Facing the collective trauma of mass shootings — I am on the Amtrak back to Chicago and getting a flavor of my usual dejection that I haven’t tasted before. I came home looking for healing and inspiration after the collective trauma of the shooting that took place at MSU a few weeks ago. I envisioned walking hand-in-hand with…

Why White people appropriate and abuse Indigenous identity — After the process which all-in-all took about three months, I recently got back the results from my ancestry test. From what information I was able to gather, I learned that almost all of my DNA can be traced back to the United Kingdom, with over 50% being from England. The…

Reflecting on the power of community in wake of state violence — The shooting in Colorado Springs, while a heart wrenching tragedy for the community in its own right, came as no surprise amongst the public hate campaign against LGBTQ people being perpetuated by right-wing media and politicians across the country. Thoughts were already swarming in my head about the value I…

Musings on my first solo trip — August 23rd Tonight is my first night staying at Fox Hill. The drive here was a lot easier than I expected and I found myself more in awe at the view about every ten minutes. My jaw literally dropped more than once as I looked out at the mountains. I…

Giving life my own meaning one way or another — I tried to pick up my tarot deck and give myself a reading for the first time in quite a while. The topic was on my mind already when the box dropped onto my bedroom floor as I reached for a book on the shelf behind it. …

Reconnecting with my passion for live music — My experience at Pitchfork Music Festival brought up a wide array of thoughts and feelings, a lot of which surprisingly weren’t really about music at all. As passionate as I am about music and live performance, I don’t consider myself much of a festival person. The culture and environment of…

It’s called class consciousness, not laziness, dumbass I recently read the highly revered book by Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions. Although I see why feminists and scholars regard it as a staple in the field of thought about love, it was not always what I expected. The main idea that I appreciated from the text…

My journey with mental illness, hospitalization, and recovery — It is coming up on the two-year anniversary of my visit to the hospital. Something about the five days I spent there is incredibly easy to think and talk about but extremely difficult to put on paper. …