Phoenix

I was born and raised in Arizona. The Joshua trees, cacti, and flaming red bird of paradise made all the colors in the 120 degree heat bleed an intoxicating beauty that you only experience in the extremes of the desert. Throughout history humans have journeyed to such places seeking transformation. In writing, deserts most often symbolize a place of death and rebirth. It's no surprise then that my exodus from this hot hell of breathtaking torment would be just as igniting as the phoenix itself, rising in the smoldering sunset of this empty vast place where I lost my childhood. It was only in the oasis of Los Angeles that I grew roots. And now as a woman, fully transformed, I can attribute the lessons of that experience into the wings that now propelled me forward. Ever reaching for the infinite, ever touching the stars. I rise.