June Marisa Kaewsith, also known as “Jumakae,” joins me on the Belonging Podcast today. Jumakae is a professional artist, wellness consultant, and storytelling coach who first roped me in with her TEDx talk and her powerful storytelling voice. I knew I wanted to talk with her on Belonging about her ancestral connection, but we dove so much more into the power of stepping into your ancestral identity in these times of the pandemic and ways to navigate these times of uncertainty — including envisioning the future in a different way.
Together, we talk about how to stay rooted in times of change, how June changed her name as an act of empowerment and deepening into her Asian-American identity, ancestral connection practices (and how we tend to over-complicate them), breaking the model minority myth, releasing the need to take on the world’s suffering as our own, creation as self-regulation, and using this time to envision a new future.
“Being a part of a community that can help expand what this future could potentially look like can help us get out of our own way.” -Jumakae
Resources:
- Jumakae’s TEDx talk: “How to Connect with Your Ancestors”
- Jumakae mentions her Buddhist teacher, Thích Nhất Hạnh
More from Jumakae:
