People thought I hated hugs, but that wasn’t the case. The truth is I didn’t know how to. Hugs are such a foreign concept in my household. It often confused me when I saw some of my Tamil friends hug their parents. I had assumed that giving hugs were not a part of Tamil culture.

I often describe revenge to my friends as a fleeting moment of catharsis. Fantasizing about it feels good, but when enacted, it rarely provides the lasting internal peace we seek.

To go through trauma is not a next-in-line ticket to a Good Lover™, nor does it need to be.

“Constantly rallying around specific incidents of sexual violence and abuse, often always and only when the survivors were white, revealed what many POC, especially Black and Indigenous folks, have been saying all along: White women are not invested in undoing systems of oppression.” 

I felt a release within me. This feeling of being trapped letting go as I went the next few days of this cycle with a cup. It gave me the courage to research menstrual cups and other relevant, eco and biologically friendly products.

When I am in pain and cannot see, what does radical love feel like? Answer: a non-judgemental, “how can I help?”