This semester has been a purposeful deepening of life-long iterative practice of intentional, self-reflective adaptation toward the person I want to be within community. By seeking out wisdom from deeply intelligent and generous teachers of somatic anti-racism, I have been exposed to a layered and fluid web of self-reflective, embodied practice that leads practitioners on a pathway toward healthier selves, relationships, communities, and societies. My intention is to practice and learn from somatic anti-racism, both as an effective discipline of its own and as a way of approaching life, integrating these practices into my personal, professional, and artistic spheres.
The questions I returned to time and time again over this semester are these:
-How is my body helping or preventing the world from becoming just and vibrant?
-How is my thinking helping or preventing the world from becoming just and vibrant?
-How are my habits helping or preventing the world from becoming just and vibrant?
-How is my trauma helping or preventing the world from becoming just and vibrant?
-How is my orientation to/understanding of the world helping or preventing the world from becoming just and vibrant?
The somatic practices not only walk me through searching for answers to these questions, but also provide structures for iterative embodied practice to help me intentionally change and adapt within each of these realms.
As I dive into this work of integrating embodiment, wholeness, healing, community, and justice into creative practice, arts education, and art-making; I find that my desires, values, and priorities shift in that direction as well. I am no longer interested in making work that is popular or has shock value if it does not also awaken its participants (artists and audience alike) to new ways of being together. I am no longer interested in teaching for a paycheck or experience on my resume. Instead, I am interested in using arts practice and my position as a teacher/mentor to help the next generation grow into their power to shape change within the world.
Below are some reflections (links to blog posts) that I wrote through out the semester. Please read them as invitations to deepen your own self-reflective, embodied practices. We can shape change together.
I am still learning and unlearning in this work.
Authors, artists, activists, and therapists who I turn to time and time again include (but are not limited to): adrienne maree brown, bell hooks, Resmaa Menakem, Ta-Nehisi Coates, George Yancy, Audre Lorde, Sara Ahmed, James Baldwin, Jenny Odell, and many many more)