“So if I’m not just what I do for a living, who and what am I? The answer to this is ever-changing as I’m always moving and transforming as life demands. I am my mother and father’s only child and thus I am inherently the sole creation and survivor of their violent and combustible union. I am the only witness and I am the lonely product of a regrettable amalgamation. I am a survivor of my father’s suicide. I am endlessly challenged to be the lone positive result and I am alone in this undertaking. Alone. I have only ever felt true and steadfast ties with one other human being (and to be perfectly honest, I think that’s only because he was just as alone in the world as I was – for some reason I have yet still to get to the bottom of, I have a difficult time forging bonds with those who already share strong connections with other human beings in their lives) and I walked away from that person ten months ago. I am an only first and foremost. That aside, I am a woman, an American, an Australian, an introvert, an animal advocate, passionate soul, a loyal friend, a giver, a writer, a wife, an ex-wife, a girlfriend, a dweller, a small-towner-living-in-a-big-city, a fish out of water, an artist, an ex-self-mutilator, an empathy-filled spirit for all suffering beings, a photographer, a granddaughter, a gardener, a creator, a destroyer, an observer, a seeker, a lover, a grudge-holder, a forgiver, a re-inventor, a decorator, a reader, an appreciator of all beautiful things, a regretter, a graphic designer, a survivor, an ever-evolving human being. I am resilient. I am called to identify with countless labels and descriptors. I am called to try my hand at numerous undertakings.”
