Archive • IntentionalDiction • Buttondown

A little unforgettable

I walk in as if I’ve already been written about by someone else. I smell like fig trees outside an old bookstore. The playlist I curated is called Main...

Indigo to lilac to muted gray

January 7, 2025

Some 2025 ins & outs: In: Allowing myself to acknowledge when I’m good at something.In: Understanding that confusion & inconsistency mean NO.In: 2 hour long...

Love is not enough

November 27, 2024

I’ve been thinking about love a lot. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. But in doing so, I’ve also been thinking about loss quite a bit. Over the...

A language older than words

November 21, 2024

Chapter 2 The flames dance, casting flickering shadows across the yard, and there’s something about them that feels unusual. They move with a kind of...

I feel curiously untethered

November 18, 2024

Something a little different. Chapter 1 The breeze brings with it the scent of vetiver and cedar, a nod to the shifting seasons. I feel the quiet thrum of...

October 21, 2024

I thought I wouldn’t enjoy being part of a book club because reading is a solitary activity for me and I was worried that it would feel like I was back in...

I wanted so badly to turn around

October 1, 2024

A little brain dump from the last few months. I’ve been around. I still feel my breath catch in my chest when a white Kia pulls up beside me. Will the ache...

Blood vessels in my neck

I’m so behind, and I have so much to say. But every day, I’m thankful that the world keeps spinning and life keeps moving forward, whether I write about it...

When I look into her eyes

You ever feel like you’re exactly where you need to be? The other night, driving home from NYC on the turnpike, the sun was setting at 9:12pm and I looked...

Couple random thoughts: In my family, and I think in a lot of Hispanic families, it’s bad luck to celebrate your birthday before the actual day. Supposed to...

Everything flourishes in my hands

Here’s an excerpt from the resignation letter I sent to my new boss. Yes. My new boss. “…while I appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me and the time...

In another life

You’re still listed as my guest for my event tomorrow. You were so excited to be my +1, I never changed it. Maybe in another life, you still are. In another...

Feels like magic

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Growing up in New York City, stars at night were something I only saw in books. And on the rare occasion that...

Immortalize the connection

I say it all the time. I tell people all the time. Date a writer. Pour into a writer and let them fall in love with you, because they will immortalize you in...

Spoken word piece on a napkin

At 5:43 on Friday evening, I was a drink and a half in and for the first time in a week, nothing hurt. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. Didn’t...

A piece of it was

If you could open up my head and see what was going on in my brain, here are some of the thoughts you’d find today: When Drake said, “…don’t you dare hit me...

Old friends have a way of popping up exactly when you need them. Tonight, an old friend told me “…we think we need to be perfect. We think that we need to be...

I don't feel like celebrating

I’m supposed to be celebrating today. When I returned the signed offer letter this morning, the message I got back was full of party emojis. It said “we hope...

The change in my heartbeat

Writer's block has been hitting hard lately. Sometimes I get caught up in the feeling that I should only share my best work - like if it's not amazing and...

I bought myself these word magnets for my fridge recently and I've been having fun messing with them while I make my morning coffee. Which one is your favorite?

Feel it in my bones

I didn't mean to spend the night. I'm a creature of habit. I like my routines. I know my way around my bedroom in the dark. But I also know what it's like to...

Perfectly clear view

I'm thankful that when something is no longer serving me, is no longer bringing me joy or providing some sort of utility, I can walk away from it. It took me...

Paper that she bought

February 23, 2024

One time, someone told me that if it isn't a hell yes, it should be a no. And ever since then, I've been trying to live my life accordingly. Last night,...

In the next one

February 12, 2024

I try not to remind myself of your birthday these days. No calendar alerts or notes written. But 12am rolls around on 2/12, and suddenly I just know that...

February 1, 2024

I'm a little late for the new year, but time is made up anyway. Here are my 2024 ins & outs. INS Flexible timelines. Yellow hearts. Slow & low. In...

January 13, 2024

In Greek, there are two words for "utopia", one of which means "the good place" and the other of which means "the place that cannot be". Perfect isn't good,...

It feels like Neptune

December 27, 2023

I played 18 games of mahjong with a stranger on the plane. She was wearing Jo Malone's Wood Sage & Sea Salt. I never learned her name. I listened to Iris by...