Bae started with Sarah.

Cooking out the back of my minivan camper after a long hike at Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park (CO). Photo credit: Hope Trice.

WHO I AM IN MY OWN WORDS: Truthful. Intuitive. Provocative. Loyal. Evolving.

BRINGING TO BAE: Over 20 years of writing, communications, nonprofit and event planning experience. Mild obsessions with coffee, soup, art, handmade objects, hiking, camping and van life. A lot of time and experience outdoors.

WHEN OUT IN NATURE I LEAVE BEHIND: My fears, self-criticism, need to control, generational burdens, and ruminations about small mistakes and insignificant social interactions.

OTHER THINGS I LIKE TO DO: Find “hidden gem” state parks and independent coffee shops and bookstores across the country. Nerd out on composting. Laze around with my family in an untidy home while reading a real newspaper. Visit the Korean spa for a “classic” body scrub… if you know, you know! Make Komerican Pie.

WHERE AM I FROM? Born and raised in Texas, the eldest daughter to immigrant Korean parents. Lived in Houston, Northampton (MA), NYC, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Asheville and now based in Atlanta. Endured unspeakable hardships and experienced ridiculous blessings throughout life. Still do to this day! ALL of this makes me who I am. Check out my KP Q&A feature for more details. Or the origin story.

Some learnings in progress.

Friendly neighbors saying hello while camping on an alpaca ranch in Carbondale (CO).

  • This liberating premise from Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown reminds us that prioritizing our pleasure and attending to our personal wellbeing is an act of social justice.

    Coupled with the wisdom from Audre Lorde that “rest is resistance,” made popular by Tricia Hersey’s book of the same name—we honor ourselves by attending to our wellbeing and desires. Awakening to the dignity and joy that is our birthright is essential to respecting ourselves and creating the energy to command respect from others.

    May we have the audacity to pursue pleasure and rest, so we can live in the freedom of feeling good!

  • We lose trust in ourselves and forget the ancient wisdom we carry when we’re disconnected. Let’s reconnect within and with each other, and in process reclaim our being, self-sovereignty, agency and joy in life every single day!

  • It is the simplest way to step back into being and reconnect to our whole wisdom in this modern virtual world. Accessing nature fosters this connection of mind, body, heart, and spirit immediately.

    Throughout history and time, women have been taught to disconnect from their bodies as a means of control, manipulation and oppression. Let’s honor our being and enjoy ourselves instead!

  • Spiritual requests are so important, but alignment asks for our whole being to engage. We need the mind to make plans, the body to respond, and the heart to hold love and compassion because spiritual alignment is best expressed with accountability. “Hope is not a strategy” alone, but we are powerful beings who can create shifts in our own lives and with each other.

  • While we may be tied to our epigenetic legacy, lived history and current events; we are so much more than what we experience and endure.

    We owe it to ourselves to remember this. We can remind ourselves with compassion and kindness that we can choose our response to circumstances and are safe to pursue our birthright of pleasure, rest, abundance and thriving–even when it feels unfathomable. 

    Real and imagined fear are debilitating. Let’s consider the possibility of getting back to our powerful true selves by transmuting life’s trials and fears into wisdom and compassion.