Hello and Welcome!

My name is Julia. This is where I share things I create, moments I live, and my hopes for the future. Eventually, I hope to grow this space and include stories about becoming a doctor. For now it functions as a visual adventure journal.

My philosophy as an artist a human

I love this life. I believe love is abundant and try to live accordingly. One of my partners in life is Matt who works for an environmental organization fighting fossil fuels and climate change. While my focus right now is on living and learning medicine, I try to share my heart and soul with others here when I get the chance.

I believe art changes the way people think and see the world. Through art, we can explore and communicate what we are and who we hope to become.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and writer, once said:

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides.”

I agree and I believe the same must be true for beauty and love. Whenever and wherever human beings are creating goodness and living in beauty, I want to take sides; I want to celebrate and share the sacred, intricate, intimate and inexplicable moments and relationships we experience on this beautiful planet.

Why Write?

See above! 😉

No, really!

“We write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it. We write to teach ourselves to speak with others, to record the journey into the labyrinth.”

– Anaïs Nin

I write to celebrate life; to connect; to understand; to learn; to teach; and to mourn.

And sometimes I quote, but I usually use my Tumblr for quotes.

I have really struggled over the years with just how much to reveal about myself.

I want to share it all. I question the notion that humans are separate individuals competing for resources. I believe we are all one, interconnected and interwoven within the oneness of life. As Alan Watts once said, “You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”

Sometimes I feel the pain of environmental destruction—mountain-top removal, coral reef degradation—in my body. I can’t explain it, but when I forget our connected-ness, it is this pain that tugs me back.

And so I wonder, in this oneness, what room is there for privacy? Secrets? Shame? As the oceans rise and islands disappear, as over 15 (15!!!) million refugees struggle to find safety, and as the endangered species list grows… with all the destruction and loss, I write to push back against the cynicism and despair that creeps up on me if I am not actively fighting it.

That said, I will always err on the side of caution when it comes to others. As a result, this blog will mostly focus on me. When necessary I will change names and details to protect identities.

Thank you for understanding.