The Defeat of Normalization

Is it possible to be so steeped in the environment around you that you no longer notice it? So desensitized that certain elements no longer register? This happens at home, when I become so used to seeing a piece of fruit — a mango for example — sitting on the counter, not yet ripe. The …

Waiting for the Sun

I waited a long time to see the sunrise this morning. I sat atop my car, on the top of a six-floor concrete parking deck in downtown Austin, Texas, braving the 57-degree temperature in jeans and a gray sweater. The metal of the car’s roof felt cold through my jeans, an even more acute sensation …

All You Have to Do is Write

I consider myself a writer. Not because I have published a book, though that may help validate my claim in others' minds, but because I write. My first book was published when I was 15 years old. My second book, a journal with some inspirational commentary, was also published when I was 15. My third …