why write

I'm not a crier whatsoever, but I felt myself getting a little sparkly when I read Barbara Jane Reyes' artist statement. I really resonated with the ideas of "subverting those master narratives which have figured her as a voiceless and passive object" and "forcing into [the master's] forms my own base of cultural and historical knowledge, thus contributing to the hybridizing and mongrelizing of what was once culturally exclusive."

I'm not one to use words like master and forcing, but that's probably due in large part to my personality, and a little to the stereotypical gentleness of Asian culture- and suppression of minority culture. That part about voicelessness reminded me of growing up, so small and shy with big hair. So nervous to show up to school with a new haircut or pair of glasses! Not to mention speaking in complete sentences in any kind of group setting. I know I've carried this habit of making myself small and unnoticeable to where I am now. It's been useful for sure, but sad when I notice nothing is really threatening me or the situation. 

I like writing as entering a place and talking about things that others don't know much or at all about. Things I'm always thinking about: Chinese pastries, women in my family, their gold jewelry, aquatic creatures my mom swam with. Somehow birds always get in there too. There's this great wiki entry on Chinese food therapy that made me relive my whole childhood, in much more concrete terms than what I thought were my mom's very floaty theories on nutrition and health. As concrete as wiki can be! All of this makes me feel a little closer to my grandparents, especially since I won't get to know them. 

Reading this statement makes me want to write my own, just like when I felt really inspired to write a personal fashion statement after following this street style blog. Need to do both!