On Everyday Magic

On identity and healing

I'm A Queer, First-Gen Asian American — Here's What "Everything Everywhere All At Once's" Wins Actually Mean To Me

Growing up, I mostly saw Queer representation through gay men, which is fab, but I rarely saw stories of Queer women — much less Queer API women. I came into my Queerness later in life, and it makes me wonder — as a kid who bathed herself in pop culture — if I would have discovered myself earlier in life had there been more characters like Joy.

Read the full essay at: Buzzfeed

My True Home: How Thich Nhat Hanh helped me find refuge as a child of Vietnamese refugees

I chose my Vietnamese name. And, perhaps for the first time in my life, I felt the embodiment of its meaning: gold. I was no longer a watered-down version of myself, but instead a bright, soft, precious resource from and for the world.

Read the full essay at: Tricycle

Shang-Chi Isn’t Letting Us Hide Anymore

I couldn’t help but notice the irony — how my shame of my own culture made me push it away, and now, here I was, sitting with the shame of my aversion. But as I looked around the movie theater filled with an audience of people from all backgrounds and all ages, practically yelling at the screen how awesome someone who looked like me was, it was a deeply needed moment of validation and empowerment, especially after feeling powerless in the last 18 months, amid the rising hate crimes against our community.

Read the full essay at: New York Magazine’s The Cut

Why Meditation Is Crucial for My Joy and Resilience as an Asian American

The toxic, poisonous power of racism is this: It is not enough to grieve for our community or to walk in our own neighborhoods constantly looking over our shoulders. Racism makes us prove our pain, scream it from the rooftops. Otherwise, it will be hidden in the shadows, intentionally and viciously ignored.

Read the full essay at: SELF

Being Asian American During Trump's 'China Virus'

But the thing about silence is that it can be used against you. Events, experiences and people cease to exist. There is no changing of the narrative, no twisting of the truth, no alternative facts, because there is not even a story to begin with.

Read the full essay at: Newsweek

On my parents’ journey as Vietnam War refugees

A Love Story

Namesake

A phoenix rising

From the ashes of our country
Somehow, still here.

Vietnamese Boat People 2023 Story Slam Winner. Watch in full below.

On culture and spirituality

What ‘Barbie’ Teaches Us About Suffering

What has struck me most about the film is its deeper explorations of female suffering. The journey of Stereotypical Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, is in many ways akin to the historical Buddha’s journey toward enlightenment. The movie starts with Barbie living in an almost picture-perfect Barbieland. Her morning routine is effortless. She has no cellulite. She is living in an abundance of pink.

Read the full essay at: Tricycle.