I'm the Currency
being around me is *quite* expensive
Whoof - it has been a year right?
This man has only been in office for 5 months…
Although a baddie in the White House would’ve been lovely, this has been an eye opening experience for sure.
Being in Egypt and coming back from Egypt has allowed me to reassess quite a bit.
What do I place value on and why?
What am I clinging on to and why?
There is so much to unpack there and that will be another newsletter, but the main takeaway I have come to realize is that having my energy and my time is currency. It is one of the most valuable resources to me because I do not get that back.
Being around me is added value to anyone’s life and the people I choose to surround myself with also add value to my life and the lives of those that come in contact with us because we are truly an additive.
Therefore many people, experiences, and situations do not get to hold space in my heart or mind because the value proposition does not service me or those around me.
So yes, being in my orbit is *quite* expensive.
If your morals do not align with mine, it is okay - but that means you will not hold space in my head or heart.
If you have a spiteful, mean, or selfish spirit, it is okay -but I truly hope you go sit on that lady’s couch and fix your heart.
I used to be someone who truly felt the need to change folks or control situations, and through many MANY years of therapy and a mind shifting trip to Egypt (accompanied by a re-read of The Alchemist) I realized that my personal legend will not be achieved by holding on to situations or thoughts that are not meant for me to hold. I can only lead by the example of how I live my life. I realized I want to be remember for how I made people feel versus the career titles I had.
I want a life of intention and mindfulness —filled with love, laughter, and travel. I want others -if they are ready-to live a life of radical acceptance of themselves and take those leaps and bounds they’ve been fearful to take.
As Beyoncé said “Life is your birthright, they hid that in the fine print. Take the pen and rewrite it.”
We have one life in this flesh. Why would we operate in a state of fear and/or lack, when we are fearfully and wonderfully made to accomplish anything we put our minds too?
I hope this week you try something small to move toward your goals or aspirations even if that means setting aside time on Sundays or any day of your choosing to crave out an hour for you to:
meditate
take a walk
read (audiobook or print)
craft hour
creative hour
practice a new language
workout
Whatever you chose to do, do it for you and do it with intention.
All it takes is one step to move into the life you want.
Start small.
You got this.
IN THE CROSSROADS: INSPIRING PATHS
with this new series, I will be interviewing women who I admire and hoping their inspiring paths will help others who are either in a crossroad or looking for something to inspire them to push them forward to their pursuits and dreams
For this installment, we are highlighting abstract artist and tech professional, Chiru Mondo Murage (Weinstein).
Chiru Mondo Murage (Weinstein) is a Kenyan American abstract artist (outside her 9-to-5 in tech) based in New York City. Using acrylic and oil pastel as her primary media, she builds layered, restless compositions where color and form collide. Her works are containers for self exploration and its associated emotions — unruly, fluid and alive — reflecting the tension between control and release.
Rooted in a lifelong relationship with art (from childhood watercolor classes to illustrating for The Harvard Lampoon) Chiru's current practice was prompted by a creative resurgence. After a long hiatus, she found a new home in abstraction, which offers a raw, instinctive language for personal discovery. Chiru is currently developing her first project, I Swear I Come Alive in Summer, a body of work that captures the feverish longing, impermanence, and lightness of that fleeting season.
You can find here on her instagram and her work on her site.
Jump into this interview and learn more about nurturing your passions in the midst of the bustle and hustle of life.
Was there a pivotal moment that inspired you to take your creative pursuits more seriously?
Turning 30 last summer brought with it a sense of urgency. Not at all that this milestone made me think I’m old, more-so that I felt I didn’t spend enough time nurturing my passions post college in my 20s. I thought to myself how do I want to spend the next decade? and the answer resoundingly included: creating, developing and betting on my art. And so what used to be an hour here or there, with the main time spent towards birthday gifts, turned into finding out how I could integrate art and painting practice into my daily life. I’ve since created a dedicated painting space in my home (now looking for a studio), found beloved art classes throughout the city, and managed to carve out as much time to consistently paint as is feasible. Now, almost a year after this pivot, I see no other way.
How has pursuing your creative passions alongside your career enriched your life?
I’ve fallen in love with the idea of feeding my multiple sides: everybody eats!!! It’s become my goal to show up for myself with the same courage, dedication, and vim I do in other areas of my life. My painting practice has helped me focus on progress, not perfection, and the idea that creating anything is the win. I haven’t quite cracked this reorientation, but any shift in a perfectionism mindset is welcomed.
Pursuing creative passions in parallel to my career has also been an exercise in stretching what I thought possible with my ability to prioritize. In weaving painting into my week, some mornings might now include meeting my canvas in the living room as the sun rises, early starts that also leave time for mediation, journaling, or reading, all before work begins. Or, a Thursday after work might be spent at a gallery opening before dinner. I’ve come to appreciate that a world incorporating more art is also a world with more mindfulness, and more experiences that open paths to connection and inspiration.
How has your creative pursuit influenced your personal growth and self-discovery?
This is more of a flywheel for me: my personal growth influences and inspires my creative pursuit as much as the other way around. While painting has certainly influenced growth in confidence and expression, my recent work also explores the exact theme of self-discovery. The painting practice itself has become a meditative session: where what is evoked on the canvas is an artifact of that moment’s self reflection.
Looking back, what would you tell your younger self about following your passions?
I have equal parts compassion for and frustration with a younger me who put ‘this’ off for so long. In seeking advice from more established artists now, the consistent thread has been: just start. To a younger me, I’d start with that, plus I’d ask her to focus on what might be blocking her from doing so. Oh and meditating, I wish I could’ve started consistently meditating sooner. I feel that would’ve helped me understand myself more intimately, which would also entail understanding that pursuing art is more essential than nice-to-have.
How has your perspective on success changed since embracing both your career and creative interests?
My new definition of success includes balance as its main lens. My previous conception was focused, linear and traditional, but I’ve come to aspire to a vision with a wider aperture, where multiple mes can thrive.
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Over at The Bookish Hottie & …But Make It Books - we are building community! We hosted our monthly book club over at BMIB - you can sign up on Book Clubs or EventBrite. We meet on the last Wednesday of every month at The Wine Collective.
I also created a walking group of ladies (on Threads) for those who just need to get out of the house, especially for those who work from home. Our next walk is Friday, May May 16th, 12PM at OneDo We wait 10 minutes and hit the road. It has morphed into hanging at Mama Koko’s or getting tacos and judging Met looks. You can join our groupme to keep up!
Also, myself and Baked & Bookish are hosting Pages in the Park on Saturday, May 17th from 12PM -2PM. Totally free to come.
currently obsessed with.
what I’m watching.
Temptation Island
yes, I know. This is pure foolishness.
and I can’t help myself…well me and my fiance can’t help ourselves. These folks are a mess and I am glued to it.
What I am Drinking
The Equitea Co Pop Up in Baltimore
I got the Dirty Matcha Latte sweetened with honey. It was truly amazing. Check out this Black owned business. I would HIGHLY suggest you get there early and you aren’t in a rush.
The Bookish Hottie
what I’m reading.
use my affiliate link with Mahogany Books or use code BMIB at checkout
the plot.
Harlem, 2019. Ardelia and Oliver are hosting their engagement party. As the guests get ready to leave, he hands her a love letter on a yellowing, crumbling piece of paper . . .
Natchez, 1865. Discharged from the Union Army as a free man after the war’s end, Harrison returns to Mississippi to reunite with the woman he loves, Tirzah. Upon his arrival at the Freedmen’s Bureau, though, he catches the eye of a woman working there, who’s determined to thwart his efforts to find his beloved. After tragedy strikes, Harrison resigns himself to a life with her.
Meanwhile in Louisiana, the newly free Tirzah is teaching at a freedmen’s school, and discovers an advertisement in the local paper looking for her. Though she knows Harrison must have placed it, and longs to find him, the risks of fleeing are too great, and Tirzah chooses the life of seeming security right in front of her.
Spanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins’s extraordinary novel intertwines the stories of these star-crossed lovers and their descendants. As Tirzah's family moves across the country during the Great Migration, they challenge authority with devastating consequences, while of the legacy of heartbreak and loss continues on in the lives of Harrison's progeny.
When Ardelia meets Oliver, she finds his family’s history is as full of secrets and omissions as her own. Could their connection be a cosmic reconciliation satisfying the unfulfilled desires of their ancestors, or will the weight of the past, present and future tear them apart?
Sweeping, textured, and meticulously researched, Zeal is both a story of how one generation’s choices reverberate through the years and an indelible portrait of an enduring love.
what you should be reading.
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
use my affiliate link with Bookshop
An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.
From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.
Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.”
Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.
MY REVIEW
…Sarah - is you alive girl?! The tea was spilled and then some. My goodness ! I am still flabbergasted reading what I read in this book. Big tech needs to be heavily monitored. I understand why Meta stopped promotion on this book. Like literally no one looks great in this and this book will be one that is studied in lecture halls.
And that’s it for this installment of Whiskey Fix.
See ya in two-ish weeks!