What are We Untangling? | Start Here

A reintroduction and roadmap + a bonus gift if you upgrade (today only)

Hello and welcome to The Untangling, a haven for you to untangle identity, trauma, and broken narratives.

This is where we question beliefs—cultural, social, religious, familial—and why we believe them.

Fundamentalist Christianity, traditional East Asian values, mental and chronic illness, and experiencing all kinds of trauma shaped who I grew up to be.

I have spent over the last decade untangling who I was told to be from who I truly am. Perhaps you are searching for freedom, too.

You will not find single-dimensional viewpoints here. If that’s what you are looking for, this is not the publication for you. I am not one thing, and often anger everyone by questioning both/all sides.

However, you are very welcome here, even if we disagree!!

I am making space for us to question, discuss, unwind, and rewind those tangled parts of our souls, together.

This is for you.

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Occasional essays and my monthly recommendations.

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This is where the magic happens.

• Exclusive access to all essays on grief, mental illness, trauma, and opinions from angles you may not have thought of

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If a subscription is not your style but you’d like to show your support, I have other ways you can earn a paid comp. See this page for more details.

We are a Fellowship

Words hold power. So does your village. Without mine, I never would have found the courage to free my writing from the bars of my personal journals.

And obviously I am a Lord of the Rings nerd.

The Fellowship set out on a quest to rid the world of an evil force. They come together from vastly different backgrounds for a common purpose, and in so doing, forge bonds that last lifetimes. Each member continues to fight for goodness, even after the Fellowship splinters, even when they don’t know whether the others are still fighting or even alive. Each does his own part anyway, and because of their combined efforts, the darkness is defeated.

This is what I hope to convey in this space: that in some small way, and in spite of our differences, I am working to lighten my little corner of the world; may this give you courage to keep fighting, too.

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

—J. R. R. Tolkien

Yeah, but who are you?

Here follows an introduction of sorts:

I am a deep feeler who likes to pretend I feel nothing. I am a lover of books, particularly those written by authors dead at least twenty years. I am more at home among a grove of trees than a crowd of people. I live far too much in my own head. I have been described as reserved, intense, and heartless. While the facets making up a whole person change from time to time, certain core things remain the same.

I have always been fairly resilient to tides that tell me what I ought to be, but I am still a person with feelings. I am not immune to the opinions and criticisms of others. But I am also learning to treasure my own voice. I would rather have a hundred readers in whom I have found a kindred spirit, than a thousand who don’t really care about me.

My name is Tiffany. I’m a literary fiction, fantasy, and memoir author. My writing has been published by The Cultivation Project and Renewal Missions. I’ve been writing this publication, The Untangling, since 2023, and is a Substack bestseller. Order my books here.

What Readers Say

Tiffany writes from a deeply personal perspective on literature, parenting, and mental health. She also occasionally shares her original fiction. A wonderful, heartfelt, and giving publication. Not to be missed.

— Matthew Long

Tiffany’s writing is like the gift of a warm fire on a winter’s night. A poignant alchemy of all layers of the experiences and emotions that make up the human condition, her words will continue to resound in your heart long after your first encounter with them.

— Suyin Tan

Now and then you find an authentic writer who says what you've been feeling or wanting to say yourself. That's what Tiffany's writing offers ... along with refreshing shares of other great writers and reads. A must read in your inbox each week.

— Shawn Fink

This is my first time sharing this, but these words by Tiffany Chu left me weeping at an airport. To hide my tears, I pretended to be asleep the entire plane ride… When I got home, I told my family I was ready to open my heart and to write again.

— Heidi Tai

You did well at carefully and thoughtfully navigating a very controversial and emotionally activating topic. That's not easy to do, but I'm not surprised at your capacity for articulating this with tenderness. You always hold space for dichotomous realities, and I deeply appreciate that about you.

— Jeannie Ewing

So here we are, strangers from distant lands, friends of old. Whether you are just passing through or you stay awhile, let this be a haven of sorts while you are here.

With Love,