There comes a time in many of our lives where we experience difficult moments mentally or even physically. Some of us deal with childhood trauma that never gets resolved or even talked about. We carry these burdens on our shoulders for years without realizing it.

Acknowledging our trauma is one way of healing. Personally, I have carried childhood trauma on to my adult life. Not only has it affected me but also the people around me. I found myself feeling unloved and constantly seeking validation from others. At the same time, I rejected any love that came my way. Some days felt lonelier than others. It felt as if I was drowning, yet no one could save me. When you grow up feeling as if you have to keep everything to yourself, it eventually catches up to you. Making it difficult to maintain any friendships and/or relationships.

Why is it important to heal? It is important to acknowledge that we experience difficult moments in life. However, giving ourselves time and space to release those traumas and burdens allows us to heal. We can experience healing through meditation, conversation, body movement, and storytelling. These are a few powerful exercises that allow us to go within. It's never easy acknowledging or even healing from these events and/or moments that have become part of our lives over time. Yet, in those moments of vulnerability, we allow ourselves to step into our power by forgiving past experiences.

Q&A

with Joe Paleta

Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

I’m born and raised here in the IE. I learn best with my hands, so I picked up crafts at a young age which turned into art making later in life. I studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design, where I took many art classes, my favorite two are a figure sculpting class, and a documentary photography class. I also have spent the last five years living and working in NYC for such artists as Maya Lin, and Todd Oldham.

How did the Ice Paleta project come about?

Furious about the way ICE terrorizes our communities-targeting eld workers during a pandemic, even after

Congress deemed them “essential”-- I created this sculpture series in an act of protest. “ICE Pop” echoes the

popular protest chant, “MELT ICE!” while alluding to those targeted by this government agency: street

vendors, who, from the hot valleys of southern California to the labyrinthine subway system of New York City,

bring simple nostalgic joys into our everyday lives, all for a few bucks.

What is your dream project?

This is my dream project. I would like to see it grow and work with more local artists.

What is next for Joe Paleta?

Survive this pandemic, continue to make art work. I would like to develop some new sculptures for Spring 2021, and collaborate more with local immigrant justice organizations.

Q&A with Carmela Mancera

Do you mind sharing a little bit about yourself?

Hi my name is Brenda Angel I am a graduate from Cal State University, San Bernardino. I received my Bachelors in Graphic Design and Marketing in Spring 2018. As a creative Individual my skills in marketing and design allow me to create an experience through my work. Giving insight into my creative process by sharing my skills with others. I was born and raised in San Bernardino, CA. I come from a family of creative individuals. My brother creates with a makeup brush and is a total natural in front of the camera. My sister has an eye for fashion and my youngest sister expresses her self through drawing and music. You can say we got it from our mom. Its in our blood to be creative.

As an Artist have you ever felt overwhelmed or doubted if you were in the right career, what came after, what did you do and how was it handled? How did you know this was the career you wanted to pursue?

Definitely it is something I questioned a couple times while working towards my degree and even now almost two years later I get overwhelmed at times. However I believe that this was the right career for me because it allows me to express my creativity in endless ways. When those moments of doubt do arise I tend to take a step back and look at everything that I have accomplished along the way. When It comes to knowing if Graphic Design was the career I wanted to pursue well it sort of just happened naturally. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts so I explored different things which eventually brought me to graphic design.

As an Artist and launching BA Soul, how has your story led you to where you are now? Professionally and Personally? And  What makes Brenda, Brenda Angel the Graphic Designer?

I always knew that I wanted to make a difference in the world so for years I asked myself how I could bring this to life and it was not until early 2019 when I started my journey with Basoul. It all came from this idea to create patches with designs and some words of affirmation. To inspire and encourage us to be our authentic selves but most importantly to grow, inspire, and create. Those three words allow endless possibilities not only for me as the creator but for those who It may reach. That is why the phrase “Made for you. Make it your own.” is an essential part of basoul as a whole. Starting Basoul has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I have been given the opportunity to be featured in Curious magazine for two different issues alongside very talented artists. I have made friends along the way who support me and encourage me to keep pushing and taking my work to bigger heights. In my personal life I can say I have grown very much ever since I created basoul. I stepped into this journey not knowing how or what I would have to do to make it happen and it was hard at times but I see my strength, my passion, and my determination to keep going and learning more about myself along the way. I believe a part of me does identify as a Graphic Designer yet as time goes by I know I am an artist and therefore I will continue to express myself through different avenues. 

When you dream of something it all seems impossible until you make it your goal. Then you spend your days and nights envisioning how this will come into fruition. When you finally take that leap of faith and it all becomes a reality yet it is not what you expected. Suddenly you feel this rushing sense of disappointment and failure. How is that even after taking that leap of faith we fail to acknowledge how much we have learned along the way.

Failing isn’t easy, so how do we deal with it? I would say I have the answer and that I can give you a list to follow but I don’t have one. In a society were we constantly celebrate our accomplishments it almost  feels impossible to acknowledge our failures. However when we start to see our failures as lessons things start to change. Now you may ask how can I see my failures as lessons? well it was not until recently that I asked myself that  same question. Instead of focusing on the end result I took a step back to view the bigger picture. At this point I saw everything I had accomplished along the way. It was an accumulation of all these things that made it possible to get to this point in my life. I admit it may have not been what I expected it to be but now I have acquired the the skills to move forward and tackle things differently. I take this as an opportunity to take that next step in life and continue to learn through my failures. 

If I learned anything is that failure can lead to endless possibilities. I can definitely say that acknowledging how much I learned along the way has allowed me to step into my power. With this in mind I say keep going and acknowledge all that you have learned up to this moment. Take that leap of faith no matter the outcome. Be a dreamer but most importantly Be you.

 As a kid It all begins with your imagination. One day you are a dragon on top of a mountain hiding from the evil knight and in that moment it all feels so real. Then with a blink of an eye everything changes and that dragon begins to fade. That kid who fiercely embodied the spirit of the dragon is suddenly  growing older. All those adventures are no longer real but simply stories to be told. At what point in life do we begin to lose that inner child?

How do we find our inner child and is it really lost? A part of me wants to say no. Our inner child is not lost yet why does it feel as if we lost it along the way. It was not until recently that I was introduced to the term. It all made sense when I began doing the work to speak to my inner child. I was unaware of how much I was holding within me. As I began listening to my inner child things started to change. That scared, sad, and angry child spoke about its fears and made sure I listened. Now I know that my inner child is not lost but covered under layers of life. Pulling those layers off one by one and facing the truth behind those feelings is not easy. Allowing yourself to truly be vulnerable in order to heal is the first step. I can say this is only the begging of a long journey to come.  

If I learned anything about my inner child is that she is stronger then she seems. I do not know what else I may uncover along the way but I do know that I will learn to love her because she is a part of me and who I am today. This is only a glimpse into my experience this far and how I discovered my inner child. Perhaps you and I have very different layers to uncover as we are individually unique. It all depends if you allow yourself to peel those layers away and listen to what your inner child has to say. An as I mentioned in my previous blog “ It all start with taking that first step and connecting with yourself.”

It starts the moment you wake up and what you decided to do first thing in the morning. Often times Its the act of rolling over and reaching for the phone. Then all of a sudden its the repeated movement of your finger flicking up and down the screen. Stuck in a loop scrolling when you realize its been an hour. An hour of consuming the lives, trends, and news happening around the world. It seems as if this is something that comes naturally to us at this point. However when you start letting things influence you so early in the morning without realizing it sets the tone for the rest of your day. Most often its the connection with the world and what about the connection with our selfs? 

What happens when you decided to ignore the phone in the morning and try something different? I tried it and this is what happened. Waking up early has been a struggle and to be honest I am not a fan. It took a while to get into the habit of waking up early and sometimes its still a struggle but it makes a difference. Now since ignoring the phone first thing in the morning was the goal what was I gonna do now? Well over the past year I began my spiritual journey and meditating slowly became part of my life among other things. Every morning I wake up to a meditation video and let myself breath and be in the moment. The act of simply stretching and practicing breathing makes a difference in my body, mind, and spirit. Now let me say sometimes I fall back into my old ways but it makes me feel so out of touch with myself. The next morning I try again and thats the best part you can try again. After meditating I write in my journal about my dreams, my thoughts, or my feelings. I let myself write without editing which allows me to be raw, honest, and in the moment. This has helped me be vulnerable and let say I have learned so much about myself. My goals, my dreams, my believes, my traumas, and everything that makes me well Me. After journaling its probably been an hr since I woke up and I have not touched the phone. At this point I get up and get ready for the day. I dress myself, brush my teeth, and make myself breakfast. I used to skip breakfast because really I am not a fan of breakfast foods but I have implemented it into my daily routine. I can see the difference in my energy every morning. Once I finished breakfast I sit down with my phone and my laptop. At this point I have been focusing on myself all morning and  I feel ready to open up the link, check emails, and work on my to do list for the day.Now this is the only a snippet of what its been like to ignore the phone first thing in the morning.

I can say the connection i have with myself has increased as I have chosen to ignore the phone first thing in the morning. Spending time aimlessly scrolling through different apps does not bring me any type of satisfaction or joy. However thats just me and how I feel after implementing these things into my morning routine. I can not say this will work for everyone because to be honest we are all different. That is the beauty of connecting with yourself finding ways that allow you to be in touch with who you are. It all starts with taking that first step and connecting with yourself. 

You are strong, you are light, you are love, you are brave,

and above all you are one of a kind. May we all continue

to grow in our journey through life.