In these times of profound social upheaval, I find myself navigating the complexities of identity, privilege, and activism. As a queer, white, Ashkenazi Jew with the privileges of being able-bodied and upper-class, I grapple with how these facets shape my perspective and responsibilities in a world marked by systemic injustice and collective grief. My journey…

My companion emotional support dog child Ozymandias (Oz) passed away this past Friday. It was a very short time from when I found out he likely had cancer on October 11th to when he left his physical form on November 1st. Over the last few years, I have connected more deeply with the cycle of Jewish time and with grief work—I learned and healed so much along the way.

When I came out at non-binary, or enby, in September of 2021, I was largely received by my Intel colleagues with a lot of love, care, and support. At the time, I felt fortunate that I was working in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as I suspect initial reactions would have been much different if I were still in a technical group. Sadly, this did not prove to be the case over time...

So...here it is...my story of self-discovery and learning to love myself through a lot of inner work culminating with joining the burner community for the first time out on the playa this past summer.

I reached the afternoon of day 8 and suddenly felt liberated from all of my sadness around my dad passing away- like a dark, heavy cloud had been lifted off of me. [...] Until this point, I really couldn’t connect with this concept that intensely focusing on sensations on your body with awareness and equanimity could somehow naturally release you from your misery.