it has always been important for being a human being - the duration of moving somewhere, otherwise boredom sets in. at least, it's a fact; at most, it's half a step away from dividing oneself into two parts. i thought so when I was 14, and I still think so today, continuing to accelerate at the speed of light and hoping not to hit a wall. but if I do, it's worth it, so I've gathered the best of my essays written between 2020 and 2022 and I'm giving them to you. read them, parse them for quotes, and maybe they'll put a light in your eyes.

"Hearts are made to be broken," as once was said by Oscar Wilde. And Eve knows it all too well. When her relationship came to an end, she was left with broken pieces. Now she must find a way to mend them back into what's had been her heart.

Lan is a woman of colour. She tries to navigate through her twenties and is faced by the complex intersection of her gender and race. Her Vietnamese heritage has always been and will always be part of her being, as well as her womanhood. Looking back into her family's history she understands that the past contains an immensity of generational legacies and wounds. This is a story about a woman who learns how to proudly claim her existence in a white country. Facing the daily horrors of racism and sexism in order to pave her way into adulthood. She understands the power of redefining the identity society has put on her.

We are all migrants in some way, but in a world where more and more of us must build a home away from home, all the overwhelming feelings associated with it make us wonder if anyone else feels the same- Complex emotions, loneliness in the midst of crowds, but also companionship in the most unexpected places, are some of the themes of Unrhymed texts from an expatriate heart, whose author is an Ecuadorian migrant in Germany looking to build a new life in a different hemisphere and culture. Although different, the new place shares with her place of origin the fact that both are part of a post-pandemic and dystopian world, where the generation of children who were promised they could be anything they wanted to be, today has adults in search of their own path, sometimes expatriated from their own childhood dreams.

In "Lyrics from a Paper Heart" the author invites readers to journey with her on an intimate exploration of the human soul, delving into the innings that shape each of our lives. This collection of poems takes readers through the tangled labyrinth of the mind, where fear and liberation coexist and the line between light and darkness blurs. It sheds light on the desire for and the ails of love and self-discovery and provides a rollercoaster of raw emotions. Each piece depicts the author's confrontation of her fears as she searches for meaning amidst chaos. Each poem is meant as food for thought, provoking you to sit in the shadows, see & hold the broken pieces and hopefully, inciting you to rise from ashes countless times again. "Lyrics from a Paper Heart" is a heartfelt tribute to the power of us all still here, still figuring out life and the intangible world within. It is written for those of us who have loved fiercely, hurt deeply, known loss and keep going.