September 26, 2024

Happen To Notice

with

Vanessa Micale

Hello Reader,

I have engaged in creative expression for most of my life, sometimes privately, sometimes in public venues.

I wouldn’t be whole without creative expression.

I am bolstered by artists who are vulnerable about their struggles and dreams. We are not alone in our creative lives.

We can call upon a larger lineage of creatives, legends, icons and the everyday people around us.

I watched the new documentary about singer, composer, and painter Mon Laferte.

Through songwriting and music performance Mon Laferte carved her ferocious path towards healing. The stage has been the one place in her life that she has always felt whole.

Through much of the film she is pregnant and on tour. She performs the song “Te Ví,” about her once abusive relationship with her mother. It’s a love song to her mother and to herself on the cusp of motherhood.

I saw Mon Laferte perform a few years ago in Seattle. Her stage presence was electric, dramatic. She enhanced the collective energy.

Mon Laferte experienced poverty and abuse as a child. She pursued her performance dreams “por hambre,”out of hunger and a need to make a different path.

The themes of hunger, forgiveness and creative art as a path to wholeness also emerge in Oprah’s interview with actress, producer and author Viola Davis. Viola shares how her own childhood experiences of poverty, abuse and racism impacted her life.

Viola’s memoir Finding Me was written in a time when her fame had her “feeling like I was a commodity. Pressure. The pressure of unseen responsibility.”

We can survive and transform what has shamed, haunted or pressured us.

How beautiful and alchemical to create a body of work and at the same time belong to a larger legacy of creation.

Reflection

Who is part of your creative lineage (your family, friends, wider creative influences from the past or present)? What have they taught you about creative process and practice? What do you wish to carry forward and what do you wish to release?

Resources

My Creative Updates & Offerings

I am honored to collaborate with Mixed In America to offer “Somatic Sometimes for Mixed Community,” a virtual workshop on Sunday November 10, at 11 a.m. PT, available through their membership program for mixed-race and multicultural community.

I made a new mixtape if you want to traverse many genres.

Community & Care

Kelsey Blackwell, somatic coach and author, has a new virtual offering "Decolonize the Body" that starts soon for women of color. Kelsey was my somatic coach in 2020. Financial options available.

If you’re looking for a local Portland photographer, I just had a beautiful experience working with Nick Mendez. Their warmth and creative direction led to a fun, vast set of photos that I can use across my different disciplines.

Free workshop from Jane Friedman's team, on Dealing with the Writer Demons with Tiffany Yates Martin.

Soft Pants for Your Mind

I love Tierra Whack's song Chanel Pit and the line about having bags within bags. I loved her recent Tiny Desk Concert .

Notes & Citations

​https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81761916​

Mon Laferte’s song “Te Ví” about her mother.

​https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/oprah-viola-takeaways-finding-me​

Let’s resource! Let’s play! Let’s happen to notice, together.

In peace,

Vanessa Micale

Founder of Poderosa Voz LLC​

(she, they, ella)

P.S. You can show your support by sharing this micro-newsletter with a friend, or you can send me a digital tip and treat me to a pastry.

P.P.S. Sharing resources is one of my love languages. Is there a resource related to somatic and creative realms you want to see or you know of? Hit reply and let me know.