mental health in the hood

December 4, 2025

“Vision Changes the Way You Eat”

When you have a vision, even hunger becomes disciplined. Cravings don’t win anymore — purpose does. Vision changes the way you eat, the way you move, and the way you live. Continue reading

Daily Prompt

dailyprompt, Los Angeles, mental health in the hood, south central, writing
November 5, 2025

The Air Between the Notes

📓 Wednesday, October 15, 2025 — 10:42 a.m. My father laughed when I told him coffee isn’t about sugar — it’s about the bean. He asked how I knew all that. I said, I’m just curious. That’s how I learned microphones in classical music pick up air — the quiet between sounds. The first time I… Continue reading

Journal

artoflstening, blog, fatherlandson, introspection, life, life-stories, Los Angeles, mental health in the hood, poetryinprose, south central
October 28, 2025

You Don’t Have to Wait for the Storm

📓 Sunday, October 19, 2025 — 4:39 p.m. El Mercadito, East L.A. There’s a woman who always buys from me. She’s in her forties — kind eyes, warm smile, a little tired. Her mother usually runs a stall here at El Mercadito, but she’s in Mexico right now, getting treatment. So the daughter’s been holding… Continue reading

Journal

#ElMercadito, #melancholy, #rainydays, #soulofthecity, #urbanpoetry, #writerscommunity, blog, east la, grief, hope, humanity, life, Los Angeles, love, mental health in the hood, poetry, quiet moments, reflection, south central, storytelling, street stories, writing
October 17, 2025

The Guardian Code: Breaking the Loop, Building the Light

by Roberto Sánchez I just felt like writing, so I did. From the side of my van – side doors open. Surrounded by boxes, deliveries, and noise. I wrote anyway. My van is sometimes my studio. I was driving through L.A. today, the city doing what it does best — pretending it’s not falling apart.… Continue reading

Journal

#BreakingTheLoop, #BuildingTheLight, #ForgivenessJourney, #LifeInMotion, #PlasticMan, #TheGuardianCode, #writerscommunity, blog, faith, family, god, healing, introspection, journal entry, life, Los Angeles, love, mental health in the hood, south central, writing
October 15, 2025

A Morning with My Father

Today when I went to eat breakfast in the house, I saw my dad sitting there. He looked down. He looked sad. I felt it. I put my hands on his shoulders and asked, “¿Estás bien?” I tried to clown a little—tried to break the weight. He said, “Yeah.” But my mom, casual with a… Continue reading

Journal

blog, family, life, Los Angeles, mental health in the hood, south central, writing
October 14, 2025

“While It Rains in L.A.”

It’s been raining all day. I’ve got a bucket out to catch the leaks — little echoes of the storm, steady and calm. Yesterday, my brother and I watched F1 for the first time together. He’d seen it before, but this time something hit different. There’s that scene — the one where Pitt’s character starts… Continue reading

Journal

blog, brotherhood, faith, family, film, god, growth, healing, heartbreak, journaling, life, Los Angeles, love, mental health in the hood, rain, reflection, romance, south central, writing
October 12, 2025

“Shit was not good today — shit happens sometimes.”

📓 Tuesday, August 5, 2025 – 6:47 p.m. Today, I woke up positively, like I’ve been doing lately. A little tired, since I’ve been having a hard time sleeping at night. Don’t know why. Some might say it’s the past on my mind. Or maybe I’m overthinking the future. Sometimes it feels like something touches me.… Continue reading

Journal

bilingual-writing, blog, creative-writing, faith, family, fiction, god, journaling, life, Los Angeles, love, mental health in the hood, philosophy, reflection, south central, spirituality, storytelling, writing
September 23, 2025

“Listening”

📓Tuesday, September 23, 2025 — 11:36 a.m. Listening. Listening to Under Pressure by Queen — the line “la, la Saturday night.” Always hits me in a strange felicity way. The other night I was talking to my mom about how impressive Charlie Kirk is—how he started his whole thing 12 years ago with nothing more… Continue reading

Journal

blog, faith, fiction, god, life, love, mental health in the hood, south central, writing
August 16, 2025

From South Central to Wherever the Pavement Runs 🥷 — A Hood Chronicle

THE BLADE South Central – Past Ten A strip of Figueroa that, in daylight, is just another stretch in South Central — schools, mechanic shops, liquor stores. The women — ladies of the night, the blade’s own night shift — are there too, scattered like shadows in daylight. At night, those shadows grow and overtake… Continue reading

Hood Chronicles

fiction, hood, life, LifeInLA, mental health in the hood, short-stories, shortsStories, south central, street life, the-blade, urban, urban-stories, writing
August 14, 2025

First Kiss Remembered

Written and illustrated by Roberto Sánchez From my memoir-in-progress, “I Am He” The bathroom light was too white — the kind that stings your eyes. My father’s favorite color. His mistress. To me, white has always felt like emptiness. I stood in that glare, facing a trifold mirror. Tilted the side panels to catch my… Continue reading

Journal

blog, books, faith, family, fiction, god, love, mental health in the hood, music, romance, writing

About Me

I’m Roberto Sanchez — illustrator, writer, and delivery driver in Los Angeles.

By day, I sell plastic bags out of a van across South Central.

By night, I draw, write, and build my life brick by brick.

I graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2022 with a BFA in Illustration, but art has never been just school to me. It’s survival, reflection, and expression. My illustrations come slow — patience is part of the work.

I live and create out of a converted garage.

That small room became Echoes of the Garage — the place where I put words, drawings, and the pieces of a life I’m rebuilding one step at a time.

Here you’ll find journal entries, Hood Chronicles, and visual experiments that try to capture the absurd, the painful, and the human in everyday life.

This is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.

This site is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.