Filed under: Foreign Affairs, Entry No. 1

As a Black American woman living and working in Spain, I’ve learned that “cultural differences” show up in the boardroom—and the bedroom.

After over a decade of practicing immigration law in Dallas, navigating complex cases and helping people move across borders, I found myself on a migration of my own—toward healing, softness, and self-discovery.

What they don’t tell you is that it's a rollar-coster ride. Being a multi-disciplinary artist and a lawyer is that sometimes, your own body becomes the battleground. One-half of me knows how to write a compelling legal brief and command a courtroom. The other half wants to finger-paint my dreams onto a canvas, dance barefoot on my Spanish ceramic floors, and disappear into the rhythm of poetry.

Most days, I live somewhere in the paradox. 🤯  And that paradox is what brought me here—to Barcelona. 

Here, I create art. I write. I feel. I heal.

I also trip over language, mistranslate love, and try to date with Spanish men knowing that I am sister Soulja. (A nickname my friends call me.)  

So I’ve decided to start a new series: PART PERSONAL, PART POETIC, always honest!

It’s about what it’s like to live in a body shaped by trauma, raised in the American South, trained in legalese, and now living in a country where siestas and soft masculinity are an actual lifestyle.

This series will explore things like: 

🖤 Dating internationally 

🎨 What it means to heal through art when you’re trained to argue with facts

🌍 And how cultural identity, race, and attachment styles collide in quiet, everyday ways

It’s messy. It’s funny. It’s tender.

It’s a space for all of us who live at the intersection of ambition, artistry, and emotional reparenting. If you’ve ever been the strong one learning how to rest, or the professional trying to trust her inner child, you might find something in here for you. “Because sometimes, your next great love story starts with a visa, a silk head-wrap, and a little voice that says, ‘Go.’”

Follow along. I’m just getting started.

📸 @GabrielleZimmerman