Latest

Some Questions Come Too Late —And Still Cut Too Deep

When I was younger, I thought love was something you had to earn. I didn’t grow up in a home filled with affirmations. We didn’t say “I love you.” We said “Did you eat yet?” and “Get an A.” I spent 18 years listening closely to everything my

The Journey of Self -Love

For most of my life, I believed love was something you had to earn. That if I wasn’t perfect—if I wasn’t successful enough, smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough—then I didn’t deserve it. I believed that love had conditions. That it came with rules, checkboxes,

The Scariest Career Leap I Ever Made

The first time I thought about leaving my job—the one I landed straight out of university—it was just a whisper. Could I really walk away from this path? From the degree? From everything I worked for? I didn’t tell anyone. Not my boss. Not my coworkers. Not

The Only Person You can Can Change

I used to think I could help everyone. That if I just explained it the right way—showed them how good change could feel—they’d evolve like I did. Grow like I did. I want more, like I did. But that’s not how it works. The evolution of

When Reality Doesn’t Match the Movies: Letting Go of the Moments I Never Had

“Don’t get excited over anything, because all you’ll be is disappointed.” That was my mother’s mantra. It became mine too. For most of my life, that sentence played on a loop in my head—especially during the moments that were supposed to feel magical. Prom. Graduation. My

An Ode to Motherhood

I always wanted to be a mother. That was the end goal—what you worked toward, what you saved for, what you molded yourself into. I never questioned it. Graduate college → get married → have children. The sequence was non-negotiable, a recipe for life set by tradition. Not before, because you’

The Villian in our Own Story

In a world where we believe in good and bad, right and wrong, we are the protagonists of our own lives. But in some perspectives, we are the villain. We walk through life as the main character of our story. It's our perspective, our history, our universe. I

What If My Story Ends Here?

My idea about death has changed over time—not in the abstract, philosophical sense, but in the “this-could-be-my-last-moment” kind of way. It hit me during a drive home through a torrential downpour. Rain so heavy it swallowed every sign, every sound, even my thoughts. Flooding alerts flashed every 50 feet.

When Giving Up Feels Easier: How to find the hope

Some days, I want to give up — not on life, but on effort itself. The day-to-day feels so heavy, it’s like my body is filled with lead, weighing down every move. Hope feels thick, useless, impossible. On those days, I feel like Eeyore: carrying a constant raincloud only I

Am I Crazy to Think This Way? - Reclaiming My Voice

I spent a lot of my life quiet. Not just soft-spoken—silent. Because growing up, I was told to be that way. “Shut up.” “You’re a child.” “Be good and obey.” “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” So I didn’t talk. I served. I obeyed.

The Narratives We Tell Each Other: What's the reality?

Bác Hai’s daughter got a full ride to Northwestern. One cousin became a pharmacist by 23. Another got married right after graduating and posted flawless wedding photos from the mountains in Aspen. I don’t remember anyone ever saying it directly to me, but I didn’t have to

I Grew Up Chasing Perfection—When I Failed, I Finally Grew

I grew up with this idea of perfection. Get straight A’s. Be skinny. Be polite. Make people proud. Make sure everyone else is happy, even if you're miserable. That was the unspoken rule in our house. In our culture. In the world I grew up in. So

The Outsider

Have you ever felt like the outsider? Not the cool kind—the mysterious, intriguing loner in the movies who somehow steals the show. I mean the real kind. The kind who eats lunch alone, who doesn’t get the inside jokes, who hears their name butchered in roll call and

Redefining Acceptance: The Question That Never Left Me “Where are really from?”

“But really, where are you really from?” It was the inevitable follow-up to the seemingly simple question: “Where are you from?” I always answered, “Northwest Indiana, born and raised.” But that answer was never enough. The look would follow—a mix of skepticism and persistence—then the tired response: “No,