In a world that rarely makes sense to me, I use writing to try and piece together some of my understanding. Whether it’s joyful, or painful, confusing or awe inspiring, linking stories and lessons together helps me gain more clarity into what I want to be.
My only surviving family member is my brother, who I love with all my heart. He lives with extreme mental illness and is homeless. At the back of my mind there’s always the question of whether he’s still alive. My conversations with him, when he can get his hands on a phone, are full of fear and anger, sadness and loneliness. They can haunt me. When I write about kindness and compassion, his experiences are at the forefront of my mind.
As an infant, I was adopted from Korea (my brother was adopted from India). I’ve had a foot in two distinctly different cultures, neither of which has ever accepted me fully. I belong less and less to any one place or group, and more and more to myself. As Maya Angelou so eloquently stated, I belong both nowhere and everywhere.
I’ve had the privilege of caring for both my parents in the process of dying. I was in my 20’s when I took care of my mom. She died of cancer. My father passed away July 2019 due to complications related to his decades of paraplegia. Having the opportunity to see my parents in such a deeply intimate point in their lives has permanently changed the way I view relationships, the process of mourning, and the ways we can alleviate suffering, for ourselves and others.
My understanding of the spiritual world comes from three places: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. As a child my family meditated and practiced Yoga together, attended retreats on Buddhism together, and went to church together. My interpretation of the world is filtered through the cross section of these three faiths. A cross section defined by love.
I’ve been an expat since 2011, living and working in three countries with my young family, and traveling through well over a dozen more. My youngest was born while living in Vietnam, and my eldest moved to Dubai with us when he was two. While I rarely write about this aspect of my life directly, engaging with and learning from people from all over the world heavily inspires and influences my writing.
While my writing is often inspired by struggle, much of my life has been joyful and full of gratitude. I’m a dog lover, chocolate addict, fresh warm bread sniffer, slow tea sipper, blank notebook hoarder, and nomadic home body. I seek out simple delights and subtle joys in every day.