More later but…happy closing to my first broadways show πβ
Posted @withregram • @potusbway FML it's over. What a journey this has been!
This time last year I was in labor. I was part-way through a 68-hour labor that brought a darkness into my existence that I had never known. As the hours passed, dream after dream I had carefully prepared and hoped for in bringing my child into this world was gone.
I have suffered multiple dislocations, car accidents, broken/sprained bones, surgery - drops in the bucket compared to the excruciating flood of relentless pain that disconnected me from my human self. I was gone during that pain because to have been present would have been to lose myself.
After 54 hours I got an epidural. But between 54 and 68 hours, darkness fell and infection burned. I was hot with fever and my baby’s heart rate was rising and plummeting. It took 67 hours for me to get to nine and a half centimeters but we were not willing to risk any more. I went to the O.R.
My skin was ripped from my back while removing the epidural, I lost a lot of blood, and I was covered in bruises from shots. I have never felt more destroyed in my life. And I still struggle with this event. My postpartum had/has continued grief and darkness from everything this birth was and wasn’t.
I couldn’t look at my scar for months. It was the ugliest reminder of everything that was lost. Of pain I still can’t understand. Do not kid yourselves about recovery from c-sections. It is major surgery and it was part of my nightmare.
It has taken consistent therapy, my beloved partner @jakeinnyc, God, and lots of meditation/prayer/body work but this week during a session focusing on my stomach and scar with @kneading.norashment, I had a shift. I connected with my scar and was able to thank it for the first time. Because that scar gave me my Junho. And without it I’m not sure where we’d be.
I share this for my own empowerment but also to bring light to what birth experience is for some people. To have bodies and minds that do not experience childbirth creating legislation around it breaks my heart and echoes tauntingly in the dark hollow of my inner trauma.
The less we say, the less our experience is honored.
So hear me:
I hate my scar.
I love my scar.
But thankfully we contain multitudes.
Junho’s Doljanchi/Korean 1st birthday celebration part Iβ¨
We celebrated a little early so that it could be with family and I will always cherish this beautiful celebration we had.
Every element on the table is symbolic of different wishes for the baby’s life: abundance, fortune, long life, etc. And Junho went all in with choosing her Doljabi object that “predicts” her life by choosing the medallion that symbolizes fortune and high status! π
My mom also gave her a traditional gold ring and bracelet πβ¨
HOW IS SHE ALMOST A YEAR OLD πππ
#doljanchi
#koreanbaby
#culture
#tradition
#firstbirthday
#birthdaymonth
One of the most precious videos of my life - coming up after my last show of my broadway debut week to everyone cheering up the stairwell. As is apparent, I could barely SPEAK I was so moved.
AND I’M ABOUT TO BE ON THAT STAGE AGAIN!!! ππ
β¨β¨β¨This weekend, July 22-24, folx! I’m on for Dusty!β¨β¨β¨
Get rush tickets at the box office, get TDF tickets, I have a friends and family discount…but come!
π₯: @giselachipe
#broadway
#potus
#bipoconbroadway
#apidaproud
TFW you hair model for your show’s hair supervisor and get mad badass energy you didn’t know you needed.
The goal was: Villian
Every piece was made by hand and hair was designed/styled by the amazing Sunju Kim πͺ
#hairdesign
#tinyvillian
#issavibe
Eleven months of β¨joyβ¨ and inspiration to fight for a better and more equitable world.
My heart my heart my heart.
#Junho
#elevenmonths
#myeverything
The past week had Asian Excellence of epic proportions.
On the evening that Roe v Wade was overturned, I was blessed with being in the company of @notreallysuzy, @iamannharada, and June Angela at @potusbway; women who have blazed the path for APIDA women in the arts with their talent rising to the top amidst an industry that undoubtedly threw barriers to overcome and glass ceilings to break through, over and over again. Ceilings that were then thinner for those of us behind as they helped carve out space for us with their badassery. I bow down at their strength and for all that I owe them. πππΌβοΈ
And then the beautiful community of APIDA folx the other day joyfully claiming our space as we supported the broadway cast of @intothewoodsbroadway with six Asian people in the cast of a “non-Asian” story. It’s sadly not common but we showed up to put our energy towards *making* it common.
I admit to feeling helpless and hopeless at times these days but I keep reminding myself to focus my energy towards the positive change and momentum that I care about. I say this as a reminder to myself, frankly, but it DOES matter. Where you put your energy DOES matter.
So make it count, y’all. β
#APIDA
#ADIPAproud
#bipoconbroadway
#womenofbroadway
#pioneers
They can’t steal all our joy, y’all.
The JOY of seeing friends in their TONY-NOMINATED roles and the way they inspire others πππβ
So grateful for this added #pride performance and the beautiful success of this show and @lmorganlee and @jandymorri! Ending this week with my heart soothed by the extraordinary human experience of @strangeloopbway πβπ
#bigblackqueerassamericanbroadway
#pride
#grateful
There is no greater gift than being with a partner who grows as life goes. @jakeinnyc has stepped forward into the role of being Junho’s father with such enormous love and joy and I could not be more grateful. He has zero days off because he’s either a ft teacher or a ft dad on the weekends as *I* work but there is nary a complaint.
Jake, you are such a beautiful dad - what a joy to share parenting with you π
#firstfathersday
#dadday
#junhojoy
Belated Tony dump bc of course the baby wakes up three hours after you have an extremely rare night out and you have a reading presentation the next day π€ͺ
Also, have you even been to an awards show if you haven’t pumped there? (That’s the saying, right…?) #visibility #noshameinmypumpinggame
Wild and wonderful. I think I’m mostly seeing straight now.
ππMU: @carolinebaribeau @bridesbycaroline
β¨Earrings: @nataliafedner
#momsofbroadway
#tonyawards
#bipoconbroadway
#potus
#aapiproud
Could not be more thrilled for and proud of @katieparkerpics β¨
Plus I love *anything* that brings her to NYC ππ₯°
@tribecafilmfestival
#premiere
#gokatiego
#womenoffilm
#chosenfamily
Literally the most epic pic to close out this year’s AANHPI heritage month - the #AsianExcellence of WOMEN in @potusbway from opening night. Lighting designer Sonoyo Nichikawa @scm178, myself, costume designer Linda Cho, PA Kai Liebenstein @kailiebe_ , actor Suzy Nakamura @notreallysuzy, and company manager Reanne Barrett @reannederful. (Missing assistant director Naomi Kakuk @newgirlnaomi!)
Asian women in all different positions who all made this incredible show happen. Good GOD, am I honored πββ¨
#aanhpi
#aanhpiheritagemonth
#womenintheater
#bipoconbroadway
#asianexcellence2022
#potus
#broadway
Thanks for the share @potusbway πβ
Not the most articulate I’ve ever been but read on for more details ππ
#aapiheritagemonth
#aanhpi
#womenonbroadway
#bipoconbroadway
Posted @withregram • @potusbway #POTUSBway understudy @hurricanehelmi on her opening night look:
"My modern Korean hanbok made by @danha.official was personalized by the incredible @janamorimoto.
Jana brought to life a dream I had of carrying the six AAPI women who were murdered in the Atlanta shootings with me on this platform. So they know they are not forgotten. She made six strips of silk and hand painted their names on them.
Before the Atlanta shootings, Jana and I had marched together and she contributed beautifully to a vigil I coordinated in Queens to make a community tree where people who attended could write an intention based on the prompt “No Matter What”.
Then the Atlanta shootings happened. The following night, Jana and I held each other at a vigil in Queens surrounded by AAPI community as well as allies.
I knew Jana was the perfect person for this idea not only bc she’s worked costumes and wardrobe on Broadway and has a master’s degree from Columbia, but because of her heart and spirit.
Thank you, Jana, for helping me honor these lives lost. May the light of our collaborative resilience shine up to them in heaven."
I am so grateful to have participated in this inspirational panel with @levelforward, @votemamafdn, and @potusbway before we heard about the horrifying shooting in Uvalde.
We spoke as women who see the injustices against mothers running for office. We spoke as women who see the way our skill sets of being multi-tasking “supermoms” spun negatively as being spread too thin, making us less capable. We spoke as women accused of using their children as props instead of recognizing the necessity of child care when resources were denied.
We spoke as mothers who lead with the health, well-being, and happiness of our children being first and foremost.
The nightmare of Uvalde only drives home the lack of empathy and compassion in the leadership of our country.
I dare you to find a person who has physically birthed a human to not fight for gun control to protect children.
I dare you.
Call your representatives.
#guncontrolnow
#momsinpower
#momsofpower
#protectourchildren
Slide 1: Thrilled to join @levelforward and rep @potusbway tomorrow to talk about why we need more women, and even more specifically, *mothers*, in positions of leadership.
Slide 2: the why behind my everything.
#leadlikeamother
#womenintheater
#levelforward
#motherhoodispolitical
#bipocleadership
#strongasamother
Sending love to my Black siblings - how can I be of support?
There is so much to be outraged about, folx - don’t let it become a competition. ππ
#blacklivesmatter
#banassaultweapons
Weeping. Thank you, @danieldaekim π°π·β
I knew I wanted my child to have a Korean name because it felt so important to me for them to carry on and embody their Korean heritage, particularly in defiance to the scapegoat language and encouraged violence against AAPI people in our country. Thankfully @jakeinnyc was in full support π
“Jun” (pronounced “Joon”, no diphthong) means “talented, handsome”
“Ho” (pronounced “Hoh”, no diphthong) means “bright, summer, sky, heaven”
β¨μ€νΈβ¨
I pray the Junho is always proud of a name that we constructed with such care and love. I pray that our care and love will always shine through to others as they learn how to say it.
Junho (“Joon-oh”) Leihans (“Lions”)
Happy AAPI heritage ββ¨
#whatsinaname
#aapiproud
#aapiheritagemonth
@jakeinnyc
Posted @withregram • @danieldaekim Just like us, #ournamesbelong.
Thank you to @proctergamble for this #ad celebrating #apahm with us.
For those who may be curious, the name I was born with is κΉλν, pronounced “Geem Day Hyun.” (If you know the car company Hyundai just switch the syllables. :)
Like many other Asian immigrants, when my family came to the US my parents added a western name to make it easier for non-Koreans to pronounce. The name they chose was “Daniel” because they liked the meaning and the fact that the “D” sound in Daniel was the same as my first name in Korean, Dae Hyun.
Both my names represent the best of who I am as a Korean and an American. I couldn’t be prouder to be both. πΊπΈπ°π·