My parents were refugees

I am the adult child of Vietnamese Boat People refugees. My parents got on this small river boat in 1980, my mom three months pregnant with me, and set out to the open sea. Like all refugees, life in their homeland became so bad that they were willing to risk their lives, and their unborn child, in hopes of any future, anywhere else.

In 2020, I uncovered intergenerational trauma held deep inside my chest. I tried some therapy methods that opened up repressed fear, scary sounds, and if I dug deep enough, some really beautiful feelings.

Looking back on my childhood and career, there were moments where ordinary experiences like a class presentation, a boardroom meeting, or just being out in day-to-day life felt like I was in a literal war zone. Today, I’ve found a way to calm my nervous system so that I can react to stressful situations with a volume level of 3, not always 11.

When I set out for therapy, my objective was to get a competitive advantage over others by optimizing my mental health. Years later, I still believe that, but the objective wasn’t to win, the objective was to be at peace, to be able to thrive, and to be able to be human.