About Me
I wrote my first story to prove a point to my Grade 8 English teacher. She said my idea for a writing assignment wouldn’t work and I knew she was wrong (she wasn’t wrong).
It was so fun, I kept going. I wrote on the bus to school, under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping, in class while the same teacher was giving lectures, until I had 84 hand-written looseleaf papers worth of a story.
I stumbled across my favourite thing by being a smart ass. Figures.
My characters sometimes feel like an extension of me. I create them, I know them. I know what they want and what they need.
But usually around the third or fourth chapter—sometimes as early as the second sentence—they start to tell me about themselves. All I do is challenge them to face difficult things.
Compelling stories in Western culture centre conflict. The process of writing, by its nature, is conflict. And yet, I am a writer who goes out of her way to avoid it.
The human spirit is a thing of wonder. Evidence of humanity’s resilience is all over history. From blatant genocide and oppression of a people, to personal loss and grief, the human will to survive is an unspeakable, intangible power that we often take for granted—until we no longer have the privilege to do so.
Somewhere along the way, I lost the will to face conflict or pain in the pursuit of good things I wanted for myself. They call this learned helplessness. A hopelessness birthed from pain.
My decision to go back to school changed that. I had to do difficult things over and over otherwise I wouldn’t get to write. Even the process of securing my apartment was an ordeal. That day was the perfect example of Murphy’s Law.
With every setback that landed at my feet, I thought you can go home right now and it’ll be over. If I had attempted this a year ago, I probably would have. The more I struggled, the more efficient I became at responding to conflict.
I decided in September 2022 that it was time to invest in my desire to be a writer. Since then, every decision was to make that goal a reality. In September 2023, I quit my job, moved to Toronto on my own, and started my Bachelor’s degree in Creative and Professional Writing at Humber College. All in one weekend!
I cried every night for a week because every part of my decision was overwhelming. But there was never a moment where I regretted what I did. My love for writing and my need to be a writer outweighed all the pain I ever felt that convinced me that the things I wanted in life were not worth the conflict I would need to face to get them.
The stories I’ve written over the years are an indication of whatever pain I was processing or joy I was chasing at the time. Sometimes both. Not always my own. I feel connected to my characters because they embody my pain and the pain I observe around me.
Pain is everywhere. When you share your pain, you lighten your load and commune with those who felt your pain before you. Sometimes you inspire others like you to unburden themselves too. You are buoyed by those who came before until you can walk again and in turn, buoy up those who come after.
Joy is also everywhere and it seeps in when pain is released. Sometimes it weaves itself within our pain so intricately we can hardly separate them. I believe we find our purpose when we understand who we are, and the fulfillment of our purpose is where we find joy.
It would be disingenuous to pretend I’m not terrified of whatever the next seven semesters of this degree will bring me. Or of what will come after. The possibility of failure ambles behind me in the shadow of my consciousness. I also know that the last four months have been some of the best in my life. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I don’t know what brought you to my website today. Or what compelled you to read so far into this pretentiously long About Page. Whatever it is, I hope you find some joy in reading my content, a companion in your pain, or even just a few minutes of pleasantness.