Soul Salon with Ayandastood

This one is for my fellow creatives facing self-doubt, insecurity, resistance, fear, anxiety. If you know you want to start, complete, or share your creative project — this episode (and the last one) is for you! I recommend listening to Part 1 first but also you can dive in right here. Sending love!  ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Key quote: “Things shift for you as a creator when you focus on serving the collective.”  Time stamps: (00:00) Intro (03:00) Focus on one person (10:20) Don’t identify with the outcome (16:56) Paint the world with your consciousness (22:53) Why not you? (31:14) It’s just a video! (35:42) Closing  Sources and clips included: Essay: The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde Book: The Creative ACT: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin Clip: Follow Simplifying Sam on TikTok and link to her video here Clip: My video on Beauty as alienation from the self  Clip: ABTalks with Jay Shetty interview by Anas Bukhash Join the community: Subscribe to my newsletter at ayandastood.substack.com Follow me at @ayandastood on TikTok and @ayandastood on IG. JOIN FREE EVENT: Showing up together on Sunday Jul 23   Working session to face something you’ve been avoiding Anything! Adulting is hard! Creating is hard! Let's do it together <3 Come whenever and stay for however long! I’ll be there Stay tuned on my Substack for the next one!

If you are experiencing creative fear, resistance, or anxiety, this is for you. We are on the same journey, because I face this daily as an insecure creative myself. In this episode I read an essay I wrote for my Substack on the wisdom I rely on to overcome or move through creative fear and resistance: to create content on TikTok, to write on Substack, and to create episodes for you right here. Plus I have other projects I dream of. I know my worth is not in completing any of these things. But I also know that I don't want to be guided by my fear and anxiety, but by my wildest dreams and my desire to serve the collective. I want my deepest and fullest consciousness to guide me, in service of you and others like you, while I am still here on earth. Disclaimer: This is not about self-improvement but rather about honoring our creativity and our aliveness. How do we create art in a way that is not rooted in hustle or productivity culture? For me, spirituality - grounding myself in serving the collective and sharing my fullest consciousness as a member of the universe who will one day die - is the answer. To be my fullest expression while I still can, I know I need to be overcoming my fears to share my voice and my art. That is my truth, as inconvenient as it often is for me. It's a calling that many of us feel. If you feel it but sometimes struggle to honor your calling(s), this episode (and many more to come) is for you. ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Book mentioned: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. His YouTube interviews are inspiring too, like this one with Jay Shetty. (00:00): Why we are all creative (06:03): The world needs your voice, just as it is (10:05): Disclaimer: Self- and Collective-honoring NOT Self-improvement (15:00): Perfectionism is self-repression (20:00): Creativity is subversive (22:43): How self-silencing goes against nature (25:09): Self-doubt connects you to all other creatives Join the community: ayandastood.substack.com please join me here! Follow me at @ayandastood on TikTok and @ayandastood_ on IG.

Why did I change the name of the podcast from "Reimagining" to "Paradigm Shifts"? Let's talk about it! An episode where I basically profess my love to paradigm shifts, why I'm ok with the fact that the podcast name is not unique to me, and how paradigm shifts are connected to pleasure. Key quote: "Paradigm shifts are embodied experiences of learning. They make us GASP, pause, stop walking, scream, open our eyes a wide... they feel magical and profound, both personal and communal." ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Time stamps: (00:00): Why I changed the podcast name (03:28): What is a paradigm shift? (07:51): Other podcasts have the same name (10:20): Celebrating Shared Consciousness (11:40): Why I love paradigm shifts so much + Embodiment (14:39): Paradigm shifts, pleasure, and the Erotic (25:19): The intimacy of being Known (27:00): Wrap Up Sources and clips included: The Laura Flanders Show: adrienne maree brown: pleasure activism Book: Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown (follow amb on IG here!) Essay: Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde Join the community: ayandastood.substack.com please join me here it's lots of fun! Follow me at @ayandastood on TikTok and @ayandastood_ on IG.

in this episode, I read an essay I refer to often in this podcast, Audre Lorde’s “On the Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”. This episode was initially meant to be my original “return” to the podcast. I ended up cutting some of my reflection down to let the essay stand on its own, but my reflections on it will continue to be peppered throughout the podcast.  ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Key quote from the essay: “What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say?” — Audre Lorde.  Time stamps: (00:00): Intro and Welcome back  (02:28): Audre Lorde bio. Read more here (04:11): Essay reading (16:50): Brief reflections Sources and clips included: Essay: ⁠On the transformation of silence into language and action⁠ by Audre Lorde Read Audre Lorde's Bio Book: ⁠Selected Works of Audre Lorde⁠, edited by Roxane Gay Clip: "There is no hierarchy of oppressions" by Audre Lorde Join the community: ayandastood.substack.com please join me here! Follow me at @ayandastood on TikTok and @ayandastood_ on IG.

The podcast delves into the struggle of finding and accepting one's voice, drawing inspiration from Audre Lorde's essay. It explores the importance of matching inner and outer worlds, the condition of truth allowing suffering to speak, and the concept of Ubuntu. The host shares personal journal entries on finding and accepting their voice, and discusses authenticity vs. attachment in human development. The episode encourages embracing vulnerability and authentic communication for meaningful connections.

Join me for a fun and energetic convo with journalist, storyteller, and podcast host  Zanele Mji as we discuss connected conflict, friendship, relationships, and growth. Zanale is a South African award-winning investigative journalist based in Joburg whose work marries narrative non-fiction, hard news, and analysis. She is the host of the Golden City Podcast which you can find on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts. In this episode, we talk, learn, reflect, and vibe together. I hope you enjoy it! <3  ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Highlights: (02:02 ) Intro to Zanele (04:30) Multiple Versions of Conflict (09:19) The Inner Family System (15:48) Our experiences with conflict  (29:27) How we journal (49:40) Redefining Kinship (1:00:10) Thoughts on Friendship Links:Website: https://www.zanelemji.com/ Podcast: Golden City on Spotify and on Apple PodcastsTiktok: a.mji.thangInstagram: Zanele Mji (@zananigans) • Instagram photos and videosTwitter: Zanele (@ZaneleMji) Youtube: Zanele Mji @zanelemji Links Mentioned:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der KolkNonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B Rosenberg Access Is Love - Disability & Intersectionality by Mia MingusThe Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self by Julia CameronGhost of a Podcast: Astrology & Advice with Jessica LanyadooMy links: Substack: ayandastood.substack.com | Subscribe to my newsletter!!! Tiktok: @ayandastoodPodcast Instagram: @reimaginingwithayandastoodMy Instagram: @ayandastood

Today I am delighted to be in conversation with Rafia Zakaria, an American Muslim author, attorney, and political philosopher, to discuss her powerful book, Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption. In this book, Rafia challenges white feminism’s global, long-standing affinity with colonial, patriarchal, and white supremacist ideals.  Covering such ground as the legacy of the British feminist imperialist savior complex and "the colonial thesis that all reform comes from the West" to the condescension of the white feminist-led "aid industrial complex" and the conflation of sexual liberation as the "sum total of empowerment," Zakaria follows in the tradition of intersectional feminist forebears Kimberlé Crenshaw, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde. Zakaria ultimately refutes and reimagines the apolitical aspirations of white feminist empowerment in this radical critique, with Black and Brown feminist thought at the forefront. Rafia is a writer at the Baffler and Dawn magazine and a Fellow at the African American Policy Forum, an innovative think tank Co-Founded by Kimberle Crenshaw that connects academics, activists and policy-makers to promote efforts to dismantle structural inequality.  ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Highlights: (03:09) Rafia’s journey to publishing this book (12:34) What is white feminism?  (22:03) Moving away from individualism towards collective action (29:02) A Perspective Empowerment History and Collectivism Solidarity (46:21) Technology & white supremacy (52:20) Engineering our future: How feminists  inform politics (56:36) Rahia’s dream for the feminist movement Rafia Zakaria's Links: Twitter:Rafia Zakaria @rafiazakaria Instagram:@rafiazakariafeminist LinkedIn:Rafia Zakaria Links Mentioned: Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption by Rafia Zakaria Unfocused Feminism: The battle lines go beyond the bedroom and the boardroom by Rafia ZakariaMy links: Substack: ayandastood.substack.com | Subscribe to my newsletter!!! Tiktok: @ayandastoodPodcast Instagram: @reimaginingwithayandastoodMy Instagram: @ayandastood

I am so thrilled and honored to be in conversation with Ruha Benjamin, a Professor of African American studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab and author of three books, Viral Justice (2022), Race After Technology (2019), and People’s Science (2013), and editor of Captivating Technology (2019). Today, we discuss her incredible latest book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want. I am completely obsessed with this book. I feel it is an urgent read for all of us who want to integrate the structural and the individual, the academic and the poetic, the political and the personal, knowing that each of these things are necessarily interlinked and interdependent: just like us. Ruha writes, teaches, and speaks widely about the relationship between innovation and inequity, knowledge and power, race and citizenship, health and justice. Long before the pandemic, she was doing groundbreaking research on race, technology, and justice, focusing on big, structural changes. But the twin plagues of COVID-19 and anti-Black police violence inspired her to rethink the importance of small, individual actions.  “Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within." — Ruha BenjaminI hope you enjoy our conversation! ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Highlights: (01:20) Get to Know Ruha Benjamin (02:51 ) What is viral justice? (04:45) The three types of plotting (09:44) Ruha's journey shaping this work (22:40) How can we be vulnerable but not exposed? (27:38) The power of poetry (36:16) Mutual aid and other life forms  (41:20) The Doula Effect and how we can bring it to our daily lives Ruha's Links: Website:https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/ Instagram:Ruha Benjamin (@ruha9)Twitter:Ruha Benjamin (@ruha9)LinkTree to all her work: https://linktr.ee/ruhabenjamin Links Mentioned:Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want by Ruha Benjamin Toni Cade BambaraMia Mingus blog & Twitter @miamingusErik Olin WrightMy links: Substack: ayandastood.substack.com | Subscribe to my newsletter!!! Book club launching soon! Tiktok: @ayandastoodPodcast Instagram: @reimaginingwithayandastoodMy Instagram: @ayandastood

In this episode, I am joined by Kalpana Mohanty, writer, Ph.D. Candidate and Trudeau Scholar at Harvard University. She works on disability, colonialism, and gender in South Asia. Kalpana grew up in Portugal, Canada and India. Her proposed PhD topic focuses on the history of disability in India, particularly during high colonialism.  Inspired by her own lived experience as someone with chronic illness who lives with a disability, Kalpana is passionate about accessibility in all forms, whether that be making academic spaces accessible for all students or making scholarly work engaging and interesting for a non-academic audience. She is committed to using the rigorous framework and theory of academia to address wider cultural issues ranging from the serious to the trivial as a cultural commentator. Kalpana reads and we discuss her incredible article, Beautiful Lies, where she asks why public discourse on beauty remains so shallow.  ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Kalpana's Links:Twitter:  @kalpanamohantyWebsite: https://kalpanamohanty.squarespace.com/ Audio clips included: Now This News: Sabrina Strings Explains How 'Fatphobia' is Rooted in RacismIntersections of Disability Justice and Transformative Justice Ft. Elliott Fukui and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha by Barnard Center for Research on WomenVenmo: Elliot Fukui @elliottseiji Buy Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha's books here Links Mentioned:Beautiful Lies | Kalpana Mohanty Mobeen Hussain is the Cambridge scholar who studies skin lightening in India. Jaclyn WongAfghan Girl Portrait by Steve McCurryConstant Cravings by Alice WongBook and other recommendations included:Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia  by Sabrina Strings | Thick: and other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom | Alok V Menon | The Age of Instagram Face by Jia Tolentino| Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da'Shaun L. Harrison | Maybe Baby | Haley Nahman| The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan | What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon| Maintenance Phase Podcast  | Perfect Me by Heather Widdows

Welcome to another episode of Reimagining with Ayandastood. I am so thrilled to introduce our guest for today: an incredible human being, creator, singer, songwriter and activist– Black, Trans, Queer, Nigerian, UK-based creator Asherah, aka @therealasherah. Asherah is passionate about liberation for all the oppressed and uses her content to educate her audience on feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, desirability politics, Black liberation, and so much more! She regularly amplifies marginalized voices on her TikTok and interacts with other creators in her distinct greenscreen video stitching style, creating the feeling of direct engagement with tons of perspectives and voices. She amplifies mutual aid efforts supporting the needs of Black trans and queer individuals on her TikTok above and LinkTree below. If you have the means please PayPal Asherah @angelsaxis and donate to her mutual aid efforts here: @asherahlovelydae Don’t miss out on this insightful episode as we talk about her experience with dating, desirability, beauty and much more! If this is your first time tuning in, subscribe to avoid misssing out on upcoming episodes! ADVICE COLUMN: ☎️ seeking advice and want to PHONE IN with a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠submit a voicemail here⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📩 OR WRITE IN an advice question anonymously at the ⁠⁠ASK Ayanda form⁠ here⁠. Highlights: (06:18) What do you need to say? (070:6) Perception of self vs. Others' perception of you (07:58) Who is Asherah? (15:38) Love, dating, trust, and fetishization  (24:03) The dark side of Desirability (28:01) Asherah’s creative use of her Desirability in content creation (37:00) What role does Beauty play in the world? (1:01:35) Solidarity among Black women  Asherah’s Links: TikTok: @therealasherahLinkTree: @asherahlovelydae | Find mutual aid efforts to support! PayPal: @angelsaxis Ayanda's Links: Substack: www.ayandastood.substack.com - Subscribe if you can!Instagram: @reimaginingwithayandastood  Tiktok: Watch Ayandastood's Newest TikTok Videos Instagram: @ayandastood • Instagram photos and videos Audre Lorde Essay: The Transformation of Language into Silence and Action