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Writer's pictureAmanda Lin Carlson

FAMILY, ART AND THE UNIVERSE

My Brief Origin Story (part 1)

FAMILY: Miraculous Beginnings


Mommy (my unborn baby sister) & me (age 4).
My birth mom Tammy passed away​ when I was five & my sister was 18 months old.  Our dad (who was a musician & handyman) did the best thing for us & handed our care over to my birth mom's oldest sister, Nita.  She became our MOM and her son (our cousin) became our big brother.​

ART: Surrounded by Creativity


Nita who was an artist, educator, philosopher and PhD in metaphysics surrounded us with artists, playwrights, musicians, mathematicians, carpenters, engineers, writers and individuals of all walks of life, faiths & religions.​


She taught my siblings and I how to be curious about the world, surround ourselves with people that light us up and tune inward to find the peace and healing we need.


Nita exposed us to brilliant writers, literature and plays such as Sophocles (Oedipus), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnets of the Portuguese), Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest), Luiz Valdez (Coriddos), Buck Minster Fuller (Synergetics), Louise Hay (How to Heal Your Life) & Jean Ann Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear) ... just to name a few.


She made learning exciting by engaging us in the process.  We went on excavations in the backyard, woke up in the middle of the night to drink hot coco and watch meteor showers. We delighted in her beautiful chalk drawings of the layers of the earth and our atmospheres & felt our way through the human cell as we sculpted, painted and learned about what we are made of.


What glorious women to be raised by.

Tammy (Mommy), Me (almost 5) & Nita (Mom)

THE UNIVERSE: Guided Meditation & Mindfulness Early


My mom taught my siblings and I how to be kind, loving and available. We were raised in a knowing, that our thoughts & the words we use (especially to ourselves) make up the world we live in (physically, emotionally & spiritually). We grew up listening to our bodies and tuning inward to find peace, joy & gratitude in the present moment.​


My meditation journey began when Nita noticed how out of balance I became when my dad came to visit & how all of the emotions & insecurities (I couldn't verbalize) surfaced in my behavior.


She sat my sister and I down in the living room, asked us to close our eyes and listen to our breath. She walked us through the rainbow and asked us to visualize "our safe place" that would always be within us. 


My mom planted the seeds of resilience, tenacity and fortitude through meditation, breath work, & tuning inward. We were taught to seek out the nuggets of higher understanding in every moment, especially the ones that bring us to our knees.


I have used these practices all of my life and know that my experience will benefit the collective... especially mom's like mine & individuals wanting to break out of the matrix (self imposed or otherwise) & heal into your freest, bravest & truest selves.


Me (present day) San Francisco, CA

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