It’s all in the theme.
Within me is a deeply rooted craving to understand the nature of Home and Love. I playfully refer to this as the Theme of my life. I believe both of these concepts are much richer and more vast than our current definitions. This Theme has made me the person and artist I am today, and will most likely continue to inform and shape me until the very end. Which after all, is just another beginning.
I abhor picking favorites of any kind, because where’s the fun in that! I like all kinds of things and those things may change. I’m allergic to being confined.
Starting at the age of two months old I grew up all over the United States, so a hometown is not really a thing for me; but I claim a home State - VA!
I’m the product of parents from more than one culture, both with complicated histories, so the good old question “What are you?” is a deep one.
Lets’ dig into that one a bit . . .
The basic “getting to know you” questions usually make me laugh, because I find them extremely difficult to answer!
What am I?
Well, many things, but most of the time with this question folks are simply wanting to know what my race, ethnicity, or cultural identity is. So, I am a self identified Thai and Rappahannock (a Northeast Woodland Tribe) woman also with some unknown Caucasian roots. I say ‘self identified’ because I was not raised in any specific culture, I’m not a legal citizen of Thailand nor enrolled in the Rappahannock tribe, and I don’t have strong ties to any specific community. Though my connections to Self and Community are evolving, I use this qualifier with the intent to honor those who do have rich cultural ties, while not diminishing myself in the process.
The road to being at peace with my identity has been a long one, and the terrain can still get bumpy from time to time. Being displaced from homelands here and abroad, feeling disconnected from culture, having language barriers between myself and my family, growing up with a nomadic lifestyle, and having family histories immersed in mystery and trauma . . . created in me all kinds of icky feelings and self doubt. As a kid I would call myself the Girl With No Past. A person scrubbed clean of Motherland and Fatherland, a ghost of sorts. It wasn’t until later in life that I understood my '“burden” to be a gift. I have been perfectly equipped to help forge a new way thinking and relating to Self, Nationality, and Humanity. We can talk more about this later! Delicious stuff!
