Spotlights

“Through stories, we feel in our hearts that we are not alone, that we are connected. All the struggle to find meaning and purpose, in the end, we only find it in each other.”

“I’m better at recognizing when I’m consciously choosing to adapt and change and when I’m pretending to be something that is not true to me. I really try to minimize the latter, because you can only “wear a mask” for so long before you feel like you’re suffocating.”

I've spent years of my life wearing masks that I thought the rest of the world wanted me to wear. As a black American woman living in China, I know that I show up outwardly in a certain way, especially to the uninitiated.

As soon as Julio told me I was getting the 'Man-zilian' I knew this was going to be a story I would be telling people for years to come. There really wasn’t a need to memorize vivid details; I can still feel the sting if I close my eyes and concentrate.

“Waves...shifting, transforming, moving people.” I immediately thought of the shifting, transforming, moving relationship we have with our parents throughout our lives.

Early on in the trek you could see dust clouds caused by avalanches in the distance. I’d never seen one first hand, and while you could hear a rumble every now and then, eventually you’d hear it so much that you just stop giving it a second thought.

I hope that through our sharing, more LGBTQ children will have the courage (depending on the family situation, not all children are as lucky as I am) to try and show their truest side to their closest people and gradually gain their understanding.