It’s funny how I wanna laugh but I’m crying 

Funny how I'm crying 

Funny how I expected you to be accountable 

When you can’t even account for your waking hours 

You cannot objectify 

My vessel is not your jurisdiction 

Or some conquered land, self determination 

It’s not Palestine 

Blindsided through these violent times 

Pathetic attention grabbing headlines 

\

Aaaaah the cross you must bear 

Ah the thoughts brewing in the air and now 

You live with all this guilt and maybe it's not fair

But most importantly 

How will you go to bed tonight 

Do your dreams chase you with legs?

Syntax is everything. We let one thing slip, say one thing without mulling, without thinking it through, in a frenzy! But what were you thinking??? Your mind was occupied with that thought or some other that your brain had been softened and ripened to a point of being putrid: and now, well, you’re fucked. They—me and even you: we—would rather be blind than try to show compassion or room for understanding. To spend that precious time to dissect and translate for the sake of some argument. To justify the time we've spent. To prove we’re right, and they’re wrong. For our ego. To tear ourselves down. Are we perfect humans? Our good intentions or knowledge won’t get through the thick walls of some who are entrenched in trying to argue.

It can seem easier to stay silent. Because no one in this binary world of 1s and 0s can possibly know what we go through behind that LED screen. It’s a forced trauma behavior. 

- drafted May 22, 2022

What does empowerment mean to Soo Joo Park? “Right now to me, it means having the courage and power to lead by example by being yourself,” she says. “I was having a really good conversation days ago with a good friend of mine and saying that it was hard because I'm having an awakening moment. As good as the things are in my life, I'm mentally questioning a lot of things. He told me, you are special and there’s no one in this world who can be you. There’s not another person in this world who can match your DNA, have your thoughts when you have them, have the desires when you have them. As long as we can celebrate our individuality, our own uniqueness and specialness, I think that’s empowering more than anything. I also want to say that it’s always a process of going back and forth and I think that I've learned to accept that. All the love, pain, sadness and joy—that's part of life.”

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PETER ASH LEE WEARING CHANEL AW20 COLLECTION. 

STYLED BY ABBY QI. MAKEUP BY AYAMI NISHIMURA. HAIR BY EVANIE FAUSTO. 

 “As long as we can celebrate our individuality, our own uniqueness and specialness, I think that’s empowering more than anything. I also want to say that it’s always a process of going back and forth and I think that I've learned to accept that. All the love, pain, sadness and joy—that's part of life.”

I had a lovely conversation with Kelly Lim for the WOW Magazine cover story about my career and what empowerment means in my world at the moment.

It’s a funny time we’re living in. All tender sentiments aside, I hope you’re doing okay. Things will always change and turn, but that’s the beauty of life—even the toughest and bleakest of times will yield to another sunrise, a new day, a chance to take action.

Does it make you feel good?
Are you happy?
Can you breathe through life thinking you’ve destroyed one another?