Today I’m 33 ✨ What a wild feeling it is. The first birthday after receiving a masters degree. A leap into a life immersed in creation. I feel alive—more confident than previous years—yet still with that ever present pang that I can’t quite put a name to. I’m in touch with myself in ways that younger me couldn’t have fathomed, and I look forward to all my future iterations I will come to know as time unfolds. Simultaneously, I’m held in heaviness at what the world is. At the continued atrocities we must bear witness to; the repetitions of damage and suffering and genocide in the name of money, power and empire. I take pause on this privilege, of celebrating a birthday, knowing all the while there are countless people whose lives have been taken away too soon. Living should never be a privilege. I’m embarking on this 33rd year with understanding, far more clarity, and for that I am grateful. Yet, there’s fog still lingering in the distance. It’s thick and sparkles in gray—like life has shown itself to be— and though I know I’ll have some trepidations while moving through it, I’m ready for what’s to come. •portrait by the incredible @jadestarlingart