Finding Balance and Creating Expansion
I've always been a creative being. From a young age, I was constantly in my own magical world and I really felt that anything I could think of could be created. It was a great place to be and to not yet feel the imposed societal limitations.
My mom was a single parent of three, who celebrated my artistic personality and taught me how to be creative with what we had, even if it wasn’t a lot. She also instilled in us that we are all of the same value and should be treated that way and that every one of us has a story, has had different experiences and that everyone of us deserves to be seen and celebrated. These lessons follow me in all spaces and in my work.
Years ago my path evolved into visual storytelling as a documentary filmmaker and director. It felt like a coming home, like the place where I could explore and collaborate and help share authentic stories of others who's voices and stories, like mine, have been told by others for too long.
This has been a deeply fulfilling path, but for someone who feels deeply, it can be energetically heavy when exchanging and connecting with others so deeply. This is something I had to face and really learn to shift this and not exhaust myself in an already exhausting world for BIPOC. I wanted to rewrite my story to be one where I thrive, feel abundant and full so that I could bring that energy consistently to others.
What changed? I found Reiki, but really I believe Reiki found me. It kept coming up in conversations, articles, books, it was everywhere and I couldn’t ignore it. For those of you that don’t know, Reiki is a form of hands-on energy healing where a “universal energy” is transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing. I realized after becoming a practitioner I had been practicing Reiki most of my life even as early as a child, it was instinctual. I learned to really listen to myself, I realized it was always there, I just had to be still and open. I learned that the loving and patient way I showed up for others as a collaborative storyteller had to mirror how I needed to show up for myself. When I got that, a real change was made. I found balance and saw that creating art and healing naturally went together. That my work was heart centered and diving deeper into me gives me the opportunity to deepen my approach to storytelling. There was no moment that I felt that I had to choose, for me both areas expanded each other, that I could be who I wanted to be and the most important thing was that I was showing up for myself, fully.
Take the time to rewrite and reclaim your narrative — this is your story. Putting yourself first and taking care of you is the most important thing and we must find space to do it. As BIPOC womxn, we have given so much and have had so much taken from us. We must create these needed boundaries, reclaim our space, replenish unapologetically and come back to ourselves.