emilyisalive
the girl
pisces sun
i've been trying my whole life to become the person i want to be. the other day i was leaving the house to go to a dance performance of a friend of a friend in la and i was wearing black patent pumps and sunglasses even though it was the middle of february and i realized that i dreamed of doing this when i was six watching reruns of The Nanny. becoming who you're meant to be is no easy task. it takes a great deal of meandering and crying and stretching and strengthening. my best friends have loved me into the person i am today and i'm sure new people will love me into the person i am tomorrow.
i was five years old when we moved to oregon from california, and we lived at my grandpa's house (pictured here) for a few months. i have so many fond memories from that time. each morning i would sneak out of bed and scare him in the kitchen. i'd also ask for a dog every single day. said dog pictured here whom they let me name. i named him domino because he had a white spot on his chest which promptly disappeared. i would do gymnastics in his living room and one year i made him a scrapbook with all of our family in it. i grew up in lake oswego which is a small town in the suburbs of portland, or. i went to the same high school as my dad (go pacers!). all my immediate family lived within a few miles of my house. most of them are still there.
i moved to la in 2019 to study contemporary dance and business at LMU. my dream has always been to dance professionally. i achieved that dream sooner than expected (thank you taryn vander hoop) when i performed at LADP in feb 2024 with summation dance, but it didn't make me feel like i thought it would. In late 2024, i got my 200 YTT certification. i taught at a few studios on the west side, and met my biggest inspiration, friend, and mentor leah soboroff. i currently work in the wellness industry, but am seeking a more fulfilling role working in entertainment, creation, and production. i'm eager to learn and i really value having mentors in my life to learn from and confide in.
i find it increasingly difficult to describe myself as i age when it seems like it should only be getting easier. i'm detail oriented. i'm prosocial. i'm pragmatic and logical. i'm politically passionate but not always up to date. i'm a lover of big words and interesting uses of language. i'm a night owl and a foodie (derogatory). i'm an aesthete and a creative and an animal lover and a loyal friend. my love language is quality time by a mile. i go back to oregon a few times a year and i have a theory that you can differentiate if a person is from a place with seasons or not based on how they handle mild to moderate feelings of depression (not clinically backed). every new year's eve i stay in and prep my bullet journal for the new year and drink martinelli's sparkling cider. the only thing i want for my birthday is to eat a delicious dinner with my parents or my best friends. i love dinosaurs. i love dogs. i wish i was exactly who i want to be. i know if i was, i'd feel lost and directionless. i know the best and worst is ahead of me.
-ek
