Alisa Maya

When I started this job a year ago, I had $4 left in my bank account. This is the closest to poor I have ever been. For me this was a shameful and terrifying experience that precipitated a prolonged bout of insomnia. As I stood on the precipice of what some call “adult...

When I think of travel, I think of my Mother.

From the early-2000s, my Mother and I travelled everywhere together. My dad has never been a fan of travelling, so my mom and I often travelled as a pair. 

We went to Bangkok when I was 5, and that was the beginning of many y...

"His world? No, I don't think so...To be frank, I think his world had vanished long before he ever entered it. But I will say, he certainly sustained the illusion with a marvellous grace."

- The Grand Budapest Hotel

When I heard this quote, I immediately recognised it as...

I've spent many hours watching crime documentaries. Stories about serial killers, about homicides that were never solved.Before the advent of Netflix, I spent many hours watching them on YouTube as a teenager. I have always had an appetite for the mystery, and gore. I...

I’ve noticed ants everywhere in the house lately. On the walls, the shoe cabinet, on my desk. It’s as if the house knows, and the insects have come out, to clean up the damage.

People are difficult to navigate; people make life difficult to navigate, which is why as I'v...

(Photo belongs to Netflix) 

My favourite part of the “Anne with an E” series is that Anne is not a hero. She is a deeply flawed protagonist, and the series’ main focus is not about her “figuring things out” in her life. Instead, it chronicles in a very earnest way, the...

I spent the whole of April getting through this book, a semi-autobiography of Winterson's, for two reasons. The first was that I kept taking breaks from reading to work, but the real reason I think is that Winterson's work touches my soul-- and without fail leaves me a...

The other day a friend sent me a quote that I really liked from writer Elizabeth Gilbert. It goes: 

"Dear Ones –

Years ago, when I was going through a really hard time, a friend of mine who was a naturalist gave me some beautiful advice about how to best take care of m...

It's been too long since I updated this website. Here is a piece I wrote and read last August at a reading at BooksActually. :)

Mis-recognition

How do we recognize ourselves? It’s in the scabs we absentmindedly pick again and again, the direction that we intuitively cros...

                  (Source in hyperlink)

The Invisibility of Anxiety

When does anxiety become a mental health issue? Anxiety is an affliction that is more prevalent than we acknowledge. According to a 2016 study by the Institute of...