The Interspect?
“Interspect” isn’t a word in the most technical sense. “Introspect” (intro + spect) means to look internally and examine your thoughts and feelings. "Intersect” (inter + sect) refers to the action of two or more things passing each other. Thus inter + spect can be understood as the action of examining how two or more things exist in relation to one or more people.
My intent for this space is to take a step back from the mania of the 24/7 news cycle, identify stories I believe more people should be better informed on, and help readers to draw connections between the headlines and their daily lives.
Why?
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What?
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Who?
While it’s likely most people reading this are close friends or acquaintances with some familiarity with who I am, but in the oft chance I am attracting readers…
I was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1988 to a young white woman from Indiana and a young Mexican American man from El Paso, too. My parents “split” when I was about 6 months old, and. due to a number of factors, my writing discusses more deeply…I moved around Texas a lot as a child.
My mom and I moved to Dallas, and I lived there from Kindergarden through 2nd grade. That summer, I moved to El Paso to live with my dad, and was there from 3rd grade until a month into my 8th grade year. I then moved to Houston with my mom for the remainder of 8th grade, and my first year of high school. I ended my finished off my state-wide tour by moving to San Antonio with my dad and finishing my last three years of high school there, before moving to Austin for college. El Paso → Dallas → El Paso → Houston → San Antonio. Two elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools, with no two in the same city.
Years of therapy has helped me begin to understand the impact of such a uniquely unstable childhood had on me…but for some time I have utilized the social survival skills forged from having to constantly reintroduce myself to new people. I learned early on the parts about me that had the broadest appeal to people I was meeting. The Pre-9/11 American allow my parents to fly me between cities the visit the other parent relatively easily. That constant travel put me into frequent contact with adults, who I would usually charm into speaking with me about any of the number of things I was interested in. Years and years of this kind of travel, and years and years of moving to new schools and meeting new teachers, counselors, and students meant I developed sharp communication skills. Most of all, living in 4 of the U.S’s (not just Texas’) largest, most racially diverse, politically complicated, and socially dynamic cities before I was 18, gifted me with the ability to understand different and competing perspectives that most of my peers had too stable of life to experience themselves.
How?
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
What?
My first version of this page was anchored in an exchange I had with “Senator” Rafael “Ted” Cruz. While questioning him about his use of taxpayer funds to cosplay as a shock jock a la a podcast, I told notice he looked a mess and told him to “fix your tie.” Given that he prefers taking orders from a more masculine male than himself, he instinctively followed. That moment stuck with me for some time, both because of the reaction it got from my brief moment of internet virality, but because of how accurately it represented some of my own social instincts that I take for granted.
My intent in starting a Substack, or any type of blog for that matter, is ultimately out of a desire to take the things I know and use the skills I have developed to inform others.
