Hello friends <3
There’s so much outrage and sadness and hopelessness right now, especially for those in Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.
I write this with AAPI folks in mind and for allies and accomplices to witness.
Everything feels exhausting…and it’s hard to just take action when you might not even feel whole. The weight of the pandemic, an intense election, an insurrection, and anti-Asian violence is heavy af.
I’m here to say that it’s okay to be tired, it’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to be mad. IT’S OKAY TO BE YOU. You deserve to exist regardless of your gender or class status or occupation. The most recent Atlanta murders were also murders against sex workers, and we cannot forget what this means in a larger global context.
The purpose of this post isn’t to dive into those details but to hold space for you. If you’d like, feel free to read about it here and listen to or read the transcript of Democracy Now!’s interview with Connie Wun, the co-founder of AAPI Women Lead.
You deserve a chance to pause and breathe and grieve, if you haven’t been able to do so. To let your nervous system move through the states it needs and provide community in case you need a listening ear (seriously, please do email me back if you need).
Community is critical to healing. It is the glue that fills the spaces and the pain. Because while we are already whole, wholeness looks different depending on who we are. Wholeness is not a math equation, it does not equal 100% Wholeness is knowing that all you need is already within you, and because of injustices and trauma, it’s often covered up with the remnants of what we “should” do or who we “should” be instead of who we already are.
Before taking action, sometimes we need to pause to process. Rage is sacred, as is sadness, as is space, as is safety.
In order to move through, we have to be with ourselves. Pushing pain away brings us further from truth. Sometimes doing this takes time, so please allow this for yourself. Take a sick day if you can. Call a friend if you need. Don’t take phone calls if that serves you. This is a time to embrace, not abandon, yourself and any community that feels supportive for you.
Thank you for being here <3
Here are resources for anti-Asian violence including statistics, updates, where to donate, where to report incidents, mental health resources, and other actions you can take: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Sending love to my AAPI friends