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Seen, Not Heard: Learning Silence as Survival
How I mastered being impressive and invisible. I grew up as a performer.That sounds harmless.But for me, that sentence has layers. It started in primary school, when my older sister began dancing before I did.I remember my parents driving her to practice. Watching her on stage, in awe. Seeing her as part of a crew,…
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California Sun: Cultural Whiplash After Moving Countries
Everything looked right. My body said otherwise. When I think of California, I think of people who don’t apologize for existing. Confidence.Volume.Space. Freedom like it’s their middle name. Growing up, we had satellite TV.A whopping twenty channels to choose from. And with that, a choice between cultures. I went to a Chinese primary school,but my…
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Offstage: When I Stopped Performing My Life on Social Media
I didn’t know who I was without it. I just thought I was living it. For years, it lived on a screen, Photos. Captions. Stories shaped just enough to land a certain way. I posted everything. Dinners.Trips.Night out before they even ended. I was the one with updates.The one tagging everyone.The one making sure it was all…
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Drift: Expat Grief and the Search for Belonging
Somewhere between where I came from and where I’m going. I left home nearly a decade ago,carrying something I didn’t have language for yet. First stop: the capital. I told my mom it was just for my undergrad.She wasn’t thrilled.I promised I’d be back after graduating. I wasn’t. The capital was loud.Fast. I learned quickly.…
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Auto-Pilot: Dissociation and Emotional Numbness
After a while, you don’t notice you’ve left. I didn’t realise how long I’d been drifting. Routine is sneaky like that.It camouflages everything. Quietly. Politely. Almost responsibly. You disappear in plain sight. Somewhere between the motions, I stopped being. I’m showering.Twice a day, even. The water’s hot, but it might as well be a memory of heat. I register…
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Still Breathing: Near-Death Experience Recovery
Learning to live after almost drowning, when survival doesn’t feel like relief. I wake up under California sun. Palm trees. Blue skies.Costco runs. The kind of life I used to see on TV. California Love. California Dreamin’. California Gurls. Songs I didn’t realise I was building a life arounduntil I got here. And still… something doesn’t land. Life…
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Borrowed Time: Life After a Near-Death Experience
After that, things don’t quite land. I drove to my friend’s house for lunch, unaware that I was already stepping into life after. We’d agreed to meet. It was on the list. My last few days in Asia were a list. Scheduled goodbyes. Check-ins.People I needed to show up for. I went mostly out of obligation. Showing up…
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Catalyst: My Near-Death Experience Story
How saltwater, stillness, and a boy who saved me split my life in two. It was my sister’s birthday, but the real celebration came later.Somewhere between the saltwater and the stillness, where a boy I didn’t know pulled me back to life. The morning was slow and soft, the kind that makes you breathe a little…
exploring mimi
becoming, still