Throughout my entire young adult life, the moment conflict sparked, I was already halfway out the door. I ghosted. I shut down. I made myself scarce and called it self-protection. Sometimes, it truly was… but often, it was fear. I was terrified of what would happen if I stayed long enough to hear the truth…

I’ve always been told I ‘carry my weight well,’ but the truth is, what I carried - quietly, constantly, and all on my own - was shame. Shame layered and suffocating. Shame passed down like an heirloom. Shame written into medical charts before I could speak for myself. Shame that taught me my body was a problem to solve, not a home to live in…

My values are not abstract ideals; they are born from lived experience, shaped by survival, resistance, and the relentless pursuit of something better. These principles guide my work, my advocacy, and my journey to challenge systems of harm, and build a world where dignity and freedom are for all…

I want you to hear me when I say this: I see you. In a world that is trying so hard to erase you, to make you invisible, I see you. I see your strength, your resilience, and your right to exist exactly as you are. You are not a shadow. You are not a mistake. You are not a fleeting phase or a casualty of history…

I don’t remember the last time I rested without guilt. Even when my body aches for stillness, I feel that familiar buzz; the voice saying I’m wasting time, falling behind. But that voice isn’t mine. It’s capitalism, whispering that my worth is measured by output, not by being alive.

I had never imagined reaching adulthood. In an odd way, that certainty was a comfort, sparing me from the weight of an unknown future. But as time crept, I found myself hoping for a train to come, to sweep me away, carrying me beyond this life…