On the Power of Ideas

“There is no wall that can withstand the power of ideas,” Axel Springer wrote in 1966. He had just built a 20-stories tall headquarters for his publishing company right beside the Berlin Wall in West Berlin, and he took out ads in newspapers to explain why. The building was a “symbol to the people of …

On Voice

After I read Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost, I wanted to write like her. I wanted to emulate her lyrical and yet concise language, to follow her twisting train of thought through the labyrinth to its surprising and yet inevitable conclusion. I went on to read Men Explain Things to Me and …

On Walking and Focus

It’s been more than two years since I went to the gym regularly but sometimes when I’m anxious I still think about running, my legs pumping with my feet in sneakers as my arms swish back and forth. I only ever ran on the elliptical. I didn’t like how the treadmill made my knees feel and …

On Growing Up

Ten years ago, I took a course called Daily Themes in college. For one semester, I wrote five short pieces a week. Some of them were funny (there was one about my suite’s pet goldfish) and most were forgettable. But there are a few I still think about, including this one about growing up and …

On Signs and Asheville, NC

I have never believed in signs. I enjoy reading my horoscope, and a friend recently got me into reading Tarot, but those are all about narrative lenses: How do these arbitrary but supposedly specific sets of insights wrap around and reveal parts of my story that are obvious and parts that are hidden? But signs? The …