John Janelle Backman (she/her) writes about gender identity, ancient spirituality (mostly Christian and Zen), the everyday strangeness of karma, and whatever else comes to mind. Janelle's personal essays have appeared in Catapult, HerStry, Typehouse Literary Magazine, Tiferet Journal, and Amethyst Review, among other places. She's also written a book (Why Can’t We Talk? Christian Wisdom on Dialogue as a Habit of the Heart, under John Backman). Find her on the web at www.backmanwriter.com.