** TW: Death **
As I sat in a cold chair in a terminal of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, I spoke into the microphone app on my iPhone. Two strangers sitting across from me stared, probably wondering why I was using my phone as a spoken diary at 3 AM.
I had flown in from LAX and was on my way to a flight (my first ever solo flight) to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, I was to join my mother and other family members, for the last week of my Aunt’s life. Claudia was my second mom. She was also the one who always told me what I didn’t want (but needed) to hear. A healer, a fighter… she was pure resilience. It’s hard to express the impact she had on my life into words, even more so in such a short blog post. But you can find my best attempt so far, in this blog post.
Hearing my reflection a little over a year later, this recording shows me just how much I’ve grown in the year of her loss. It marks the tangible shift in my perspective of change. It’s the reason I’ve become more independent; it’s the core of my new-found intentionality with my words and actions. It comforted me as I sat in that airport at 3 AM, when the only desire on my mind was to make it in time, praying she would wait for my arrival. It’s now reminded me of the need to step forward and move onward fearlessly.
And with that, a step into a project I’ve always hesitated to begin… my first ever podcast “As We Grow.” Here, I’ll share my words and seek out the stories of others. I’ll speak on the essence of this recording… the light and darkness of change, in relation to identity and self-growth. The beautiful and the complicated of life.
I’m a firm believer in the power of storytelling, in the comfort of words and connective experiences. My hope is that in sharing my story and those of others, I’m able to contribute to the much needed lack of human connection and empathy in today’s global climate.
Here’s to learning, as we grow.
