Writing during this difficult time has been cathartic. It has helped to ground and center me. When I write, I hope to convey a feeling or idea; if I can do that well, it’s very satisfying. Writing for Lotus Rising LA is very important to me because it allows me to document individual and collective struggles and victories. Losing a home to a fire is unimaginable. Home is a place of refuge, peace, family, and pride. Having that taken away in such a sudden and violent manner is so destabilizing...

The past few years, amid the Trump administration, have been exhausting. No matter how hard I try not to let the stain of other people’s hatred and bigotry affect me, somehow it always does. Hate erodes it, bringing nothing of value to the equation. Over a lifetime, it will suck the good and decency out of you. I have often wondered how the mother of Rittenhouse could love her child and yet drive him to a Black Lives Matter Protest with a gun in a car and drop him off? How could a parent...

In the valley of dry bones are the bitter and defeated living dead. They are the ones who always have a scowl on their face and have nothing positive to say. They are also the ones who have given up on living a joyful life. How does one get to such a desolate place in their life? They get there in many ways. Loss is one of them, and betrayal is another. In life, you will experience losses of many types, and one of them will be so profound that it will thrust you into the valley of dry bones....