Are & Be Creative

For there is nothing to lay hold of. I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me. Virginia Woolf, The Waves Just as the waves move and turn.... Just as the ocean is never still. Just as we make and remake. Just as we form. Over and over again. See more

There’s something very special that happens when we convene and talk about the stories that make us who we are, and when we remember the rituals that compel us to live and look at our daily lives the way we do. Last week, we talked about tradition - a topic that tugs at the heart strings just a little harder for children of immigrant parents. I would say that the truest thing about us is that we are often left to find what feels like a hidden harmony between heritage and accu...lturation. @birdsforabolition shared the beautiful story below about her great grandmother during our session. Nothing can compare to the feelings that come up when we are connecting through this common experience of uncovering all that came before us - all that makes us who we are. - - My great-grandmother, Chirag Bibi, whose name aptly translates to lady of light, had her sons secretly teach her daughters how to read and write against her husband’s will. This, so that they could write letters to her letting her know if they were safe after they got married and moved away. She defied the orders & traditions of her time to make sure her daughters had a voice and more specifically to ensure their survival. Koels were her favorite bird. Female Koels are what’s called ‘brood parasites.’ They observe the nests of other birds carefully, watching for ideal locations and timings to lay their eggs to ensure their fledglings’ survival. They meticulously, discreetly, and carefully secure their children’s future. Just like my great-grandmother. Thank you for opening your heart to us last week Kulsoom check out @birdsforabolition for the full post and the rest of Kulsoom’s beautiful writings that discuss family, humanity and more.

Think about what it must feel like to know your love is allowed. Aloud. Love is love.

There is this beautiful thing that happens when she steps into herself, into that place where she’s reaching for an even higher level of love and comfort with herself. As she’s becoming really genuinely cozy with her change. When she stops fighting the person she’s becoming and instead, embraces her - looks at her with love.... She has that energy and that creativity. When she presses pause for a moment, just to be ... In this moment, she’s not worrying about why she is the way she is or who she could have been. Her being is now. Of course, now is a culmination of the past. Her now is rooted in history. Deep and entangled. A history of memories. Rich and thick. A history that leans on meaning in such a way that it still remains independent of all that she’s inscribed on everything that’s ever happened. Everything that will happen.

In week 10 of #writeyourheartout we explored MIRRORS. Mirrors are all around us. Not just the glass mirrors we look into before we leave the house in the morning, or the car window we check ourself out in as we go about our day.... Mirrors are the people and experiences that reflect us back to ourselves. For a mirror to work, light is required, and in the spiritual world mirrors are symbolic of this light - its wisdom and awareness. Mirrors are symbols and carriers of truth - if we’re willing to look into them and ourselves long enough to see that truth. When we choose to look within, we intentionally access the space between our conscious and unconscious. The deeper we go, the more truth there is, ready to reveal itself in all of its gorgeousness, ugliness, confusion, happiness. In all of its murkiness and all of its luminescence - our greatest truths aren’t out there, but in here . Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt like there was something different about you, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it? That’s because you’re transforming because you’re healing. This is the power of reflection, when we’re open to it. Mirrors really are all around us, and they’ll show us what we’re willing to see. The original artwork is by Jan Davidsz de Heem (17th century).