In the Bay Area, winter is a season of crescendoes- sudden downpours and unexpected sunbursts stagger the days to keep them from flowing by, and the quiet tension of fog lingers just long enough to hold the world in suspense. Nature seems to hold its breath, only to exhale in paroxysms— a downpour, a rosy sunrise, a fierce gust of wind— reminding us that even in its stillest season, the world is never truly at rest.

Paroxysm is everywhere. It's in the first breath of icy air that jolts you awake on a winter morning and the fierce joy of laughing until you're breathless. It's in the fire of an argument that erupts without warning, the flood of tears that follows along - held silence, and the sharp inhale before you leap into the unknown. Just as storms carve new paths through the mountains that surround us, these moments of unrestrained energy leave their mark, reshaping who we are.

In Volume 6: Paroxysm, we embrace the tumultuous nature of emotion and change. This issue is a celebration of crescendos- the turbulence of goodbyes; the exhilaration fireworks leave in their wake; the confrontations between ourselves and our inner demons. We unwind the tension of the quiet that comes both before and after peaks of emotion, ultimately leaving us with a better understanding of our own beginnings.

As you turn these pages, we hope you will find echoes of your own life's paroxysms- those fleeting but vivid moments when the world feels most alive. Let this issue remind you that in every outburst, our world forever in emotion also contains the capacity of transforming into something extraordinary.