pace.academia.edu/Catalina [email protected] I write craving for embraces where hands are not sufficient or nearby. I write when I wash dishes or vacuum the apartment -- the mundane is enchanting. I write when I commute to work because while Google maps remain fixed between two points (of departure and arrival), no ride resembles the previous ones. Most importantly I write because I am afraid to be alone with my thoughts. Writing expands myself allowing me to discover places, people, emotions. I was not born in this language. I learned it when I was in middle school back home. I write in an adoptive mother tongue. If my writing, full of imperfections, can help others, then I have joined a dialogue where we all have stories to tell, new skins to try on, and old fears to face and dismantle.
