I don’t belong in the background.
I don’t want to live in the background.
But I do.
I don’t belong where I live.
I realize that now.
Maybe if I belonged in the background, I wouldn’t be like them.
They belong in the background.
But I don’t.
I am not like them.
But I don’t have to be like them.
I don’t have to belong in their lives.
Not in the spaces, the margins.
Not in the background.
I just have to be me.
You might think you know me.
You might think you know me as a woman.
As an Asian.
But you don’t.
You don’t know me.
Yes, I am a woman.
Yes, I am an Asian.
But I am not only those things.
You don’t know me for who I am.
I am not just a woman.
I am not just an Asian.
You don’t know who I am.
I am me.
I am not a hero. I am not a savior.
But I don’t belong in the background.
And I am just getting started.