one of the most important parts of the creative journey, even before what you make…is how deeply you know yourself. because you can only go as deep in your art as you’ve gone within yourself🫀 your patterns. your emotions. your desires. your truth. this never really ends. you’re always changing. always evolving. always becoming different versions of yourself. so learning who you are is a constant process; a relationship you keep nurturing and returning to. 🦋what’s something new you’ve been learning about yourself lately? 🦋how can you bring that into your art or your everyday creative life? and if you had to put it into words, where are you at right now? vote + share more if you feel called🌀

this past saturday, we gathered for our art & alchemy: summer soulstice event, and my heart is still so full. we intentionally created this experience to honor the energy of the summer solstice—a time to slow down, connect with ourselves and one another, celebrate our growth, and step more fully into our light. watching people create, laugh, dance, open up, and express themselves so authentically reminded me why spaces like these matter so much. there is something deeply healing about gathering with intention and giving ourselves permission to simply be. the summer solstice is the longest day of the year and marks the moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, giving us the most daylight of any day of the year. for thousands of years, cultures around the world—from the ancient egyptians and celts to many indigenous traditions—have honored this day as a sacred turning point. it has long been seen as a celebration of light, abundance, vitality, and the fullness of life. spiritually, the summer solstice reminds us to pause and acknowledge what has grown within us. it invites us to celebrate how far we've come, step more fully into our authenticity, and release the beliefs, fears, or habits that keep us playing small. nature moves in cycles. there are seasons for planting, seasons for blooming, and seasons for letting go. the summer solstice is a reminder that we, too, are allowed to evolve through these cycles. for us as creatives and spiritual souls, this season asks us: ✨ where am i still hiding my light? ✨ what part of myself is ready to be seen and expressed more fully? ✨ what has bloomed in my life during the first half of this year? ✨ what do i want to cultivate in the second half? i'd love to hear from you: 🌻 one thing you're celebrating from the first half of this year 🌻 one thing you're calling in for the second half

one of the most common responses to heartbreak and loss is the urge to immediately make sense of it. we tell ourselves things like "everything happens for a reason" or "this was meant to happen." and while those beliefs can be comforting, sometimes they become a way of escaping what we're actually feeling. when we're hurting, we want answers. we want reassurance that it will all make sense one day. we want to skip ahead to the part where we've learned the lesson, found peace, and moved on. but healing doesn't work that way. there is a difference between finding meaning and forcing meaning.forced meaning asks you to rise above your pain before you've had the chance to fully experience it. true meaning emerges slowly. it doesn't require you to deny your grief. in fact, it often asks you to move through it. grief is not a sign that you're doing something wrong. it is evidence that something mattered to you. whether you're grieving a relationship, a friendship, a dream, a version of yourself, or a chapter of your life, you don't have to immediately turn your pain into a lesson. you don't have to rush to forgiveness. you don't have to pretend you're grateful before you actually are. sometimes healing begins by simply allowing yourself to tell the truth: "this hurts." "i miss them." "i thought things would turn out differently." "i'm still trying to understand what happened." there is wisdom in letting yourself be where you are. and yet, over time, you may begin to notice that the experience changed you. perhaps it revealed a wound that needed attention. perhaps it showed you what you truly need in relationships. perhaps it challenged you to become more honest, self-aware, or resilient. the meaning isn't something you force yourself to find. it reveals itself when you're ready to see it. one of the most powerful ways to move through grief is through creative expression. art has a way of reaching places that words alone cannot. it allows us to process emotions before we fully understand them.

hi alchemists, i want to share a special reflection. maybe this is something you are meant to hear right now. we live in a very black-and-white world. its always this or that. you are either here or there. with me or against me. good or bad. right or wrong. you believe this, so you must belong on that side. it can feel suffocating, especially to an introspective mind. for those of us who naturally question, observe, reflect, and try to understand the deeper layers of life and humanity. i think these rigid ways of thinking can slowly create polarization within ourselves if we aren’t careful. we begin swinging between extremes, attaching ourselves to identities, beliefs, lifestyles, relationships, routines, or versions of ourselves so tightly that it becomes difficult to imagine another perspective outside of our own. extremity is often rooted in ego… and sometimes shadow. because the ego likes certainty. it likes control. it wants to feel safe in being “right.” but growth asks us to remain open & admit there may be more we do not yet understand. balance, or lack thereof, exists in almost every aspect of our lives: love, relationships, career, peace, self-care, finances, health, diet, lifestyle, creativity, spirituality… everything. and if we do not intentionally seek balance, we can end up living in a constant state of imbalance. running from one extreme to another. overworking, then isolating. over giving, then shutting down. controlling, then collapsing. chasing, then avoiding. always moving between sides, but never finding the fulcrum point: acceptance. one of my favorite songs is “balance” by Brandon Banks & UMI. i invite you to sit with it intentionally sometime. close your eyes. breathe. let the words speak to you. allow whatever emotions arise to simply be there. (i say this because this song genuinely makes me emotional every time hahaha) ⚖️ reflection: where in your life do you currently feel out of balance? what do you think you need more of, or less of, to return to your center?

...and it wasn’t what i expected. i left feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. like i had just opened something i didn’t fully understand yet, unsure why my higher self led me there in the first place. whoever said the real work comes after… they were right.👁️ it’ll be a week on saturday, and not to be dramatic or anything, but i’ve already felt such a deep spiritual shift. i have a lot i want to share (video coming soon), but for now, i’ll leave you with this: say yes. to what’s been calling you. to what you feel drawn to without explanation. to the discomfort asking to be explored. this whole experience was a reminder that the spiritual path gets ugly before it gets pretty. but boy, when it settles… life feels lighter. clearer. like you’ve unlocked a new way of seeing everything. i’m excited to go deeper into this soon. for now, just wanted to share a piece of where i’m at. take care of yourselves❤️‍🩹 🫀have you ever had an experience you couldn’t logically explain, but felt deeply real?