Hi Friends,
Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve sent out a newsletter. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic (personally, I’m counting from when V started WFH), I wanted to pop in here to tell you I’m starting up this newsletter again, but with some changes.
Over the course of the roaring dumpster fire that was 2020 (to now!), writing has provided such solace for my survival in quarantine (14,515 words and counting!!). I miss my friends and family – it’s been the longest I’ve been away from Texas since I moved out to Virginia! I am grateful for the ways we have pivoted to connect virtually, but this non-hugger is ready for some big hugs when it is safe to do so again. My hope is that this newsletter will be a way to stay in touch as the vaccine roll-out lumbers forward.
Enough about me, though.
How are you taking care of yourself these days? What’s been giving you delight lately?
Playing around with IG filters has been a recent “for funsies” for me. What a low-effort way to try a new look! And I can continue to avoid learning how to properly use eyeliner!
What can you expect?
I’ve put my cookbook project on hold for now.
At some point in 2020, between the kitchen remodel and moving, I slammed hard into the cooking wall. Most of our meals are now brought to you by HelloFresh and ready-to-eat meals. That is what feels sustainable at this point.
Food continues to be a huge part of how I understand and experience this world, though. You can still expect food-related thoughts, but a lot of what I've been thinking about lately is mental health, healing intergenerational trauma, the intersections of my identities, and my story as a part of the Asian American diaspora.
I spent 2020 in weekly (virtual) therapy sessions excavating and irrigating festering wounds long buried. It has been simultaneously the most painful and tender thing I have done for myself. I am buoyed by so much hope despite the heaviness of the process. Sometimes it feels like healing wounds hurt more than the wounds themselves. At the very least, it feels so… itchy.
I also started a 10-month fellowship through PAAC, back in August, diving into topics such as Asian American history, theology, critical race theory, and more. With so much "input" in the last year, I'm at a place where I want to share some of what I’m working through. I invite you to walk with me!
You, dear reader, can expect two newsletters a month, maybe more if I have the capacity. The next one will be sent out Friday, March 12th and I’ll pop in every other week after that.
If you were here for the cookbook project nuts and bolts, I understand if you want to unsubscribe. However, I do think the topics and experiences I plan to explore will ultimately be integrated into my cookbook project. I've just got to write my way through. Through this pandemic, through the grieving and healing, through the walls I’m tearing down, the layers I’m peeling back.
I need to write my way back to myself and the generations of stories I belong to. Maybe this is where I needed to start in the first place. I’m grateful to begin again with those of you who choose to accompany me along the way.
Sending love,
Marsha
P.S. – If you’ve missed my work, please check out my latest piece in Inheritance Mag’s Utopia Issue.
Hello!
I have to admit I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who ended up on a different path than expected this past year.
I am excited to hear what you have to share now.