#13: This sparks joy 💥💫

Hello hello darlings,

All my love to you! We are back with the 13th TSJ and a special highlight/update from me! After 6 months of putting my podcast on pause, it is finally BACK and I’m excited and terrified! It’s currently still called Reimagining but I will be changing the name to paradigmShifts most likely this week. Like a relationship you know needs to end but can’t let go of yet, I’m almost but not quite ready to pull the plug on reimagining haha! The latest episode is a solo one. If you have things to say in private or public but are struggling to say them I hope that it helps you! It’s in the list below but since we are promoting our creations in 2023 here it is as a video on Spotify and YouTube, and audio on Apple.

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Here is this week’s list!

1. This art

From “A Terrible Beauty is Born” (2013)

Follow South African artist Mary Sibande on IG here and see more of her work here. Sibande’s work moved me deeply. I went back and forth because its subject matter is not joyful at all (see description below) but powerful and vital. I decided to include it because I really wanted you to see it in all its magnificence and complexity.

“Conversation with Madam CJ Walker” (2009)

“Conversation with Madam CJ Walker” (2009)

“Wish you were here” (2021)

The artist: Mary Sibande

“The immensity and depth of Mary Sibande’s multi-media artworks reflect the magnitude of her subject matter, which explicitly entwines the enduring effects of British imperialism and apartheid. Through photographs, sculptures, and sprawling installations that scale floor to ceiling, the South African artist most often features a central Black woman, who is shown enveloped in purple roots or grasping thick, black thread dangling from a nearby portrait.

Named Sophie, the figure’s role is subversive and one that sheds light on the particularly “cruel history of Black female oppression and its implications in contemporary life—in particular, perception and ownership of freedom.” Sophie is dressed in color-specific costumes resembling Victorian-era clothing and often is wrapped in an apron, a garment synonymous with domestic work. Each bold hue is rich with cultural and historical contexts.”

(Sophie) is first encountered in the traditional blue uniform of a domestic servant as she dreams of the possibilities denied to her by discrimination and inequality. Sophie is then transformed into a fantastical figure, enveloped in purple representing the bitter struggle against apartheid and the promise of equality. In her most recent incarnation, Sophie wears red, the color of anger, as she gives form to popular disaffection and continued civil unrest across South Africa.

2. This essay

via Gratitude Journal Substack by Alex Elle

“I spent years evading myself and my life because I was stuck in the fixing and the worrying. Constantly thinking I had to heal fully before I was truly deserving of good things. It was impossible to be present. I lived in the past and worried about the future, which ultimately took me away from the moments of goodness in my life. Practicing mindfulness was extremely challenging for me at one point, but now it's becoming more and more a part of my life walk. A book that continues to help me on this journey is When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön.”

The Power of Presence

3. This poem

poem found via: @readalittlepoem on Twitter

4. This thread

Please do add your fav books to the Content Corner thread I created last week! I originally made it ONE book but why limit ourselves! Have updated it. Thanks so much to angels

Tlangi

dejania

Fawful

Mary Jeanette

Brooke meets Caitlin

and more for your comments so far!!!!

5. This podcast episode

REIMAGINING IS BACK!!!!!!!!!! Lol I feel like the old name is like a partner you know you need to break up with but now that you’ve acknowledged the need for it to end you’re like, but what if it’s not so bad? There are good things here I’m not ready to leave… I feel weirdly attached to “reimagining” while also knowing it’s not a reflection of ME and of my spirit. Paradigm shifts feels aligned to my spirit, in the spirit of following your curiosity, not your passion which I can’t remember where I originally heard but stuck with me.

Anyways! I really hope you listen to and watch this episode!!! It’s all about finding and accepting and sharing your voice as it is TODAY and my experience/struggles doing so both privately in relationships and publicly online. I poured my heart into it — I sat on the floor and really felt possessed the entire time, in the best way. In the way that creativity is magic. In the way that releasing control and opening ourselves up to something bigger than us can feel transformative.

You can watch the video on Spotify and on YouTube (OMG terrifying!!! Does this make me a YouTuber?! Not quite…), and audio only on Apple. If you would like to participate in the below poll on what the new cover art should be, please do so below!!! THANK YOU!!!

6. This show

Okay not exactly joyful but also kind of perspective-giving which is somewhat joyful? In our society there is the pervasive myth that being in a romantic relationship is necessarily better than not being in one. For my fellow “single” people (I hate this word, it’s super weird if you think about it. Why do we have a word for not being partnered yet not a word for not being supported in life generally? If person A is super close to their mom and can tell her anything, and person B has no one they are close to at all in this world, no one with whom they can share their inner world, how can both these people simply be designated “single?” it’s wholly unimaginative. we need a word that DOES capture the notion of aloneness, of isolation, but many partnered people are islands in their relationship — unseen, under-appreciated, misunderstood — and many so-called single people have deep relationships with friends, family, earth etc). This show will debunk that view with a quickness. I just started season 2 and… LOL. I think season 2 is better than season 1. Also there are wonderful relationships out there, but the fact that we blankly applaud people for being partnered when we know NOTHING about their relationship — how do they talk to each other? how do they resolve conflict? — is quite frankly very very weird.

7. This podcast

If you enjoyed my lil rant on being single, you will love the work of indigenous, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate scholar Dr Kim TallBear on Settler sexuality.

8. This practice

Here are 3 mutual aid projects (in the sense that the $$ goes directly to the people rather than to non-profits/NGOs) we can support:

• Uganda LGBTQ Emergency Fund GoFundMe for Ugandans facing anti-LGBTQIA+ violence. Money goes directly to Ugandans for: Bail for LGBTQ imprisoned people, relocating to safer areas, emergency accommodations, legal and medical feels, visa and transportation costs for those leaving Uganda

• OpenYourWallett GoFundMe (Twitter here) for Black Queer and Trans Americans

• CareForGaza’s PayPal (Twitter here) for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation

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