I am a Benevolent Outsider. I grew up everywhere and nowhere. I am a young fish who can see the water of America. I have been Other, in many places I don’t belong. I welcome people with dignity, because they are human. I give the benefit of the doubt, and wish the best I can for those I encounter.
I am a Well of Tales. My life is a long story, and I gather the threads in the lives of others. My mind weaves them into a beautiful, terrible tapestry, covered with struggle, joy, secrets kept in confidence, lessons learned, tales of wonder, vistas, and beautiful souls.
I am a Caregiver. Those I love, I love dearly. I tend to their needs, gathering resources, providing a shoulder to cry on, a validation of their traumas, a safe place to vent. I tend to care tasks, however ineptly, because I do care. Because those whom I love matter to me.
I am a Translator. I seek to give a voice to those in a foreign land, to communicate with and for those who struggle to find words. I understand that language is nuanced, that context is important, that life is rarely as simple.
I am a Student. I am never finished learning, few of my opinions are final. I do my best engage with ideas earnestly. Knowledge is always subject to revision upon new evidence. I present my knowledge with an appropriate level of confidence, and source my learning, that others may draw deeply from the wellsprings of knowledge I find.
I am a Creative Voice. I express myself in code, work, and pixels. I have an emerging, if, incomplete style in these media, a desire for clarity and whimsy. I embrace silliness, because life is hard enough without also burdening myself with a heighted self-seriousness. I follow the muse into the night.
I am a Poet. I avail myself of the magics of rhythm and evocation. I believe that words written, spoken and read have power, that getting them right matters. That is it worth seeking the quality without a name that elevates ideas and stories above mundanity.
I am yumaikas, raised in the ocean, jungle, mountains, and heat.