Sincerely Yours

Today marks five beautiful years of our journey together. Looking back, I’m truly thankful for everything we’ve poured into this relationship, the laughter, the tears, the love, and even the lessons. It hasn’t always been easy, but here we are, still choosing each other. And I hope we’ll continue to do so for the rest of our lives. Life isn’t like the perfect love stories we see in TikTok, K-Dramas or BL series. Real love is messy, raw, and honest. It’s a balance of both sunshine and storms. It starts with that giddy, butterfly-filled puppy love, fooling around, sharing silly jokes, and feeling like the world is brighter just because you’re together. But it also comes with disagreements, hurt feelings, and moments of doubt. Love, I’ve learned, isn’t about avoiding those hard times but about standing side by side and working through them. It takes two people, equally committed, to make it last. A friend once told me, “The first seven years of a relationship are the hardest with constant...

  I am a castaway, Stuck in the middle of ocean. It is dark and it is cold, With no land in sight as far as my eyes can see. The waves keep pushing me further, A relentless, cruel motion. I am trying to keep myself afloat, To keep myself alive, My arms are tired, And I fear that I will drown soon. Each breath a desperate plea, A battle just to survive. Yet, all I have is the North Star, A beacon in the night's deep blue. To help me navigate, To find you, oh my land, When I am finally free from the water, And this journey is through.

A few months ago, completely out of the blue, Thinley sent me his bucket list. Rereading it now, given everything we're going through, it feels like a collection of faraway dreams. There are moments when I truly don't know if we'll pull through this challenging time, but my heart desperately wants us to. We have to. His list, simply titled "Things I Want to Do With My Husband," holds the most beautiful and uncomplicated desires: a nice date, dinner, a movie, a visit to a Lhakhang, and traveling (just the two of us). These are such simple things, the kind we often take for granted in the rush of everyday life. It truly speaks to the pure, childlike heart that Thinley has. Despite the uncertainty that looms over us, I cling to the hope that we can make every single item on that list come true. It might not be exactly as we once imagined, or on the timeline we expected, but I am committed to finding a way. Here’s how I envision us completing his precious bucket list....

Point Nemo, located in the vast Pacific Ocean, is often called the loneliest place on Earth.  The nearest landmasses, such as Antarctica is around 3,218 km and New Zealand is 4,828 km away. In fact, if you were stranded there, your closest human neighbors would likely be the astronauts aboard the International Space Station nearer than any land. This stark reality certainly paints a picture of profound physical solitude. However, the concept of loneliness is deeply subjective and stretches far beyond geographical isolation. If we were to poll people about the loneliest place, we would undoubtedly receive a different answers. For some, loneliness might be felt most acutely within the walls of their own home, surrounded by familiarity but lacking connection. For others, it could be the ache of separation from loved ones, or the profound solitude felt amidst a crowd. Oriana Fallaci, the an Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer, once remarked, "It must be terribly lone...

  They say distance separates hearts, but I think ours just learned to beat louder. Today marks one full year of being in a long-distance relationship, 365 days of holding on, showing up, and proving that love doesn’t shrink with space; it stretches, adapts, and if you're lucky, it deepens. What once felt impossible is now something we’ve lived, and are still living, one day, one call, one “goodnight” at a time. I still think about that day at the airport. The way your hand slipped out of mine. The tears neither of us wanted to let fall. The ache I carried through,  that was Day One, the beginning of this strange, beautiful, often frustrating chapter. We didn’t know if we’d last. But here we are. A year later. Stronger, closer, and even more in love. This year taught us that love doesn’t always come in fireworks or fairy tale moments. It comes in the little things. Your sleepy morning voice notes were my daily shot of warmth. My late-night texts full of memes became your las...

If you had walked toward the city bus parking in Thimphu anytime before 2024, you might have noticed a rainbow-colored flag gently swaying from the balcony of the once well-known Osang building. That flag, vibrant and full of meaning, marked the quiet but powerful presence of Bhutan’s LGBT+ movement in the heart of the capital. But now, that flag no longer flies there. We were asked by the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Authority to take it down. The reason? Our office, they explained, is neither a consulate, embassy, nor religious institution and as such, is not permitted to display any flag other than Bhutan’s national flag. While this directive is not codified into law, it seems to fall under an unwritten. Out of respect and to avoid confrontation, we complied without protest and removed the flag. But this request did not come in isolation. It came at a time when our organization was already grappling with another long-standing challenge, our ongoing struggle to register as a...

Happiest 25th Birthday, Thinley! March 19th marks Thinley’s 25th birthday, and I know just how excited he has been for this day. He even bought himself a special birthday outfit because, of course, a milestone like this deserves to be celebrated in style. But the excitement didn’t start today, he actually celebrated his birthday eve on the 18th, taking the day off just so he could kickstart the celebrations early. For past month, he had been eagerly anticipating this moment, often telling me how he wanted to celebrate in a "grand way" (his words, not mine). It was heartwarming to see that childlike joy in him, that pure enthusiasm that not even adulthood has taken away. Birthdays have always been special to him, but this one carried a different weight because it is his first birthday away from home. And while I know he’s been enjoying himself, I also know that no matter how many birthdays pass, there will always be a part of him that longs for the familiar warmth of home. Wh...

For anyone who happens to read this (if I ever have any readers, LOL), you might be wondering how someone could be so disorganized. I wouldn’t blame you. My thoughts jump from one place to another, and my blogs are all over the place, up and down, past and present, tangled like a mess I can’t quite straighten out. These past months, including right now, have been incredibly difficult. My mind keeps pulling up memories, some sharp, some hazy, but all demanding to be written down. Maybe it’s because I have no one to share them with, or maybe I just don’t know who to turn to or how to even begin. It’s not that I don’t want to talk but I just can’t seem to figure out where to start. So, I write. As I sat in my chair at work today, I reached for my usual cup of tea. It was a simple, familiar routine, yet something made me pause. As I poured the hot water, I suddenly noticed the cup on my table, an ordinary object I had used countless times without much thought. But today, for some reason, i...

I have always had a knack for writing, though I wouldn't necessarily call myself a great writer. As a student, writing was something I truly enjoyed, particularly essays. I relished essay questions because they gave me the freedom to express my ideas and creativity. Writing felt like an outlet, a way to share my thoughts and showcase my imagination. I’ve always been good with words, though I’d admit that my grammar skills were and still are rather average. Despite that, I took pride in writing articles for my school’s annual magazine and even submitted a few pieces to newspapers, of which only one or two were published. Writing, for someone like me, an introvert, has always been a means of self-expression. I’m not one to easily express emotions, and I find it challenging to communicate my feelings verbally. But with writing, I can pour out my thoughts and unspoken emotions without fear of judgment or misunderstanding. I’ve never considered myself an introvert all my life. It wasn’t...