From Where I Stand

For every chapter of my life, I start a new magazine to accompany it. It’s a canvas where I express myself, capturing my thoughts, my experiences, and the beauty that finds its way into my life. In many ways, it’s similar to this blog but a lot more personal, less about guiding others and more about understanding myself. As I reach this milestone of turning 22, I've decided to share a glimpse into this private world of mine, by sharing the forward of my latest creation: From Where I Stand.

Forward

In the sea of people that we wash past every day, it is almost inevitable to sometimes feel slightly overwhelmed. I have encountered countless people of all walks of life, pursuing their imaginations that they have dreamt for themselves. Some appear to glide through life with a certain grace, effortlessly aligned with what society expects. Others reveal the jagged edges, exposing the realities that none of us are ready to confront.

At 22, I’ve held my share of dreams—some that never fully took shape, and others that slipped away quietly, as complacency settled in.

I’ve chased love, hoping to find something lasting, only to discover that love, even at its strongest, can still fade. It leaves behind lessons about myself I wasn’t ready to learn. Lessons that have lingered longer than I’d like, nudging me to question what I have to offer, and what I want in my future.

And then there’s my career, a path I’m grateful for, offering a semblance of stability. There’s comfort in that, and in the support of those around me who I walk the same road with. But still, I wonder whether what I dedicate my life to will be fulfilling or demoralizing, setting the stage for a chapter that has yet to be written.

Even in the company of strong connections, I find myself longing for something more. A yearning for a space where I can simply be free from the weight of expectation and free to express myself without a need to perform. I crave effortless laughter, simple moments of shared silence, and relationships that feel like home, seemingly rare in my mind, but abundant, I hope, in the world just beyond my reach.

So here I am sitting in rural Maryland where it all began. Thinking about the life that I have built, and the life that is to come. Through all of the hardships I faced, and the hardships that have yet to come, the only solace that shimmers in the horizon, is that we as a people share these same fundamental fears, and the way past them is to overcome them together.

With my dependent life coming to an end, and complete freedom drawing closer, I realize this messy, uncertain journey is what life is all about.

From where I stand, this is the journey that shapes me, imperfect and evolving, yet undeniably my own.

Credits

If you haven't already please please please checkout Angélica Dass. She is a brilliant artist and the inspiration for the cover of From Where I Stand.

Specifically, check out Humanae. I'll leave a brief summary of it below which is taken from her portfolio.

Humanæ is a photographic work in progress by artist Angélica Dass, an unusually direct reflection on the color of the skin, attempting to document humanity’s true colors rather than the untrue labels “white”, “red”, “black” and “yellow” associated with race. It’s a project in constant evolution seeking to demonstrate that what defines the human being is its inescapably uniqueness and, therefore, its diversity. The background for each portrait is tinted with a color tone identical to a sample of 11 x 11 pixels taken from the nose of the subject and matched with the industrial pallet Pantone®, which, in its neutrality, calls into question the contradictions and stereotypes related to the race issue.