Leslie
Location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn — 7/18/2023
Author’s note: I met Leslie in 2018 in front of a collective vision/collage board at an experimental and immersive arts event in Brooklyn. 💫✨
Finish this sentence - I am …
00;00;35;20
Powerful.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would that be?
00;00;46;20
I would tell her to relax. That everything she ever wanted, everything she ever dreamed of, is happening. So she doesn't need to worry so much.
Is there a quote that currently resonates with you?
It’s not necessarily a quote, but a phrase that is speaking to me right now is: ‘you can be bitter or you can be better.’ And that to me, shows that there are two sides to every story, two sides to every coin. And you can either see things with positivity and opportunity or not.
How do you navigate grief and loss?
00;02;14;29
The way it comes up for me is more like grief and loss of past versions of myself, rather than grief and loss for people. When you turn into a new version of yourself, there's always a shedding and a letting go of this other version of you. And it's hard sometimes to let go of different parts of you. And it's also hard to forgive those parts of you. So, I guess I navigate it with as much acceptance, love, and grace as possible.
You mentioned forgiveness, how do you go about forgiving yourself?
00;03;23;09
Anger is usually followed by forgiveness. When I identify that I'm mad at myself, I know that there is something inside that I need to forgive. So I sit with myself and journal or process what comes up until I find a way to love that part of myself.
Do you have a fond but small memory from childhood?
00;04;14;15
I was in kindergarten and trolls were very popular. I asked every single person I invited to my birthday party to get me a troll, and every single person did. It was the first time I realized that I could ask for things and they would be given to me.
How do you define love and what does the feeling of love mean to you?
00;08;20;14
Like romantic love?
However the question resonates.
00;08;28;28
Well, I think self-love is probably coming up right now. And self-love to me is about loving the current moment and being proud of it. Like today, for whatever reason, I woke up in a really crunchy mood and realized that there was a lot of shame coming up. And when I experienced that, I decided I was just going to love all of these parts of myself.
00;09;10;18
And it was just a really crazy, beautiful thing where I loved my shame and it actually gave me a new perspective on what self-love is. It's about accepting all parts of yourself without trying to fix or change any of them. It's simply being okay with every aspect of yourself at all times and loving yourself, no matter how you show up.
Is life meaningful?
00;18;20;23
Yes, I think life becomes very meaningful when we give it meaning and when we follow our hearts. When we are in alignment with our higher self, it feels extremely meaningful and powerful.
