#7: This sparks joy 💥💫

Happy Sunday to you my dear!!!

Hello precious,

Happy Sunday!! Last weekend I felt overwhelmed but I am back and I received such a sweet note checking in to see if I was okay, and I just felt loved and seen. Thank you all for being here, truly! I hope you are having a lovely day. A quick update on how I’m doing at the end! <3

1. This art

Support the artist: Dario Manjate: Follow on IG here and see his website here

“Dario Paulino Manjate, is a Mozambican born artist, currently living in South Africa, who began painting and drawing as early as he can remember. He relocated to Alexandra Township in South Africa during the year of 1993. It was here where Dario grew to love art and pushed himself to pursue a career as a professional artist”

Dario Manjate: “The medium I am working with is collage. I have played around and explored this medium, learning the limits that I can push it to. My artworks are unique in that unlike most collage artists I do not tear my paper and build an image out of colour tones, I cut out every piece. I started by tearing and using other material to activate the canvas however, through my process I discovered that building my images out of cut out objects cut created a beautiful harmony between my medium and my concept.

Dario Manjate: “I use recycled magazines as my source, as I feel this specific paper gives me the quality and subject matter I require. The glossy look and feel of the paper along with the message the magazines carry lends to the overall theme of my art.

Conceptually my art breaks down and unpacks the very foundations our society is built on today. By physically cutting out and removing objects from their intended context I begin to build up profiles and identities for my subjects.”

Dario with his artwork, via IG

Dario with his artwork, via IG

Dario Manjate: “Our society today is built around consumerism. A person is no longer known by who they characteristically are but rather by what they possess. Humanity is constructed from the very items it creates. From afar these portraits look beautiful however, upon closer inspection, the volume of material items begins to overwhelm, creating an atmosphere of obsession and greed. This characteristic of the artwork’s make up reveals the grotesque nature of what is seen as beautiful in today’s time.”

Dario Manjate: “By using magazine cut outs I gain the effect of a glossy surfaces. Which begins to reflect on the concept of how appealing wealth is and yet how fragile its reliability is. When you look at my art I require my audience to look at their lives and what they use to identify and define who they are. To reflect on how they exhibit themselves to the public eye.”

2. This podcast

“What would it mean to cultivate a practice of connection with our sensual selves on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis?” — Ev’Yan Whitney

I just found Ev’Yan’s work and podcast and I’m so excited to dive into it all!!!! Their substack is:

big time sensuality

and their book and info is available at their website here. Let’s dive in together!!!

3. This playlist

4. This tweet

5. This moment

I have a really weak bladder so after like years of avoiding confronting it I finally decided to go to the doctor this week (I fortunately have access to healthcare which should be free at the highest quality for all). By this stage I was fed up with my bladder and I was ready to do anything that man told me to do. I thought to myself: I’ll do ANYTHING. He said I should stop drinking caffeine. I’ll do nothing. I asked him what the connection was but really it didn’t matter. It turns out it tightens the muscles of the bladder, enducing the feeling of needing to pee. Such a shame.

6. This idea

Radical Acceptance: “By accepting absolutely everything, what I mean is that we are aware of what is happening within our body and mind at any given moment, without trying to control or judge or pull away. I do not mean that we are putting up with harmful behavior — our own or anyone else’s. This is an inner process of accepting our actual, present-moment experience. It means feeling sorrow and pain without resisting. It means feeling desire or dislike for someone or something without judging ourselves for the feeeling or being driven to act on it.

Clearly recognizing what is happening insise us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experience, if our heart shuts out any part of who we are and what we feel, we are dueling the fears and feelings of separation that sustain the trance of unworthiness. Radical Acceptance directly dismantles the very foundations of this trance” (Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame, Tara Brach, pp25-26)

Thank you for being here!!!!

The below does not exactly spark joy?!

7. How am I doing?

I feel like my emotions are matching the earth’s daily cycle: bold and sunny and bright in the morning, despairing and cold and weary at night. I’m learning to not label the latter as bad, and trust that just like the earth I am meant to experience the full spectrum of colors and flavors and textures of a human experience. At the same time I am seeking help and support where I can. I’ve found myself crying a lot of evenings. I’m proud of myself for facing big feelings and mostly not fleeing from them.

To that end, yesterday I said to myself repeatedly, again and again, in the face of my sadness and loneliness: “I’m having a human experience. I’m having a human experience. I’m having a human experience”. While the physiological EXPERIENCE of despair, or sadness, or loneliness feels extremely isolating, the social REALITY is that there is a high chance that my literal neighbors felt exactly the same, at the exact same moment in time.So many of us feel this way (or much worse) regularly (and most people don’t have the support I just mentioned). If you are moving through big and destabilizing emotions, I am sending big love your way. I hope that all the support and love and resources you need to be well are coming your way. And if there’s anything we can do to support you, do let us know!

The best way to support me is to:

• Become a paid subscriber if you aren’t already and can do so comfortably

• Share this with a friend who would enjoy it

• Comment/like/interact <3 Thanks for all the love so far!! It means the world!