Happy Sunday Beloveds,
It’s been some time since I’ve written to you all and I hope each one of you is drawing near to love as much as you can in these days and times. This piece will be very brief, but I hope that it helps you to feel situated in your mind, body, and spirit in some way.
Since I last wrote to you all, life has shifted in many ways for me. As the year 2024 ended, my mind was not in a place of reflection, but rather survival and so I have spent the last month slowing down and doing what I can to parse through what the year 2024 brought. In short, 2024 was a lot. I moved through many rich, dense, and beautiful moments coupled with compounding relationship transitions, wellbeing challenges, living transitions, identity shifts, existential crises, and more. It started my season of intense soul searching for sure. I dealt with the consequences of my actions in ways I never have before and I faced my need to really grow up in new and profound ways. All of this has had an effect. I am in the thick of this life thing and my gratitude lies in the fact that I am still here. God is waking me up everyday and there is a purpose for that.
I have also begun to understand the importance of facing the least attractive parts of myself & massaging them with love ( and loving correction too) because they are the parts of me that most need to get free. I am also grateful to be writing to you all today because writing (or maybe truth-telling) has felt more elusive than normal. With that, I am learning the power of grace. As I situate where I am in my life with where this world is and my place in it, I do not believe that it is a coincidence that I am moving through growing pains as the world is moving through its own.
It seems that chaos is abounding in this world in unprecedented ways, but I am being reminded of the importance of love, faith, hope, joy, and grace. These are things that I do not always feel that I can easily grasp, but the pursuit is worth it. Some time ago, I decided that I want to be amongst artists and creators as the world moves through this period of uncertainty. I still feel affirmed in that choice. It is precisely now that we must dream and create in unrelenting and extraordinary ways. We must have hope for the future even when things seem futile. This is easier said than done, but I also believe that there is always more love and more life somewhere.
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Earlier this month, I took a trip to Dallas, TX to see mixed media artist and Dallas native Demarcus McGaughey’s exhibition Kindred at the South Dallas Cultural Center. McGaughey took images from his personal archive to create these pieces and in an interview with Ma’s House artist residency, he named that this archive of family images feels like his inheritance. This exhibition reminded me of the importance of holding our loved ones close. LOVE is a super power and the most revolutionary thing we can do is love ourselves as we love one another. I have added some of my favorite pieces from the show below. If you find yourself in Dallas before February 22, 2025, go take a look.
Just the Two of Us by Demarcus McGaughey, Mixed Media, Acrylic Paper Collage with Resin
A Day With Big Momma by Demarcus McGaughey, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Paper Collage, Resin on Canvas
Big Momma and Papa by Demarcus McGaughey, Mixed Media
In Love,
Natalie 💛
