What happens when the entirety of your being recognizes that the thing it most deeply yearned for is no longer possible? What happens when you can no longer ignore the physical sensations of your body signaling that your current relationship/job/situation/reality will continue to yield only pain, disappointment, and unhealth, and you must make the painful … Continue reading Hope Crucified
Personal Growth
From Cape Verde to Cachoeira
Photo of me taken on the island of São Vicente, Cabo Verde. November 3rd, 2024 was the day I first stepped foot on the ancestral homeland of my mother’s people: as ilhas di Cabo Verde, the Cape Verde Islands. Birdseye view of one of the ten islands of Cabo Verde. As the plane landed on … Continue reading From Cape Verde to Cachoeira
Lo demás es loma
I fell in love HARD with Cali. Photo taken on my 30th birthday en La Azotea de Doña Elena ❤ It started with a beautiful honeymoon phase, literal love at first sight. I still remember waking up my first day in Cali, going for a walk and immediately being taken aback by the immense feeling … Continue reading Lo demás es loma
Cali es Cali…
A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to the Ecanto-esque pueblecito of Salento with a beautiful soul I crossed paths with during my travels. During our stay in Salento, we decided to go on a hike en el Valle de Cocora. But we did something I’d never done before--we started hiking without knowing when or … Continue reading Cali es Cali…
It is what it is.
“Nothing exists in a fixed way. Birth and death…keep going on…continually and eternally." -Pema Chödrön, Welcoming the Unwelcome (p.111) My dream to live abroad in Costa Rica for 1-2 years has died. It died in February of this year when I returned to the United States to be with two dear ones** who are dealing … Continue reading It is what it is.
Loss & Hope
“Loss remakes you.”(Lose Your Mother, Saidiya Hartman) Lately I’ve been noticing a desire within myself to carve out intentional space to grieve. It’s beginning to feel imperative that I find and incorporate rituals&rhythms that honor the fullness of my humanity, and a part of that fullness is the constant encounter with loss. From the loss … Continue reading Loss & Hope
Gethsemane & Grand Rapids
Today is Holy Saturday, a day in the liturgical calendar representing the day after Jesus was crucified. It is a day I imagine was full of grief and deep sorrow. A day that felt empty of any signs of impending resurrection or relief from the violence and suffering present in the world. A day where … Continue reading Gethsemane & Grand Rapids
Returning Home
Today marks my second week back in the United States: two weeks of remembering what it’s like to drive instead of walking barefoot everywhere; two weeks of figuring out what to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner; two weeks of not being able to river-bathe under the rays of the sun peeking through the trees of a Cloud … Continue reading Returning Home
Pura Vida
Pura Vida is the national motto of Costa Rica, and locals use the phrase gratuitously: to greet one another, to end conversations, to ask questions and to confirm answers… I used a self-timer to take this photo this past September as I spent time in Monteverde, Costa Rica. In English, Pura Vida translates most literally … Continue reading Pura Vida
Reclaiming Self
I just got off of InstagramLive. The video I uploaded to my account is now the 10th episode of M.B.S.W.N.: Mind, Body, & Soul With Nia. Screenshot of the collection of my InstagramLive M.B.S.W.N. videos I created the M.B.S.W.N. InstagramLive series as a Lenten practice. (For those unfamiliar with what Lent is, it’s the 40 … Continue reading Reclaiming Self
Purposefully Nia 