I was born to an American soldier & Korean immigrant at the army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I grew up in & around Louisville, Kentucky, & although I have traveled thousands of miles away from this place, something always brings me back here.
I began writing as a child, composing short stories & memoirs for the Young Authors’ contests in school, & I quickly fell in love with the art. Through adversity & violence, I found solace in poetry, adopting writing as my way to process & cope with experiences that I did not yet have the courage to face or combat. Over the last 15 years, poetry is what has helped me find my voice, my courage, & ultimately, recovery.
Often autobiographical, I use my poetry to stare uncomfortable topics in the face, addressing childhood abuse, mental illness, & suicidal ideation. In contrast, from my poems have come some of the most profound & beautiful observations & expressions of gratitude, devotion, hope, & triumph. My poems have existed both as a cry for help, & as the hand reaching out in the darkness to pull me out. What once began as therapeutic writing sessions now lives in the pages of my books, “Echoes: My Journey from the Ledge to the Mountain Top,” & “Soul Revision.”
I made the decision to share my words with the world with the intention & hope that my experiences & the expression of them would be a light to others in some way. Although I have found myself unable to sit down with a topic in mind & deliberately produce a poem, (I write only by muse, by energy, or otherwise divine inspiration), most of my pieces fall into the categories of life lessons, trauma recovery, spirituality, relationships, & mental health.
I am a mother, wife, nurse, & southern suburban wonder-woman. Creative, resourceful, unconventional & unapologetic. Poet, painter, artist, thinker, passionate, driven. Open-minded & fearless. I hone my craft, flip it, spin it, remix it, & create the life I envision.
I believe in speaking life to myself & others. I believe that the energy you send out into the universe comes back to you. What you feed your mind causes either growth or disease. We all have gems of knowledge & wisdom to share from our experiences, even the newest newbie has seen & experienced a lifetime of things that you, I, or the next person haven’t.
Humility is important for everyone, from the janitor to the CEO. Kindness promotes health for the giver & the receiver. The brain can be the most inflexible muscle. It requires daily training & discipline.
The MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I have learned to date is this:
You have the power to choose every moment; every second of your life.
You have the power to choose your thoughts, your attitude, your mentality & your mindset no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.
You may not choose how you immediately feel about something as it is happening, but you are far from at the mercy of change & struggle.
With consistent determination & mental discipline, you can learn to shift your focus to find the important lesson in every situation.
We can derive direction & purpose from ANY negative experience.
It is a daily, hourly, & even moment-by-moment discipline, & it is by far the hardest exercise that I have ever had to do. But it has been worth it, lending me courage, mental strength, & resilience. I have studied (& practiced) a number of religions in my life, all of which gave me beautiful, invaluable insight into the importance of discipline, humility, gratitude, hope, kindness, faith, justice, perseverance, & most of all…Love.