These past two weeks have been a whirlwind.
But full of joy, blessings, and love.

The Roar Story Slam Competition put on by Korean American Story Association was two weekends ago and I finished in 2nd place.
I couldn’t believe I made it as a finalist, let alone finish second!

I had submitted my story in a rush just to say that I did, never thinking it’d get selected.
But when I made the cut, I had to edit my story a little bit to ensure it was under 6 minutes and to make it coherent and connected.

We were given a free 90 minute session with a story telling coach to help with our stories — and that was vital to the completion of my story.

My story (I’ll share it when it becomes available) started with “I was taught that a family was a dad, mom, a son, and a daughter…” leading into the our adoption story. I had 90% of it complete, but I didn’t really know how to tie it all together.

I was trying to figure out how emphasize that we are a family of choice, not just blood but at the time, I couldn’t put any of it into words.

Until I watched the beginning of the fallout of Sami Zayn and the Bloodline. Oh yea, we’re right back to the WWE references.

Jey Uso was about how blood makes a family.
Sami Zayn talked about how loyalty goes beyond blood… and the boom. I had my closing thoughts.
We’re a family of choice, not just blood — as if blood is the only thing that defines a family. What about love? Because we love this boy with all that we have and all that we are.

It’s funny to see where inspiration can come from and how something just triggers a chain of thoughts.

I’m pretty sure I spoke a lot faster than I needed to.
When I’m nervous, I speak faster than normal — and I already speak fast to begin with.
But it was good enough for 2nd place and I’m immensely proud of this achievement.

It was definitely out of my comfort zone, and I can’t remember the last time I stepped so far out of my comfort zone.

But the best part of this whole experience was all the people I met.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the other finalists and hearing their stories (their life stories and the stories for the competition, because I didn’t get to hear most of them since we were kept in the green room).
It connected me with people I’d never would’ve connected with.
It also reminded me of how old I am. After the after party, we went to hit the noraebang (Korean version of Karaoke). It’s the first time Rahel and I have been to a noraebang in a long time.
About midnight, the adrenaline finally leaving my body coincided with some of the drinks I imbibed on hitting me — and I was crashing, fast.
So we had to excuse ourselves early and be the first to leave the party.

This was also the first time in a very long time since we’ve been around so many Koreans. I missed it. It was such a welcoming feeling. On top of that, this was the first time I’ve hung out with such progressive Koreans. It truly was a blessing. And I hope we stay connected for a long time.

Thanks to Korean American Storytelling Association for this beautiful and wonderful opportunity.
(photo credit: Janice Chung)

(also, let’s be for real: there were some grammatical errors. I… am okay with it. Thanks for putting up with me)

Oh yea. PS.
I’m still out here trying to sell books.
I haven’t been promoting it much because it just felt wrong to do so during Lent.
But since He is risen (he is risen, indeed), I am hoping the same for the book sales (that they, too, will rise.)
Here’s the link: https://a.co/d/9GH8AAV