My own search for safety and belonging has included many iterations of trying to fold myself into one form or another. I found ease when I started (slowly, over time and with strife) releasing the idea of there being a singular “right” way to be. For me and my multiple identities, feeling into my needs and desires was never going to be an end point. There would be no arrival, only always arriving. I also realized that I could not seek a safe haven in myself if there was not enough of myself left.

Today: I am the child of a Chinese immigrant mother and Italian American father. I grew up in a small, sleepy suburb of the Bay Area. I have been a visitor on unceded Lisjan Ohlone Land (colonially known as Oakland, CA) for nearly a decade. I have light skin, live in an average-sized body, and identify as queer and non-binary trans. I have a disability that ranges in visibility, am immunocompromised, and do not always engage in direct eye contact. I am highly COVID cautious and engage in various harm reduction approaches to minimize exposure for myself and others. My marginalizations do not excuse me from ongoing interrogations of unconscious biases and assumptions. I know how to hold myself accountable and have a wonderful community of friends and colleagues who support me in that work.

I am a lifelong learner and move with great curiosity, empathy, and an open heart. Some of my favorite teachers include poetry, big theatrical ballads, memoirs about families, bodies of water, redwood forests, interpersonal relationships, and sacred ancestral knowledge.

Outside of working as a therapist, I enjoy playing tennis, being in water, and reading. I value movement that is free from weight loss and diet culture. As such, I am an active member of the gym, Radically Fit, in Oakland. Friends know me to be quite flamboyant, and expect a delay when I am saying hello to neighborhood cats. I delight in finding new bakeries and coffee shops to visit—this is how I orient myself in the world, and is a fun part of my food and body liberation. Sweet on animals, I am a proud papa to a small dog and cat, who are, much to my heart’s delight, the best of friends.