My twenties were an awakening — slow at first, then all at once.

Art school cracked me open. NPR gave me language. Buddhism gave me a framework. Friends gave me the permission I never got from my childhood world.

It felt like discovering the rest of the world had been turned on this whole time while I’d been living in a dimly lit room.

I realized:

Art isn’t sinful. Curiosity isn’t rebellion. Creativity isn’t risk — it’s refuge. There are thinkers and makers who felt like family I didn’t know I had.

I wasn’t behind. I was just late to the party.