The road begins here.

Three weeks ago, I thought I was wasting my time submitting my writing. Writing felt like a strange hobby I was taking too seriously.

Today, I have my first paid publication.

“Unfelt Grief” is an essay about loss, and the strange ways grief can live inside us without being fully felt. It is a very personal story for me.

Writing began as therapy. It became a way to reflect on reality and survive in Vietnam, far from home and family, while trying to make sense of exile, memory, and change.

This publication will not change my life overnight. It is a small step. But it arrived at a time when I was struggling with self-doubts, and that makes it especially meaningful to me. So it means a lot to me.

For the first time, someone I have never met read my words and decided they were worth publishing and paying for.

Thank you to Futirist Letters for giving this essay a home.

And thank you to everyone who has read, encouraged, rejected, edited, criticized, and supported me along the way.

The road is still long, but for the first time, it feels like a road.