All Essays

Seven Doors Down: Finding Your Way In

I still remember the thrill of it, sharing a thought and having someone engage, argue with it, and expand it. Sharing an interest and...

Leila Hamiles

Oct 1, 20258 min read

Tell Me Who You Love, I'll Tell You Where It Hurt

They say we choose partners who reflect our deepest desires. But more often, we choose the ones who mirror our oldest wounds. I didn’t know I was replaying the moment my village turned quiet—until I kept falling for people who walked away. In this essay, I unravel how childhood experiences shape the kind of love we seek, tolerate, and confuse for intimacy. It's about exile, abandonment, the beliefs we form in silence, and what it means to finally see the pattern for what it

Leila Hamiles

Jul 2, 20257 min read