The Magic of Dungeons & Dragons Can Save Us—But Only If You Let It (web)

Type: Published Essay (TIME Magazine)
Role: Sole Author
Format: Online publication
Tone: Honest, reflective, a little raw
Purpose: Showcase for essay voice, cultural commentary, and hoping to impress you, are you impressed, everybody please clap

What I’ve found is that something mystical happens when you give yourself permission to play pretend. Being vulnerable and creative is a big part of it—you must trust and be trusted with what feels like subjective foolishness. But when you add these elements of collective imagination and improvisation, you create a strange alchemy that inscribes pathways in your brain, tangible as the memories of real life, even though it lives solely in the minds of a select few.