes college professors, professional authors, veterans’ advocates, and clinicians.

All editing, consultations, and workshops are free of charge. Veterans and their families pay nothing for our services, and they never will.

Under our Publications tab, there are more than a dozen volumes of creative work crafted by veterans and their family members as well as a virtual art gallery. Our blog posts feature short pieces that cover a wide range of opinion editorials, literary reviews, and profiles on veteran artists and writers.

Please consider spending some time navigating our site and reading and seeing the fine work of veterans and their families from around the globe.

“Abandon All Hope” | Lisa Rotarius “GEEK”

Title: “Abandon All Hope”
Artist: Lisa Rotarius “GEEK”
Size: approximately 8x10in
Medium: Sharpie Permanent markers and white gel-pens
Artist Statement: Abandon all hope is exactly that. It’s the pain, the struggle, and the acceptance of worthlessness as I struggled to cope with addiction. Friends of mine never made it back from that point, and decided there was only one thing left to do. For whatever reason, I made it out of my addiction on the other side. From that moment forward I made a promise to myself never to waste this gift of life, and since then not one day has been wasted. I am now a voice for those who’ve lost theirs forever.

Recent Stories