Off the Page: Featuring Kim Thai

"Sharing my own personal experience, seeing how my work can help shift someone’s life or affirm they are not alone in their suffering has been lifechanging."

For over two decades, I have supported writers as an editor, publicist, and mindfulness-based book coach, at various publishing houses, universities, corporations, and organizations. Through this journey, I’ve discovered that the quality of a writing life extends far beyond merely putting words on a page. It encompasses all the activities we engage in when we’re not writing. This insight inspired me to create Off the Page: Conversations About Writing as a Practice, where I feature writers sharing their diverse routines—from yoga and meditation to walking, reading, and even Olympic weightlifting. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to writing, and there are as many ways to forge a writing life as there are humans on the planet.

This week, I’m thrilled to feature a beloved member of the Narrative Healing Community Kim Thai who will be a featured speaker in my upcoming retreat at Omega Institute “Listen to Your Ancestors” October 18-20 - join us here!

ABOUT: Kim Thai is a writer, Emmy-award winning producer, community organizer, and an educator of the heart. She is dedicated to rewriting the limiting narratives that we tell about ourselves and each other through mindfulness practices and sharing her own story as a first-gen Queer Asian woman. Her personal mission is to empower people with liberatory practices so we may all live with ease and joy. She is the founder of Joyful Liberation Collective, a grassroots community organization that creates liberatory spaces to transform oppression into personal joy, community care, and social awareness. Her personal essays on identity and healing have been published in New York Magazine’s The Cut, Newsweek, Buzzfeed and many other publications. I have spoken and been featured on MTV News, Dear White Women podcast, and Authority Magazine; reported for FORTUNE, USA Today, and the Associated Press among others. Her Substack “Everyday Magic” explores the joys and complexities of healing, and provides Buddhist insight and reflections. kimthai.substack.com

Lisa Weinert (LW): How is writing healing?  

Kim Thai (KT): For me, writing is healing because it’s an opportunity for us to reclaim our stories, reclaim the narratives we tell ourselves which basically means we are reshaping and rewriting the world we live in. That is radical and restorative for me. 

LW: What is the difference between “traditional writing” and “writing with a healing intention?:

KT: What a great question! For me it’s the difference in experience. I’ve made a career out of storytelling my whole life and there’s a difference between writing something for output versus being of service — both to me and the reader. I think that’s made the world of difference for me because of focusing on how many pages I haven’t written, I can instead focus on my relationship to the story I’m writing, look at how I’m showing up for myself both on the page and at my writing desk. That’s been incredibly liberating for me and been a great way for me to let go of my ego, my insecurities, the what ifs and instead just take stock in how does telling this story feel in my body? My heart? Am I telling this in a way that is nourishing for me? 

LW: What role does movement play in your writing life? Do you return to any somatic practices, mindfulness exercises, or other rituals before or after you write?

KT: I have such a disciplined sitting practice and thought something structured would be a good container for my writing but I actually found that I write best when I just let my brain rest. I usually let an idea percolate and form for days, maybe even weeks now before I put pen to paper. I find that when my brain isn’t exactly “working” on a piece, there’s more spaciousness for creativity, for play, and for my thoughts and words to formulate — and most importantly, it’s that space that makes it possible for me to write from a place of authenticity, vulnerability, and what I hope is a universal truth. 

LW: What role does meditation play in your creative life?

KT: I think meditation plays a vital role in my life, period. I sit pretty much every day, and when I can’t sit (for whatever reason), I make sure I go for a mindful walk and reconnect with nature, or I listen to practice songs from Plum Village that reinforce the dharmic teachings that shape my life. I say this to say that I think a mindfulness practice can show up in so many different ways — not just meditation — and I hope that people find their way to what feels good to them. I write about this a lot in my mindfulness newsletter (you can subscribe here!). I just think understanding where you’re at and what makes you unique is so important in cultivating a personal practice for meditation or otherwise. 

LW: Where do you find inspiration?

KT: Tough Q! I think I find the most inspiration from other art or seeing other humans do work I truly admire — whether that’s a painter capturing a moment and visually expressing it in a way I would have never thought of or seeing an activist continue to show up for the causes they believe in. Seeing what my mind perceives as impossible actually be possible really lights my heart on fire. ❤️‍🔥 

LW: How has sharing your work changed your life?

KT: Sharing my story has been validating and affirming. Not just in the “oh maybe I am a good writer” way but more so, knowing that my work can and has been of service. Whether it’s providing mindfulness practices or sharing my own personal experience, seeing how my work can help shift someone’s life or affirm they are not alone in their suffering has been lifechanging for me. It has given me purpose and I’m forever grateful for every reader I have for giving me the faith that I am walking my Bodhisattva path and being of service to others in my own unique way. 

LW: What writers have influenced you the most?

KT: I love reading a wide scope of writers, but generally stay in the non-fiction space and are particularly drawn to writers who affirm my identity, my experiences, and my suffering. Audre Lorde has made an indelible mark on my consciousness and the way I think about the world. Ocean Vuong showed me that the Vietnamese American experience can be exquisitely told using both heartbreaking and luscious language.  Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh for sharing the dharma in a way that has touched so many of us — so much that it has changed the way I live. 

LW: What book are you excited to read next?

KT: I’m one of those people who has a stack of books I want to read EVERYWHERE. I just started bell hooks’ All About Love which I’m really excited to dig into and explore the ways we can love more and better. Also am revisiting Maxine Kingston Hong’s Warrior Woman (a recommendation from you Lisa!) and finishing up Healing Our Way Home from my teachers Kaira Jewel Lingo, Dr. Marisela Gomez and Valerie Brown. 

LW: Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

KT: Just that I’m so grateful to the Narrative Healing community and to Lisa through the years. If you had told me four years ago, that my personal essays would be in New York Magazine and Buzzfeed or that I’d be working on a proposal for my upcoming book, I would have never believed you. But it’s because of the confidence this community has instilled in me — prioritizing my experience of writing first that has made the impossible possible for me. 

And shameless plug, please check out newsletter, Just One Breath., where I explore how mindfulness practices can be transformative through the lens of identity and healing.