Honestly,

words are usually not my mother tongue - movement is.

But in 2023, so much pain had accumulated within me that I somehow needed a new vessel to express my feelings.

Without ever intending or planning, one phrase after another found its way onto paper.

On my forest walks, during lonely sunset hours at the lake, through sleepless nights, airport transits, grocery shopping trips, …

I got surprised by how much of what was inside me effortlessly spilled over, aching to shape itself into a broad collection of poetry, prose and quotes.

And here it is - Lotus - my first book, birthed through mud.