P.S. A relaunch is here!
what relaunching as 'Postscript' in Summer 2025 means
After a nearly two-year (unplanned) hiatus from Substack, I have dusted off my notebooks with excitement to relaunch Migrant Middle under a new title called ‘Postscript’. The ultimate meaning and origins of this name will come in a later post, but here is some of what’s been on my brain so far this year.
2025 has been vivid in my memory. In January, we witnessed two unprecedented regional fires that shook Los Angeles to its core, from west to east. I was in the final month of my pregnancy, patiently counting down the weeks to meet our precious baby girl. 2025 marks 20 years remembering someone special, and it’s the same year we inaugurated a returning president who shall remain unnamed.
Becoming a mother has allowed me time and space to reflect on what it means to be ‘mom’ with a career in a fast-moving, complex world. This new phase of life has taught me that the transitions will always be there, that in the midst of all of them, I can still chase my dreams.
I’m finding several overlaps with memory lately. From becoming obsessed with scrapbooking, printing hard copies of photos (who does that anymore?), taking videos to capture the sounds of today, to reminiscing on my childhood memories so I can share them with my daughter. Memory has been driving these long days and nights bringing new life into the world.
With memory at the front of mind, along with daily ritual (like reteaching myself to make my grandma’s morning chai) and routines (diaper changes, wake windows, sleep schedules are where the fun is at!) I am recommitting myself to writing via Postscript. You’ve likely written P.S. at the end of an email with a thought you forgot to mention in your body text, which is the exact idea of Postscript. I’m here to share thoughts, musings, ideas, and notes about my work at Project Samsara (PS for short) – a landscape design and public art studio born from the belief that design is a form of stewardship. Working with families, institutions, and communities, we co-create outdoor spaces that are both intimate and expansive. I will be writing to grow a community of friendships with anyone interested in sharing memories as thought pieces or a space we design and build together in the future.
Postscript will be home to five sub-sections:
Migrant Middle will have personal reflections on transience, identity, and placemaking while in motion.
Stories of Space will include essays centered on people’s lived relationships with public space, blending memoir, observation, and critique.
Plant Diaries will include mini essay about the etymology, cultural symbolism, urban significance of plants. You might learn about the cardamom seed pod and the tulsi tea leaf since chai is so important to my daily energy.
Lessons from Practice will include case studies, reading lists, educational content, workshops, and recent lessons learned with clients, communities, and students.
Seasonal Reflections will include quarterly posts that align urban rhythms with seasonal changes.
These sections have been carefully curated to highlight Project Samsara’s ethos, historical grounding, and process.
A Postscript post will *hopefully* be published every other week. No promises, just hopes. Looking forward to see how we grow with the rest of 2025!
