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Girls Can Do Anything! (if they're white)

Girls Can Do Anything! (if they’re white)

Extreme Sports Editor, back in the day Last night I saw a series of short films about women in adventure sports. The intention of the program was to show that women — not just men — can push their bodies to their limits, follow outrageous dreams, and do anything they set their minds to. But the message that I got from watching was that this is only true — if you’re white. When, what seems like…

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Mentorship For Writers in the PNW

Mentorship For Writers in the PNW

On any given day, I have a thousand and six opinions, observations, and feelings about everything — and a burning rage at our nation’s seemingly infinite appetite for racist violence, socioeconomic injustice, and falsehood.

If I could, I’d do it all – I’d be an environmental activist, anti-racism educating, community organizing, first-responding, progressive politician (and a vegan).

As a…

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Little (White) Women

Did nobody notice they were white?

A few months ago, I read a profile of Greta Gerwig in The New York Times that triggered me so deeply, I wrote a thousand page journal entry about it — which I won’t share here because, like most emotionally fraught journal entries, it’s got some valid points, but would also be very embarrassing.

However, Gerwig’s film, “Little Women,” is in theaters now…

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Tonight at @unionclubtacoma with @la.morena.divina and @thetwcc -- coffee (wine) and conversations about intersectionality, race, privilege, oppression, microaggressions -- and the big kind too --- Being with this group of women, and all the women Krista has brought together, continues to fulfil a dream I never knew I had, and to heal parts of me I didn't even know were hurting To paraphrase the Dalai Lama, "The world will be saved by the the Western woman...of color." #womenofcolor #womanofcolor #tacomawomenofcolor #pnwwomenofcolor https://www.instagram.com/p/B0AVIzCAIfn/?igshid=k5s34s7m1hfu

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I'm mentoring an unruly gang of all boy, middle school, filmmakers this week as they create a short film at Grand Cinema Film Camp. --- It's giving me insight into how adults unintentionally squash raw creativity with rules about "how it's done," how to do things the "right" way, and what "works." --- I'm falling into those traps myself, at times, and let me tell you... it's NO fun! But I'm not committed to being the one who tells young (and old) artists how they "should" make their films, write their books, or tell their stories. I'm committed to being the one who tells them that they CAN, that they're already perfect, and that only they know how their art "should" look. --- While skill and technique are essential for excellence, artists must also nurture the creative genius within and offer themselves curiosity, acceptance and the freedom to make lots of mistakes. @thegrandcinema https://www.instagram.com/p/BzMd0WKA0pB/?igshid=1kwhor9h9uy7y

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The 4 of Birds signifies the wisdom of taking a rest and how, sometimes, it's the break from work that gives us the creative breakthrough we're seeking. ---- There is so much more to succeeding in a creative life than talent. Without the privilege of inherited wealth or a stable partner that supports us financially, we must to learn to pace ourselves, to practice patience, and to let go of workaholic patterns that can, literally, put our lives at risk. --- Knowing when to push through, and when to take our foot off the gas, is one of the most important lessons an artist can learn. I'm not here to burn myself out and sacrifice my family's well-being to my art. I'm here to share truths, to inspire and to illuminate, and to support others to do the same. --- When we work ourselves to death, no one wins. Is today a day of rest for you? A day of force? Or something in between? https://www.instagram.com/p/ByqzwkMAmif/?igshid=12qrf90s7s4fq

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The guidance and support I provide writers takes many forms. In addition to reading your words closely, I can also read your cards. --- Reading cards gives me an invaluable perspective on the challenges a writer faces beyond the text; the cards reveal the challenges she faces as a human being and a soul. --- You wouldn't be a writer if you weren't sensitive and didn't feel so much. But the downside of all that feeling can be...all those feelings! Tarot cuts through the overwhelm and gets to the truth of what's going on, so you can address your issues powerfully, remember what really matters, and get unstuck...in your writing AND in your life. ---- I'm taking new clients now. Jesi@hanleyvega.com https://www.instagram.com/p/BylUgwmgGeJ/?igshid=1j2gvrqdafvp0

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Storytelling is a medium for healing, for sharing wisdom and for building relationships. This evening's workshop with @thetwcc brought together a remarkable group of women from a variety of backgrounds. We are artists, healers, spiritual leaders and businesswomen and we've all got something to say. I'm so honored to have had the opportunity to create a space where we could excavate our stories and practice sharing them in a safe and supportive space. #healingstories #storytellingworkshop #tellingyourstory #sharingyourtruth #healingthroughstory #tellyourstory #wocstorytelling #woctellstories #wetellstories #storyhealing #storiesthatheal https://www.instagram.com/p/BxykEePgu4H/?igshid=r88b85y980wk

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This is me with my friend Meaghan aka @meaghan.miller.lopez --- Meaghan is an artist and a healer and a champion of artists and healers. No one has ever believed in me like Meaghan has, or done more for me, or provided more space for me, or cheered me on, or cheered me up, or just plain loved me. --- Today she helped me realize that what I needed in my life was a playlist of ridiculously danceable tunes so I can rock out on my own personal dance floor while taking breaks from my otherwise very serious work-life. --- I love this woman deeply and profoundly. She is, quite simply, the best. What more can I say? To know me, you've got to know her and how essential she is to my life. And that, without her, I would not laugh, dance or tell stories quite as much or as well. #mybff #bestfriendgoals #artist #artisthealer #energyhealing #dancingatwork #danceatwork #womenfriends #friendsforlife #globaltransformation #ilovemygirlfriends #besties👭 #besties https://www.instagram.com/p/BxyIEkOA7Q2/?igshid=b9dmqz3scy66

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This hurts my heart. I cried big tears when Kathryn Bigelow won her directing Oscar. When I see statistics like this, I think about what it takes to be a women who not only makes movies, but makes more than one. --- These conditions take a toll on an artist's well being: emotional, psychological, physical. The entertainment industry has a filtering effect, not on the untalented, but on those with underlying mental and physical vulnerabilities that often make it impossible to keep going in the face of so much resistance. --- Add race to that equation and you really do need to be a brilliant, superhuman, superhero with an ironclad community of supportive friends, family and colleagues to keep going, succeed and keep vision alive. --- What this means is that we rarely if ever see the visions of a whole subset of artists and human beings. Artists like @esmewwang and @pchza are SO important because they offer perspectives and ideas of heroism that differ dramatically from those we normally see. Sickness, weakness and disability are not shameful liabilities to our value as artists and human beings, they are an essential part of being human. And when an entire art form makes that message nearly impossible to express, the whole world suffers for it Screenshot from @nymag 5/14/19 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxc3T5_BjM9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xerm7ifoi71k

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When trying to find a story from your own life, it helps to start with the wisdom you want to share. We've all learned a lot from life, and all that learning started somewhere. When we find the moment, we can find the story. --- This photo was taken when I was a 16 year old acting student at Carnegie Mellon University's Summer Drama Conservatory. I loved performing, but when my audition anxiety got too intense, I quit. --- I haven't been on stage since I was 18, but I've never stopped using the lessons i learned in the theater. Whether I'm taking creative risks, collaborating with other artists, being in front of an audience or analyzing a story, I learned it first in Community Theater. --- #creativelife #alifeinthearts #communitytheater #theaternerd #forneractress #storytelling #storyhealing #storytellers #pocstorytellers #storytellingworkshop #latinastories #latinxstorytelling #hyphenateartist https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxat-2_BqRU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1veemh5wnkzld

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To Find Your Story, Try Starting From The End

To Find Your Story, Try Starting From The End

Me at age 16, training to be an actress at the Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Summer Conservatory of Drama

We’ve all got things we’ve learned along the way, and when we’re in the public eye, people expect us to deliver our nuggets of wisdom in ways that are entertaining and engaging. But they don’t want a dry lecture, they want to hear our story.

When you’re wondering what stories you have to…

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Getting back to my indie-filmmaker roots today at The 253 Film Summit, which is awesome and inspiring. I'm officially here in my capacity as a member of the Tacoma creative community and as an educator, but I'm also here being reminded that movies were my first love. --- Great things are afoot in Washington, but it's still the same-old-same-old when it comes to representation of POC behind the scenes. This room is almost 50% POC artists and filmmakers, but guess who's doing all the presenting? And asking all the questions about how to get their projects funded? I don't even have to tell you. And I don't have to tell you that equity in representation, access and power in the arts is essential. --- #pocwriters #pocartists #pocfilmmakers #pocscreenwriters #pocart #washingtonfilm #pnwarts #tacomaarts #253film #representationmatters #timesup #equityinthearts #tacomacreates #tacomacreatives @wafilmworks @thegrandcinema @thetwcc (at University of Washington Tacoma) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxVZ8V5hVvL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1anp9s5w0u6is

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Day 10, describe my writing routine? Sadly, not a "routine," however, I write when I can. I try to get in 60 minutes a day, but some days it's less, some days it's more. ---- I've got a jumbly brain and there are two things that help me make sense of my experiences: talking and writing. And when there is no one to talk to, I write. --- As for being an introvert...yes I am. But that doesn't mean I'm shy or I hate people. It just means that I connect so intensely with other people's energy that I have to be alone to recharge and if I don't get time in solitude I become an unhappy, irritable, nasty person. And then I do hate everybody. #whyshewrites #whyiwrite #womenwhowrite #wocwriters #whyshewriteschallenge #writingtherapy https://www.instagram.com/p/BxQuEfYgvEq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ls851oytyp6y

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I've got an event coming up on May 22 at @unionclubtacoma with The Tacoma Women of Color Collective. It's a free mini-workshop for Women of Color who want to learn how to take this crazy mess of a life they've lived and translate just one little bit of it into a story that not only makes sense but which can impact other people. ### I teach storytelling not only because it's something I love, but because it's something I've had to learn. Storytelling comes from the natural desire to share ourselves and our wisdom. But as someone with ADHD, and a good deal of life trauma, I've often felt overwhelmed by the weight and volume of my own experiences. Learning how to to take things poco a poco, detail by detail, not only helps me communicate more powerfully, it helps me heal the traumas of my own life and the traumas that I was born into. ### When we approach storytelling as something we do not only for ourselves but for others, it becomes its own form of activism and a medium for healing the world. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxI2lEUA82K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1g2y5gsjj1iz5

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Origin Stories: Not Just For Superheroes

Origin Stories: Not Just For Superheroes

Miss America, aka America Chavez, the Marvel superhero written by Gabby Rivera, a queer Latina from The Bronx, has a VERY complicated origin story. What’s Yours?

We all come from somewhere and we all have a story to tell. Do a quick Google search and you’ll quickly discover that storytelling for brand-building is hot in the corporate world. But that’s not my jam.

I’m about people.

As…

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Something happened recently with a writing student that made me so happy for her, and so proud for me. ### This student has struggled with writing and was having a hard time just getting started. After a conversation, I realized that she has a lot of great stuff to say, but she's also a dancer and visual artist, so her strengths are not necessarily linguistic. I recommended she use her phone's talk-to-text function to record herself instead of just trying to write first and see what happens. ### Today she showed me what she'd created and said she had some ideas for revising it! ### We all have stories, but so often we're taught that there's only one right way to express them. My joy comes from teaching people that their story is there, it's perfect, and if we keep trying together, we'll get it out into the world where stories belong. ### I teach writing because these are the things I have to learn. I'm the writer who always wants to quit, who thinks my story doesn't matter, or isn't good enough and who needs someone to tell me to keep going. My heart is in my clients and my students because they are me. And believing in them is also reminding me to believe in myself. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwsYR2Egyrm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sv8l9xo0qddi