“My favorite is the water lily. How stainless it arises from its muddy bed! With modesty and purity, it stands with great aplomb on the clear pond.”
~Zhou Dunyi, mandarin and writer of Song Dynasty, China (1017-1073)
“No mud, no lotus.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese monk and peace activist (1926-2022)
The water lily, or lotus, symbolizes purity and truth amid corruption and confusion. It also symbolizes transcendence from suffering. As I rise from the trauma and deep suffering of my life, I find great strength in this symbolism and therefore named my newsletter after it.
At Lily Pond, you will find topics such as cross-cultural experiences, plural identities and intergenerational clashes within the immigrant communities, dysfunctional family dynamics, violence and abuse against women, relational trauma, racism, emotional repression and healing.
I love connecting with folks who have trouble fitting into the round hole of the dominant culture of society. Whether you are an immigrant, a child of immigrants, a third-culture kid, or if you belong to a marginalized population and trying to find your true identity and a sense of belonging, you are all welcome here on Lily Pond.
Lily Pond also welcomes folks who are curious and interested in decolonizing their thinking and becoming an ally to those of us who struggle to simply exist, to be seen, heard and taken seriously. Allies are so important in helping us achieve what comes easily or naturally to you.
I've worked as a journalist and editor for nearly 30 years, and in the past seven years, I helped people transform their health and wellness through my coaching practice. Today, I’m focused on helping myself and others who have experienced childhood complex trauma and narcissistic and intimate partner abuse to make sense of our common suffering, to grow emotionally and to make progress in personal healing.
I hope that through my personal experience, you will find glimpses of insights and growth that fuel your own healing journey and to discover your authentic self.
Occasionally, I publish stories of my life as a serial immigrant and how my environment shaped who I’ve become. You can find stories already published in the “Memorish” section of my Substack.
If you haven’t seen my “Start Here!” page, please head over to find out more about what you can expect to see at Lily Pond.
Here’s what some of Lily Pond’s subscribers have to say:
"Courageous, vulnerable and 'fear-walking'. Louisa's essays are graceful, gentle and open-hearted shares; a journey of self-discovery. I was drawn to her thoughts on identity, cultural influences and experiences."
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"You are incredibly diversely talented. I’ve always gravitated toward different cultures. I grew up as a missionary kid in a small Athabaskan village in northern alaska. My childhood was full of trauma. At home with religious emotionally unavailable parents and out of the home with no family to protect me. I learned to survive on my own. I related better with the gwitchin people than white. "
~ Grace Nelson
“Louisa’s post about what it’s like to live in an Asian Female Body broke my heart. Reminiscent of Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings, Louisa goes into well-researched and meticulous detail about what it’s like to live through a fetishized gaze, and what it’s like to be objectified as an Asian person, especially those who belong to a gender minority. Weaving in her personal experiences within the context of a greater systemic issue (white supremacy, of course) I found this essay to exemplify the type of hard-hitting, emotional and timely content that is representative of common values and experiences within an Asian-American context.”
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