PIXEL POP

Over the past few years, while being sick with a chronic illness (one I only recently became aware of), I’ve done a lot of deep reflecting as part of the healing process. As I started to recover enough to turn back toward my work and interests, to return more to the outer world, I kept having a nagging feeling that I should pick a new name for myself. I’ve felt the urge to have a nickname or another name many times throughout my life. In elementary school, I wanted a name wi

For years, I worked as a health education trainer for city government. I did a pretty decent job supporting the health of young people. I advocated for best practices, knew how to represent the institution’s values clearly, and how to write and speak in ways that stayed polished and aligned with policy. In a job with such a wide reach, that felt like a powerful skill—single initiatives could impact tens of thousands of students. But somewhere along the way, I realized I was l

I’ve always known something about my light. Even as a child, I felt it in myself on good days. I was drawn to it in others, and I’ve always been attracted to basking in beautiful light—whether in a person, a landscape, or the way the sun hits a wall in late afternoon. I even named my child after the idea of light. But for much of my life, when survival mode took over, my light felt like it flickered out. I didn’t know how to bring it back when I needed it. Sometimes I’d have