scraps / places
a newsletter on why I’m writing a newsletter
I’ve moved a lot in the last five years:
2019 - I graduated from the University of Redlands and moved to San Francisco for what I believed was an incredible opportunity (naive decision).
2020 - Like many, I got upended by the pandemic and moved back home to live with my family in Waimea on Hawai’i Island (non-decision decision).
2021 - I decided to ground myself/my art in Hawai’i and gave Honolulu a chance (one of the best decisions I’ve ever made please let me return one day).
2022 - I moved to NYC to commit myself to playwriting and pursued my MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch (I think this was the right decision…).
2024 - Five weeks after graduation I moved to Singapore as a 2024-2025 Henry Luce Scholar, where I’m doing a playwriting residency (wild decision).
So, in five years, I’ve moved back and forth for 17,394 miles. And, in those miles, I’ve met people, my people, who I wish I could surround myself with every day. My problem is that those people are everywhere, and everywhere only seems to get bigger. Especially as those people go other places. I wish I could spread myself so thin that I could laugh with all of them, but alas. Life.
So I’m writing this newsletter in hopes to:
stay in touch with you
make new connections with you
share my time in Singapore with you
Who are you? You are the people I know, don’t know, know just a little, will one day know, will never know, and you are also me.
I’d now like to address you by place:
Redlands - I blame you for emboldening me enough to be like this.
San Francisco - You taught me a lot, most of which was hard to learn, if not too soon.
Waimea - I think of you every day and dream of a time in the future when I can give back to the place that raised me.
Honolulu - After I left you, I often wondered if it was the right choice. I’m sorry I didn’t come back as soon as I said I would.
NYC - I left you way too fast. I’m sad I didn’t have the chance to develop much of a relationship with you outside of grad school. You and I both know that I’ll return to you soon enough. You make it hard to be away.1
Singapore - We’ve been with each other for three months now, but still have much to learn. I hope we’re both full of strange surprises.
All Other Places - I’m sorry I didn’t make the time to visit you. If I know anything about myself, it’s that I’ll swing by soon.
Sometimes, I’m tempted to call myself a tricoastal playwright, hoping I can split myself equally between the places I love most. Maybe I can. Who knows…
What’s your next move?
:) <3