No one asked, but I still want to share something of me I hardly do online.

I used to be embarrassed of my heritage, but as I grow older I no longer am not. I am hmong. They're a minority spread across Laos, Mongolia, China. They're very rural people who farm in small villages, even I don't know much. My parents are Vietnam War refugees who are now US Citizens by right. Their villages were torn apart my Vietcong soldiers, and they were forced to flee their homes, leaving everything they possessed behind - what they could only bring with them was their culture, their stories. They were forced to cross the huge Mekong River for survival and it's where many people died trying to survive. My father has never had a happy upbringing. My mother was the first of her family to come to the US alone and without knowing any English. 

I was born in the US. From young I never understood my background growing up in a white environment. I was embarrassed of our traditional costumes and never liked wearing them, but now that I find the beauty in them I hardly have the opportunity to wear such beautiful, meaningful pieces. I'm a first generation hmong person. I should be making a difference, should be doing something great but I am not. I write because it makes me feel like less of a failure in my family. I don't share my passion with my family, because to my parents becoming a doctor or a high paying person matters more. To me, writing is more than a hobby.

I want to convey life, love, and sadness through writing. I want to become the first romance hmong writer, but ofc it's easier said than done. To me, I write because I have a lot of deep emotions that preside in me. I write because love is made up of happy and sad tears. I want to show that people go through things in life, and yet even though it is dark there are also happy days that exist. Writing is very meaningful to me and provides an experience like no other. It's an escape. It makes me sad and also makes me happy.

If you are having a hard time, listen to music, watch something, create. It becomes a blissful adventure nothing else can give.

To me, writing is what makes me.