At the Well

It would be impossible to write about community, belonging, or the ache of loss without acknowledging the elephant in the room: my own family and the complicated distance between us. That story is braided through everything I write and everything I am, but it isn’t one I’m ready to unearth here. Not yet. Just know that it lives quietly beneath these words, shaping the contours of what comes next. What I can  talk about right now is the other family I grew up in — the family o

For years, I’ve wanted to learn to sew. I imagined the small and steady satisfaction of turning something “broken” into something beautiful or useful. But wanting was all I ever seemed to have time for. Between long hours and the emotional & mental weight that comes with life, family, and working in public service, my days belonged to everyone else. Sewing lived permanently on the “someday” list… a place where good intentions go when work has swallowed up your identity. This

In 2018, I went to an event for activist, DeRay Mckesson’s new book, where he said something that lodged itself in my chest and never left:  “You haven’t been voiceless. You’ve been unheard.” At the time, I was doing a lot of speaking. Loudly. Often. And usually on behalf of other people. I built a career on showing up with strength, clarity, and conviction. I fought systems. I advocated for communities. I defended people who needed someone to step in. From the outside, it pr