The Beauty of Difference: Why Representation and Wonder Matter

For the past few months, I’ve been operating from a place of fear and worry, and it’s shaped my recent blogs. Fear is an exhausting place to live—and an even harder one to escape. But it’s justified, given who’s about to step into the White House. When the rights of Trans people and other minorities are under direct attack, it’s impossible not to feel that fear digging into your soul.

But I’ve realized something important: I can’t let myself stay in that place forever.

Fear can be a motivator, yes. It can wake us up, push us to act, and make us vigilant. But living in fear for too long drains you. It consumes everything. It leaves no room for hope, no room for creativity, no room to dream. And I need those things—hope, creativity, and dreams—to keep going.

So I asked myself: Why did I start writing in the first place?

A Journey of Purpose

At first, it was just an escape. Writing became my sanctuary, a way to retreat from a world that didn’t understand me. In the pages of my stories, I could be anyone and create worlds where I truly belonged.

But over the years, it grew into something much more.

My writing became a way to experience my true identity—to explore who I really was, long before I had the words to articulate it. Through my characters, I could imagine a world where being Trans wasn’t something I had to explain, justify, or defend. I could just be.

Eventually, that exploration morphed into something bigger: representation. Growing up, I had no Trans characters in the books I read. I never saw myself in the heroes or heroines of the stories I loved. And that absence stayed with me.

I wanted to fix that.

I wanted to give Trans people, especially those who love fantasy, a character they could relate to. I wanted to create a heroine who could hold a sword, fight dragons, save kingdoms—and still be unapologetically Trans.

But as I kept writing, my mission expanded. I realized that it wasn’t just about Trans representation—it was about representing everyone.

I wanted my stories to show the world as it could be. Not perfect, not free of conflict, but a world where people loved one another because of their differences, not in spite of them. I wanted my characters to reflect the diverse, beautiful, messy world I see around me—different races, different genders, different beliefs, different stories.

And even now, in the face of so much fear and uncertainty, I’m holding onto that purpose.

The Wonder of Creation

But representation isn’t the only reason I write. There’s something else—a feeling that’s harder to explain but just as important.

Writing has always given me a sense of wonder.

There’s nothing quite like losing myself in the act of creation. When I write, I feel like I’m tapping into something bigger than myself. It’s like staring at the night sky and realizing how vast and miraculous the universe is—but instead of stars, I’m creating worlds, characters, and stories.

And somewhere along the way, I realized that I didn’t just want to feel that wonder—I wanted to inspire it in others.

Because life is beautiful.

No matter what you believe—divine creation, nature doing its thing, or a bit of both—you can’t deny the awe-inspiring complexity of what had to come together for us to exist. From the birth of the universe, to the formation of stars, to the evolution of life on Earth—it’s a chain of events so intricate and unlikely that it borders on miraculous.

We are like a tree, all of us growing from the same root. The trunk gives us our foundation, but the branches and leaves stretch outward, each one unique. Our differences aren’t flaws. They’re the point. They’re what make life so breathtakingly amazing.

Finding Wonder in a Stifling World

And yet, I’ve noticed how easy it is to lose that sense of wonder.

The daily grind of life can weigh you down. A job that feels stifling. A world filled with black-and-white thinking, where people seem more interested in proving they’re right than in finding common ground. A political climate that treats difference as a threat instead of a strength.

All of it takes a toll.

But even when life feels heavy, I remind myself of one immutable truth: It’s not about whether you fall. It’s about getting back up, dusting yourself off, and finding your way forward.

And that’s what I’m doing now.

I’m choosing to get back up. I’m choosing to remember why I write, why I dream, and why I believe in the beauty of life.

Looking Ahead: My Goals as a Writer

My goals as a writer remain the same, but with a renewed sense of purpose:

• To give voice to the Trans community.

• To create characters that minorities can see themselves in.

• To represent a world that embraces diversity and celebrates differences.

But I also want to grow. I want to nurture my own sense of wonder and share it with others. I want to remind people of the joy of being alive—the joy of dreaming, creating, and connecting.

Because without wonder, without love, without the celebration of what makes us unique—what’s the point of any of this?

So I’m going to keep writing. I’m going to keep dreaming. And I’m going to hold onto hope, even when it feels out of reach.