đź’¬ Town Square | What can you do better than AI? What do you crave that AI can never give you?
Dear Inklings,
First of all, congratulations to the giveaway winner, Nikki L.! Thank you to all my patrons for supporting
Writing
My thoughts, works, and stories
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Platonic Soulmates: What Happened to Our Friendships?
Many cultural critics argue that the art of friendship is in decline. The United States surgeon general has named loneliness an epidemic. People are lonelier than ever, and they don’t know what to do about it. Why is that?
the windup | issue 09
a lot of books, autumn happiness, another giveaway (scroll to the bottom)!
It Wasn’t Love At First Sight
The common narrative is that when you give birth, you fall in love with your baby at once. In reality, this is a stranger you have to get to know, just like any other person. Sometimes, it’s love at first sight. Other times, it’s not.
đź’¬ Town Square | Is reading really the best way to expand your mind?
Dear Inklings,
First of all, congratulations to our giveaway winners, Sarah Christy, Nisha Mody, and Ruthie Arbeiter! Thank you to
Here. Here. Here.
As I pondered over the madness of spending hours on social media or pursuing an unrequited, unfulfilling friendship, I caught myself thinking more and more, “This is not how I want to spend my life.”
the windup | issue 08
You don't actually know Charlie Kirk
On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah campus. His death triggered the usual cycle of outrage and debate.
“Have you eaten?”
My grandma is dying. In truth, she’s been dying for years now, my months punctuated with hospital scares and
A voice shriveled in my throat
Linda Kay Klein’s Pure talks about the lack of unconditional love touted in white evangelicalism—how that has led to a culture of shame and fear, effects that are long-lasting, sometimes lifelong
My mother’s worn Bible
None of the adults explained death or suffering to us. Neither western Christians (specifically evangelicals) nor East Asians are well equipped to handle grief, let alone walk children through it.
All I could think was, where was God to let a child my age die?
Yes, in spite of everything
An honest reflection on walking away from God, living with uncertainty, and returning to faith 'kicking and screaming.
How fundamentalism nearly destroyed my relationship with God
I was a sophomore in college when I turned my back on the religion of my childhood and declared myself no longer a Christian.
This is the fourth year since your son died
This is the fourth year since your son died.
You wonder where the time has gone, and wonder if it’d be cliche to say it sometimes still feels like yesterday.
I didn’t even want to be friends with her
People don’t fit into boxes. They’re too beautifully complex, filled with every colour we can and can’t see.
The Value of Life: Abortion, Adoption, and Agency
Our struggle seems to manifest in different ways: in our attempts to systematize complex moral decisions, our shifting language, our efforts to protect both individual agency and collective responsibility.
Letters to the Forgotten Ones I Still Love
I suppose normally now would be the moment to place some epilogue of good feeling, of how I see the way God is working, how I’m sure it will all make sense one day, of the good that has come from it. But I do not, and I don’t know why, and in truth, no “why” could ever excuse or justify the pain.
"I have searched for my mother’s love in all corners of the world." -Annie Ernaux
Sometimes, healing never comes. Some mothers never apologise.
But sometimes healing begins after thirty years.
Sometimes, a mother says, “I’m sorry.”