To this day, my graduation week at Brown with my family still stands out as one of the happiest weeks of my life. At Campus Dance, my entire family danced together on the Main Green for what felt like hours without stopping, twisting our hips down until we touched the grass, dancing until the band …
Fragments from my Notes app in 2024 (and 2023 and 2022)
Three years ago, I wrote about my yearly tradition of going through the Notes app on my phone, compiling all the odd sentences, notes and phrases into a kind of end-of-the-year poem. I've continued the tradition, and wanted to share what I got from this past year -- as well as the other two years …
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Latinx Estrangement, the False Privacy of Homophobia, and De-centering Your Blood Family (Happy Holidays?)
When I look up the etymology of the word "estrangement," it brings me back to Spanish, and family, and home. The word "estrangement," comes from the Latin "extraneare" which means "to treat as a stranger." This is the same etymology of the Spanish word "extrañar", which we say when we miss someone. This means that in …
“Residency Brain” and the Coyolxauhqui Imperative
One week into my residency at Vashon Island, I feel my brain change. I recognized the feeling around the same time into my last residency in March. I love this part, the part when my brain has emptied all thoughts from life before I arrived here, and now the only thing left to process is …
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Día de Muertos, Ancestors, the Election and Deep Time
Two days before Día de Muertos, I decided I wanted to build my own ofrenda for the first time. Even growing up in an Mexican family, I had never made one myself before, and so many things about this year made me feel like it was the right time. I've been on Vashon Island for …
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A year of witnessing genocide, in ten moments
In October of last year, a few weeks into the genocide in Palestine, I wrote this post as a way to process what I witnessed. I used this prompt: “Recall the last few weeks, and observe the moments, mental pictures, scenes, or objects that pop up. Choose ten, and write them down.” I wrote it …
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Oct 27th, 2023: The last few weeks in ten moments
A few months ago, a friend introduced me to this writing prompt from Suleika Jaouad: “Recall the last twenty-four hours, and observe the moments, mental pictures, scenes, or objects that pop up. Choose ten, and write them down.” It's now my go-to prompt whenever I’m overwhelmed, and these last few weeks, it has been the …
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Notes from the forest outside of Paris
On this last trip, I wanted to spend more time exploring what France felt like outside of cities. One weekend, my friend and I took a train to Fountainbleu Forest, the second largest national forest in France. Our hike took us through nearly every season in four hours: we started in the misty woods, passing …
Notes on the Seine, ancient water, and becoming a river person
On my last night in Paris, we made an offering to the Seine. We stood looking over the edge of the bridge, staring at the glassy water flowing beneath us, and slowly tossed dried leaves of sage and rosemary into the river. Over these last five weeks, there was something beautiful about living by such …
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“Safety was never something you were meant to give yourself” — Locating my safety in the movement of a free Palestine
“As a young Jewish person I was taught to locate my safety in the idea of Israel. As a grown person, I locate my safety in the movement of a free Palestine.” – Amanda Gelender When I read this tweet a few weeks ago, I was so fascinated by this phrase, this question of where …
Amanda E. Machado 