Get to know me.
(through words on a screen I wrote mostly on a random thursday night while listening to the same song on repeat)
photo by ally kroeckel (@allyk.jpg)
For someone who writes about her life constantly—I reeeaaally don’t like writing about me’s. They always feel so stale & boring. I always want to start it with for those of you who don’t know me…, but that feels weird & I don’t like it. How are you supposed to start these?
I’m Lizzie, but I’ve been known by quite a few different names throughout my life. I’m a 26-year-old third generation Angeleno. I was born in Santa Monica, grew up in La Cañada, went to college in Westchester, lived in El Segundo for a few year, & now I’m in a weird in-between where all my stuff is in storage & I live wherever I am (with my orange cat, DJ)!
I’m a Loyola Marymount University alumni, COVID Class of 2020. I picked my major, journalism, because I love to write, & I’ve always cared about current events & the news. I loved the Journalism program—I’m very proud to be of the first journalism majors to graduate from LMU. However, I’ve never had a strong desire to be a journalist. I usually tell people I was a Creative Non-Fiction Major with a concentration in photojournalism. That feels more accurate to what I studied & what I’m actually interested in.
I like to think I'm a pretty straightforward & predictable…a normal person. I love decaf oat milk vanilla lattes, In-N-Out, & anything from Trader Joe’s, but growing up I was often told I'm unique & out of the box.
When I was a child, this was one of my biggest insecurities. I hated feeling like I didn’t fit in or I was different from my peers, but the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve come to understand that embracing my individuality sets me apart & continues to bless me. I still don’t quite know how I’m anything other than ordinary, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard I’ve never met anyone like you…I would be rich-y rich.
In addition to everything mentioned previously, I’m a huge fan of dark chocolate (the darker the better), pop punk music, & watching documentaries (Dear Zachary is my favorite). I’m a big Bachelor/Bachelorette girl, but I also love a conspiracy theory or Christian fundamentalism YouTube deep dive. I love tattoos (mine are in red), concerts, & cooking (let me make you pasta!!!!).
I like to spend my free time with my friends, writing, journaling, taking photos, doing & teaching yoga at CorePower, & updating my various Instagram accounts. While those are typically my go-to activities, I usually just let life happen to me. I’m not entirely spontaneous, but I am a YES woman. I love to say yes. I would describe my life as fulfilling & fun, but I’d obviously be lying if I said I lived in a constant high. But we’ll save those stories for later.
This is where I start to lose myself in these words. I used to have two paragraphs here talking about my faith, about how knowing God has been the most incredible adventure of my life. While that’s not incorrect, I feel it’s more important to say I care about justice, I care about inclusivity, I care about education. I care that Jesus stood with the poor, that Jesus was political, and that when Jesus resurrected, they revealed themselves to women & told them to spread the gospel. I care that Jesus wasn’t white & that Jesus wanted better for us. I care about churches that are supporting their congregants through deconstruction, I care about women, non-binary, & trans people being pastors, I care about the language we use. I care about the LGBTQIA+ community & I care about representation. I care about people who have a different faith than me or no faith at all. I don’t want a church that tolerates people who are different, I want a church that celebrates our differences & uplifts the voices of those who so often go voiceless.
It’s hard to call myself Christian when Christianity has become synonymous with hatred, bigotry, & Christian nationalism. I am not those things.
I am learning, evolving, & always trying to do better.
I am not perfect & I never will be.
I started this blog/website/memory box/piece of my soul when I was 17, when I was a senior in high school. It was my Independent Project, my fourth period. I wrote a lot that year, a lot of college essays, & my advisor told me I should build a website to house them. I did.
Thank you, Mr Valassidis. You changed my life when you handed me a copy of This is Water, but I’m sure neither of us knew it then.
Feel free to click around!