Almost a year ago, two things happened at the same time: I opened my first own acupuncture practice in Berlin and decided to begin writing here on Substack.

The practice space is a strange mix of enclosed and vast. Enclosed because, I meet patients in that unique juncture of space and time. Vast because I don’t know which threads, voiced or unvoiced, conscious or unconscious, continue their impact. And in large parts, I don’t have to.

Writing on here is a much needed contrast. On the surface, I see where my newsletter goes, I see places, graphs, and numbers. But more importantly, I arrive at a feeling of permanence in the act of writing. In forming and choosing words and thoughts that exist next to, and beyond my every day life, I’ve tended to a little world that connects to a wider map. Suddenly, there are inspiring exchanges with other writers and an abundance of ideas that are like my most eccentric friends. Every time I visit, we end up going off on tangents!

I don’t take this platform for granted. It’s fed the way I articulate myself, it’s helped me to cultivate rhythm by showing up, to engage with agreement as well as disagreement. I’ve washed my voice like preparing rice, and a year later, the water runs somewhat clearer.

To everyone who’s part of this, who has read even a word of what I’ve written to those that keep returning, for every kind word and comment, to those that have trusted me with collaborations, my gosh. THANK YOU.