Unedited, raw, hot off the press, generative writing. I greet each day on the page. It's a practice which keeps me both sane and alive, a practice I have admittedly grown in need of, a way to make sense of the world and my place in it. Where I struggled articulating myself fluently in speech due to an early stutter, the pen carried my voice. My hope is that by sharing from my daily journal, I could connect with others who share the melancholic tenderness of being here. A snapshot introduction: I grew up in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, evacuating to Utah during the 2006 July War, an event which although seems harsh, I welcomed with mixed emotion. Saddened and guilty for leaving my family behind, I held on to the hope that in America I could more freely present as queer, which I did as named plaintiff in Kitchen v. Herbert challenging Utah's ban on same-sex marriage. After college I started a food packaging business with my now ex-husband, going on to open a community restaurant, Laziz Kitchen, offering modern Lebanese cuisine. I sold Laziz in 2022. Currently I facilitate writing workshops, and will be starting a graduate program at Naropa University in Transpersonal Counseling this coming fall semester. Hobbies include climbing, hiking, coloring, cooking, learning instruments, and documentaries.