Will You Let Us Perceive You?
For the Worldbuilders Ep. 045
“The necessity of trying to represent what we cannot, rather than leading to pessimism or despair must be embraced as the impossibility that conditions our knowledge of the past and animates our desire for a liberated future.”
— Saidiya Hartman, Venus in Two Acts (June 2008), pg. 13 via @__gabrielleione
Dear Worldbuilder,
Our job isn’t to have all the answers, it’s to show up with the questions.
May our visibility be an offering of gratitude to those we dedicate our practice to. The ancestors, past selves, younger cousins, teachers and non-human creatures we owe our breath and possibility to. We didn’t come from nowhere. We come from the freedom fighters who took their imagination to the streets, we come from the parents whose direct action was reading us Tar Beach at night, we come from the hands that prepared the meals for the meetings. Praying hands. We come from all the black feminist theory we now get the privilege to rehearse in theater of the street, the home, the classroom. I show up if only to say thank you, thank you, thank you. It wasn’t in vain, it wasn’t in vain, because of you I am possible. It wasn’t in vain. Because of you WE are possible.
So, yes, emphatically, yes. I will consent to you perceiving me acting out this rapture of gratitude. Dancing with desire toward a liberated future, now my question is: will you let us perceive you?
Inside Today’s Podcast Episode
🗣️ We open with a reading of the weekly essay.
🕸️ We remember there is no such thing as the solo artist.
🤲🏾 We imagine our practices as offerings of gratitude to all that makes our breath possible.
🕳️ We return to the practice of not being terrified of our own memory.
🩸 I tell the story about skipping school and getting the Sankofa symbol tattooed at age 15.
🛝 We explore the life force of improvisation and it’s promise of attracting the perfect playmates.
✍🏾 We engage with the weekly journaling prompt inside the Creative Offer Questionnaire to Oneself. HINT: This one’s all about locating the folks we dream of serving!
Enroll in the Seed A World Retreat
Build an offer that allows you to systematically bundle all your insights from your research, body and practice into a water hole of a framework that dozens, hundreds and thousands can gather around! Whatever your goals, crafting a creative offer gives us options for working more deeply, with and alongside you. Producing a fractal effect that ripples through our collective imagination inside this lifetime and the generations forward and back.
Some examples of the creative offers we’ll learn how to develop and release inside the retreat: A creative course, residency, guest speaker series, skill development intensive, spiritual retreat, bootcamp, book club, hackathon, workshop series, fellowship, intergenerational study group, dinner series and so much more! Ready to enroll? Today is the last day to get $100 off if you enroll using the code EARLY-SPRING-24.
If you still have questions, please join us for the last Worldbuilding Workshop of the season on Thursday, April 25th 12PM EST where we will explore the four different offer types covered inside the Seed A World Retreat. You’ll also learn how to price your offer using a tool called the “Price Calculator”, shared in the workshop. Again, registration is free. I hope to see you there. Until then…
So be it, see to it, breathe through it,
Ayana
What Seeda School Worldbuilders Are Saying About the Retreat
"After grinding for over a decade in the nonprofit sector, I needed support building a viable, self-directed career path to generate income rooted in my values and creativity. The Seed A World Retreat offered both the practical tools and community encouragement I was seeking to heed the creative call I have been feeling. Now I look forward to sharing this work that feels personally terrifying and necessary, and I believe in my ability to do it using the Seeda School tools. During the retreat, Ayana held space with such admirable curiosity and generosity! If you want an experienced, informed, Black feminist, imaginative hype-person to put a loving battery in your back, sign up for the Seed A World Retreat immediately."
— Jasmyne Gilbert, Winter 2024
"Seeda School is the most nourishing, electric, brilliant, inspired, held space I have been lucky enough to be a part of. I entered the retreat from the depths of a creative winter, and Ayana built the container for a true and revelatory spring. She has architected the balance of structure, rigorous tools, juicy inspiration, accountability, and relational support that will help you (finally) recognize and birth the thing that has been calling you. And more than that, Seeda is the invitation to manifest the luscious version of a life you didn’t know you were allowed to have."
— Olivia Vagelos, Winter 2024