This has been a daunting post to put together. Does anybody else ever get to the point where it’s scary to open your mouth because you’re so aware of how little you know and understand that you don’t want to take steps in the wrong direction? Or accidentally cause a lot of harm? That’s me…
Category: Personal
Apologies and an Overview
I am so sorry that this update has taken as long as it has to get to you. We’re all feeling the chaos of COVID and I’m hoping you can extend some grace for the delay in this post. I’ll have more posts soon as I continue processing and sharing the impact IJM has despite…
Being Great
The car got towed today. I’m not trying to make some profound statement (or copy the intro from the last post), it was just the fact of the morning and after walking to the wrong lot and finding out I had the wrong documents to retrieve it, I’m now at a coffee shop charging my…
Little Panic
It’s been a morning. In Ali’s life, that can mean a lot of things. In the past, it’s meant that I couldn’t get out of bed and laid there for hours; it’s meant that I missed the bus and had to improvise a way to get to a meeting; it’s meant that I went for…
Unexpected
When I was fundraising I got a lot of curious questions about the trauma-focused therapy I’d be taking part in. At the time, I explained that it would be to help process the case work that IJM does, which was (and is) still important. I’d go in to work and we’d celebrate the sentencing of…
Living Life
I’ve now finished my fifth(!!!) week in the office, and loving the work I’m doing, but I’ve been told my first real update should give a better picture of what life in La Paz is really like. I promise I have been going to work and getting things done, but this post will cover my…
Facing Fears
UPDATE: Posts are now password protected! Use “Bolivia” to read, and subscribe below! Ski Jumping When I was in fourth grade I wrote a “book” by the same title as this post. It was about the first time I [finally] went off of the 30 meter ski jump after my coaches had spent dozens of…
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Ali’s [Current] Life
With just over 20 days until taking off, I’m cramming in a lot of last minute preparations as well as reflecting on this past summer. It’s been a transition period of personal reflection and preparation, but I’ll try to make it interesting for you all. Spoiler: it includes a lot of coffee. Where it all…
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What Almost Never Was
I almost rescinded my application for the IJM internship… multiple times. One of IJM’s core values is “Christian” and that’s an unfortunately heavy word to lean into. I have had many negative experiences in the church, in Bible studies, and by people clinging to a “Christian” identity. I didn’t know what IJM would think, but…
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Musical Mindset: Sleeping At Last
While I could easily write an entire post about my poor sleeping habits, this is an ode to my stubbornness and the musician who helped humble me. Music has continued to be vital for my personal growth and this artist’s intentionality has helped guide my processing as I learn more about myself. I’m going to…
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