BECAUSE CULTURE ISN’T FOLLOWED. IT’S FORGED.
TRANSFORM FROM OUTLIER TO ORIGINAL.
CONTENTS FEATURES
Poetry Spanning Worlds
Chris Van Laak writes about Pakistani poet and lifelong United Arab Emirates residentbut-not-citizen Namal Siddiqui and how her concept of “home” has shifted over the years.
14
Music and Forgiveness
How singer-songwriter David Lindes uses his music to chronicle leaving his native Guatemala as a child, being abandoned by his father as a baby and experiencing physical and emotional abuse.
28
The Delicacy of Tofu
How Hodo Foods founder Minh Tsai uses his Vietnamese background to educate people about the beauty and delicacy of tofu.
46
The Yogic Path to Creativity
Shanthi Yogini writes about how to access your inner creativity via the C.R.E.A.T.E. path — a six-step journey rooted in Yogic principles.
Culturally Fluid Definitions
n the 21st century, assessing someone’s background from outward appearance isn’t enough as hidden, rather than visual, diversity means people increasingly bring more to the table than meets the eye.
Whether through nationality, travel, race or ethnicity, many straddle culture in myriad ways. From Cultural Fluidity, to Third Culture Kid, Expat, Third Culture Adult, Cross-Cultural Kid and more, the language to describe our in-between community is of
Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK)
A term coined by author Ruth Van Reken in 2002, is a person who is living, has lived, or meaningfully interacted with two or more cultural environments for a significant period of time during the first 18 years of life. This includes minority individuals living within majority culture.
Adult Cross-Cultural Kid (ACCK)
An adult who grew up as a Cross-Cultural Kid.
Cultural Fluidity/Cultural Mobility
A term coined by Culturs founder Donnyale Ambrosine to characterize hidden diversity created by people who don’t or didn’t grow up in a homogenous cultural environment. Culturally Fluid individuals may straddle nationalities, ethnicities, race or culture. The fluidity created allows understanding between or among their foundational areas of meaningful experience. It also may hinder sense of belonging to any one area.
Missionary Kids
Children of missionaries who travel to missions domestically or abroad.
utmost importance. Knowing the vocabulary creates understanding and deepens our sense of belonging and connections to others with similar experiences. Here’s a quick overview so you can follow along any of our articles with ease:
Third Culture Kids (TCKs)
Coined by Sociologist Ruth Useem in the 1950s as a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The first culture is considered an individual’s passport culture, while the second culture consists of the culture(s) in which the individual has lived. The third culture is a result of the person’s life experience; this is the culture to which they most belong. The third culture often is where individuals feel community with others of similar experience.
Domestic TCK
Children who moved to various regions within the same country while growing up, often having to re-learn ways of being, especially as regional differences in dress, speech and action are heightened in formative years when it is important to be accepted.
Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK)
An adult who grew up as a TCK.
Third Culture Adult (TCA)
Coined in 2002 by Psychotherapist Paulette Bethel to signify individuals who travel extensively and are immersed in, or live in global locations after the age of 18 (after identity has been solidified).
Refugees
Internationally nomadic group not characterized by a parent’s occupation. Displaced from their homeland forcibly or by choice, often having fled for varied reasons — violence, politics, religion, environment, etc. Refugees typically do not return to their origin country.
Immigrants
People who, for varied reasons, immigrate to a country different than their homeland to stay permanently. Many return to their home countries to visit, though some do not.
Expatriate (Expat)
As defined by Merriam Webster — to leave one’s native country to live elsewhere; which also sometimes means to renounce allegiance to one’s native country.
Military B.R.A.T.
Children of military who move with parents to different places within or outside of their home country. They often experience other cultures within the confines of a military installation or compound that possesses traits of the home country.
Non-Military Foreign Service
Children traveling with their parents to various countries in non-military government roles, diplomatic corps, civil service, foreign service, etc.
Diplomat Kids
Children whose parents are members of the home country’s political framework while living on foreign soil.
Traveler
Those who travel expecting differences among intra-international or international culture, however, not immersed in these cultures for extended periods of time, or long enough to integrate local cultural norms as their own.
International Business Kids
Children whose parents work with multinational corporations that take them to faraway lands, often in professional fields surrounding oil, construction and pharmaceuticals.
Borderlanders
Described by author Ruth Van Reken in the book “Third Culture Kids,” a borderlander is a citizen of one country that lives close to another. Often the norms, customs and traits of each country’s culture seeps into the other, creating a cultural experience separate from either original culture, while allowing inhabitants keen knowledge and insight into their own culture as well as the other.
Multiracial
People whose family consists of two or more races to which the individual identifies. With race often come cultural norms, slang language and attitudes that can greatly differ. Many multiracial children, though not all, have the unique opportunity to learn norms of all the cultures they comprise.
Multiethnic; Multicultural
People whose family consists of two or more cultures to which the individual identifies. Even when belonging to the same race, differences in culture may exist between ethnicities, tribes and other cultural contexts.
SUMMER 2025
PAULETTE
Adult CCK, TCA and TCK Parent
PAULETTE BETHEL is a career United States Air Force Officer and global transition expert, as well as a variety of topics related to culture, race and identity. Read her CULTURS column: Bella’s Front Porch and Check out her This is Me Now Blog.
CHRIS
German Third Culture Adult
CHRIS VAN LAAK (he/him) is a writer, editor and photographer based in Taipei, Taiwan who covers cultural topics for the website Taiwan Scene. A German citizen, Van Laak has been living in Asia (India and Taiwan) for about a decade.
DIANA VEGA (they/them) is a Third Culture Adult. Born in Mexico and passionate about design, they studied architecture and started a small business after college. Interested in entrepreneurship, Vega moved to Colorado, U.S.A. to earn an MBA at Colorado State University. Now repatriated to Mexico, they are a graphic designer and illustrator for Culturs Magazine.
SHANTHI
Indian Cross-Cultural Adult
Cross-cultural SHANTHI YOGINI (she/her) is an engineer-turned Authentic Yogic Lifestyle Expert and a No. 1 International best-selling author of a book series on happiness. She was born and raised in the country which is the very source of Yoga-Shaastram (Yoga-Living), and comes from a lineage of Yoga-Masters. She teaches ancient wisdom suitable to modern lifestyles through two-minute tools.
Mexican Third Culture Adult
DIANA
PRAISE FOR CULTURS MEDIA
Thanks so much for this great honor and beautiful copper heart. I will treasure it always. And thanks for all you have taught me as well personally and through the folks you have introduced me too and the stories in your magazine to enrich my life and hopefully to share with others. I love that your efforts and work have had such a powerful impact and the stories you shared from the three men brings hope even when so much seems so wrong around us all.
— R. E. Van Reken via text after receiving the Alchemist Lifetime Achievement Award
Tonight was absolutely PHENOMENAL!!! So glad the recipients like their awards. My heart is full and I am so proud of you my dear Sis!!
— D. Hardin about the winter cover launch via text
That is ART!
— K. Salter-Shahidi about the sculpture via text
These images are beautiful and so much fun! I love the vision you’re bringing to life with Culturs, it really speaks to the beauty of cultural fluidity. Looking forward to connecting here and within our amazing community. Your energy on our call is as vibrant as your mission, absolutely love it!
— J. Velasquez via Instagram
You and your team put together the best events with the best people! Glad to see extraordinary women and people get acknowledged for their impact.
— D. Brown from POCstock about the winter cover launch via text
Love the way you celebrate people and CULTURS! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be seen.
— T. Adina about being featured in social media via Instagram
Special night thanks to you
— M. Spellman about the winter cover launch via Instagram
Summer 2025
www.CultursMag.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF
John Liang
MANAGING EDITOR
Tammy Rae Matthews
PUBLISHER & CEO
Elleyne Aldine
COMMUNITY LEAD
Andrea Bazoin
CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Van Laak
Shanthi Yogini
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Elleyne Aldine
Diana Vega
Volume VII, Issue XXVII Connect
Vega PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jhoseline López
John Navarro
Sotomayor
COLUMNISTS
Paulette Bethel
ADVISORY BOARD
Chumba Limo
Corine Trujillo Gregory Moore Donna Musil
SUBSCRIPTIONS: www.cultursmag.com/subscribe. ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Contact advertising@cultursmag.com. MEDIA INQUIRIES: Contact press@cultursmag.com. CULTURSTM magazine, Volume 2, Issue 3. Copyright Culturs Global Multicultural Philanthropic Lifestyle Network. All rights reserved. Published quarterly; Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, by Simply Alive, LLC, 242 Linden Street, Fort Collins, CO 80525.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Culturs magazine, 1800 Wazee Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO, 80525. Reproduction in whole or part without express written consent is strictly prohibited. Simply Alive LLC does not assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any representation made therein, nor the quality or deliverability of the products themselves. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts, photographs, and other material submitted. Culturs makes every effort to provide accurate information in advertising and editorial content, however, does not make any claim as to the accuracy of information provided by advertisers or editorial contributors and accepts no responsibility or liability for inaccurate information. PRINTED IN THE USA
For the first time, we took our self care to another level and dug deeply into the hiatus I’ve been wanting to take each year. Usually, I let the team take time off to regroup and ensure they come back refreshed and readyto-go, but I myself have never done so.
This spring, after years of working on our new tech, new team, new look and new partnerships, I FINALLY took that time — and it’s made all the difference! We actually skipped the summer global immersion box and will double down with our quarterly immersion launches of the VIP experience, and I’m so excited to do so!
For VIP subscribers, you’ll get a bonus summer issue while we implement our Insider strategy that gives premium access to our valued subscribers. And in Fall, you’ll get to experience our elevated VIP experience — and the refreshed Culturs that comes as a result of our refreshed team.
We’re excited to keep building this community and elevating the experiences that make our culturally fluid community feel seen, heard and understood.
Thank you for being part of our family. I can’t wait to introduce all the ways we can connect this year!
All best,
Elleyne Aldine Chief Executive Officer, Culturs Global Media
This shortened, digital-only issue focuses on creativity,
whether it be via music, poetry,Yoga or cooking.
We learn how singersongwriter David Lindes uses his music to chronicle leaving his native Guatemala as a child, being abandoned by his father as a baby and experiencing physical and emotional abuse. Lindes talks about how he has had to “reinvent Guatemala” for himself as an adult, going to places in his “home” country that were markedly different from the area where he grew up.
Culturs columnist Dr. Paulette Bethel writes about how midlife reinvention isn’t about going backward. It’s about becoming. And for women who’ve lived across cultures, creativity, artistry and craft often becomes the sacred brushstroke that reveals who we are now. She profiles Keila Dawson, a culturally fluid educator turned children’s book author who brings this concept of layered identity to life.
We also meet Hodo Foods founder and “Tofu Disruptor” Minh Tsai, who uses his Vietnamese background to educate people about the beauty and delicacy of tofu. He also talks about the difficulties in adapting to a new culture.
New contributor Chris Van Laak introduces us to Pakistani poet and lifelong United Arab Emirates resident-but-not-citizen Namal Siddiqui, and how her concept of “home” has shifted over the years. In her poetry and spoken-word performances, Siddiqui incorporates elements of all the languages that are part of her identity.
Frequent contributor Shanthi Yogini shows us how to access your inner creativity via what she calls the C.R.E.A.T.E. path — a six-step journey rooted in Yogic principles.
From music and forgiveness, to midlife reinvention, to crafting new ways to make tofu, to multilingual poetry and using yoga to access your inner creativity, this digital-only issue has something for everyone.
— John Liang Editor-in-Chief
DAVID LINDES ON MUSIC AND FORGIVENESS
By John Liang
For Guatemalan-born, cross-cultural singersongwriter David
Lindes, moving to the U.S.A. at 9 years old wasn’t the picnic he thought it would be.
“I grew up on American TV dubbed into Spanish and so, yep, I had this sense that the U.S. was where cool stuff happened,” he says.
Lindes, who moved to California’s Central Coast with his single mother and older sister, soon found out that wasn’t the case.
Within the first few months of living there, “I get sad suddenly,” he says. “It was like a very physiological sadness. And I throw up and I faint. At the time, they called that a nervous breakdown. Today, you would call it a panic attack. I can tell now, I’m 42 and I can tell that 9-yearold kid was really struggling.”
While Lindes’ sister went to a school with a bilingual program, he did not and had to bike across town to another school.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
As an adult, Lindes now sees the move from a different perspective.
On the day his family left Guatemala, Lindes’ uncle — who was the closest thing to a father figure he had — was “uncharacteristically somber … he was quiet, which was not his way. And I remember he gave me this hug, he got down on one knee. And he hugged me and he cradled my head with one hand and he pressed his face against mine and on my cheek I could feel his tears.”
Photos by Jhoseline López
David Lindes in music video ‘Te Vengo A Perdonar’
Nowadays, Lindes looks back on that and knows what was going on, but he didn’t then — “I was just blinded by hope,” he says. “I had all these narratives in my head about what the U.S. meant to a poor Guatemalan kid. It was like I was dying and going to heaven, and at that time I didn’t even realize I wasn’t gonna see my uncle for years, for example.”
Consequently, moving between countries can be “such a complex thing, because it means a certain set of things at the time, and then with years, some reflection, it comes to mean something different,” he adds.
Nowadays, Lindes looks back on that and knows what was going on, but he didn’t then — “I was just blinded by hope,” he says.
VISITING ‘HOME’
Over the ensuing years, Lindes had to “reinvent Guatemala” for himself.
While he would visit the country frequently, he would only go see family in the relatively poor area where they lived. It wasn’t until 2023 that he went with his wife and four children.
One of the reasons he was comfortable taking them was that on a couple earlier visits, a friend of his who had climbed out of poverty into the upper middle class took him out to some fancy restaurants.
“A place like this had never been visible to me,” he says. “And over several visits, he took me to so many places and I began to realize, ‘You know what? There’s a side of Guatemala that I do think
David Lindes on the set of the ‘Te Vengo A Perdonar’ music video.
my kids would enjoy. I bet that we could do this,’ and we wound up doing it.”
The family subsequently spent five weeks there in 2023 and had what he calls the “Disneyland Guatemala” experience, staying at nice Airbnbs and visiting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Atitlan mountain lake area, the Mayan ruins “and all these things that I did not experience as a child.”
“I say all that to say that I love that place now, and I loved that experience and it actually is hard for me today to not be part of that on a day-to-day basis,” according to Lindes.
GUATEMALAN CONNECTION TO HIS MUSIC
In his recently released album “Peace With a Lion,” Lindes looks deep into the meaning of healing. In doing so, he explores two essential phases: honoring wounds and healing them through creation.
With hints of Cat Stevens in his vocals and echoes of the Latin American neo-folk Trova movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Lindes collects folk elements from across the continent in this
Over the ensuing years, Lindes had to “reinvent Guatemala” for himself.
David Lindes playing the guitar.
deeply personal album. In it, he delves into his efforts to heal three wounds: leaving his native Guatemala as a child, being abandoned by his father as a baby and experiencing physical and emotional abuse.
It wasn’t until Lindes’ oldest son was born that he realized the impact of his own father abandoning the family.
“Suddenly, I had this incredible connection with this newborn baby,” he says. “I could feel his implicit trust, right?… I just, I don’t know. My heart was turned to him. I just loved him. I loved him tremendously, and I understood for the first time what my father had betrayed, and it just broke me. I cried as I was putting my little boy to sleep.”
As Lindes wept in the room of his newborn son, all this pain that he didn’t know was there showed up. He subsequently spent seven years searching for his father, who after finding him wanted zero contact.
“I now look back and I think that my search for my father was a kind of coming of age for me, even though it happened later in my life,” he says. “It started at around 27, 28. It ended at around 35. But when I started this search, it was because I believed the whole thing had just been a misunderstanding. And that somehow at the other side of this misunderstanding was a really nice guy I just had never met. That’s where I was. That’s the truth of it.”
Cover art for David Lindes’ album ‘Peace With A Lion’
In his recently released album “Peace With a Lion,” Lindes looks deep into the meaning of healing. In doing so, he explores two essential phases: honoring wounds and healing them through creation.
Fourfold Path for Healing
Ourselves and Our World,” which moved him tremendously.
Lindes emphasizes that forgiveness isn’t the only way to heal: “Healing is such a personal thing and sometimes such a desperate thing. We heal however we can. All I mean to say by forgiveness is that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a leader in the reconciliation and truth commission after apartheid in South Africa.
“I found his ability to love people who had done terrible things awe-inspiring,” according to Lindes. “I found it so beautiful, it stopped me in my tracks.”
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
For Lindes, forgiveness is not a gift to the aggressor, but a declaration of independence for the victim: “And that is what I was trying to declare in [the song], independence from my father’s damaging actions.”
As to whether Lindes has been able to forgive himself for his anger toward his father, going through therapy over the past five years has been a tremendous boon.
“It took me a long time for me to realize that his leaving was about him — it was not about me. I have worked so hard to get to that place,” Lindes says. “Do I forgive myself for being angry with him? I do forgive myself. I give myself a lot of grace. I always try to keep moving towards more peace for me, and I find OK, that peace for me can be somewhat linked to understanding his pain.
One of the songs on Lindes’ album, “Te Vengo a Perdonar,” means “I’ve come here to forgive you,” according to Lindes. When he realized that his story wasn’t going to end with a montage of a long-lost father and son playing guitar together, whatever healing was going to happen would happen to him alone.
“It was gonna have to be a one-man move because the other person involved wasn’t moving,” he says.
That was when he came across a book by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu called ” The Book of Forgiving: The
The song “Te Vengo A Perdonar” is “really an aspirational song,” Lindes says, adding that he’s still not sure that he’s been able to forgive his father.
“I think that’s a very difficult thing to ascertain, even for me. I know I’ve tried and I know I’m still trying,” he says.
“Why do I say that? Because, again, his leaving was about him. It wasn’t about me,” he continues. “And the more I understand about his story, the more I will understand it was about him. And the more I’ll be able to feel some grace for the pain, for the decisions that he made and the pain that caused me. So, I would say, yeah, I’ve forgiven myself twice: once for believing this was my fault, and then again for the anger I’ve felt as I approached the wound as an adult.”
A BILINGUAL ALBUM
Half of the songs on Lindes’ album “Peace with a Lion” are in Spanish and half are in English. One of them is a Spanishlanguage cover of the Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun.”
“I love to do this because I have a mastery of both languages that allows me to pull it off, but also an intimacy of both cultures that allows me to pull that off,” he says.
The album itself was produced by Cuban Canadian and Grammy award-winning singer songwriter Alex Cuba.
“For me, [the album is] cultural and it’s about language. Alex helped translate that into the musical realm,” Lindes says.
The album features “straight-ahead Americana folk songs” as well as “beautifully lush tropical songs … and we executed all of that using just guitars, bass and hand percussion. So again, musically, you bring in these different worlds,” according to Lindes.
Another song on the album, “Señal” (“sign”), is inspired by Lindes’ oldest son’s birth.
“It’s about the birth of my oldest son and about me feeling this sense of connection, not just to him, but almost to the universe at that moment,” he says. “And feeling a love that I had never felt before and realizing this is the closest I have felt to seeing the face of God.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR DAVID LINDES?
Now that his album is out, Lindes says he wants to expose it to marginalized communities.
When he was in Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A. to launch the album, he wound up performing for two nonprofits – Homeboy Industries and the Amity Foundation – that help people who are reentering society after prison or gangs.
“I realized I’m in a sacred space,” he says. “Exchanging stories and songs with this audience was so easy and it just felt like we effortlessly, we just spoke the same language.”
For me, [the album is] cultural and it’s about language. Alex helped translate
that into the musical realm.
Scan the code below to check out David Lindes’ music video “Te Vengo a Perdonar.” cultursmag.com/cross-cultural-singer-songwriterdavid-lindes-on-music-and-forgiveness/
David Lindes on the set of his ‘Te Vengo A Perdonar’ music video.
THE ART OF BECOMING:
CREATIVITY, CULTURAL WISDOM AND THE STORIES WE CARRY
By Dr. Paulette Bethel
“I HAD
WORK FRIENDS.
I
HAD MOM FRIENDS.”
A simple line from the new “Matlock” television series stopped me in my tracks — not because it was dramatic, but because it was true. Spoken by the character, Madeline “Mattie” Matlock, the sharp, septuagenarian attorney portrayed by Kathy Bates, an actress undergoing her own reinvention — this understated line carried more than mere dialogue. It echoed a quiet knowing. A reckoning wrapped in grace and grit.
The moment is tender and real — her voice both steady and soaked in memory. It wasn’t just a throwaway line in a courtroom drama. It was a mirror. A reminder that many of us — especially women in our second and third acts — have lived lives shaped by
the roles we’ve played. And now? Now we’re standing in the inbetween, asking ourselves: Who am I, when I’m no longer needed in the same ways I once was?
That single sentence from Mattie Matlock evokes what many women of a certain age feel but rarely articulate: I’m in a different circle now. The shifting rhythms of friendship. The soft grief of aging. The quiet resilience and invisible job of reclaiming oneself. And yet, she stands. Not diminished but distilled. With a steadiness shaped by storms weathered. She’s still becoming, carrying her history like a compass, not a burden.
Photo courtesy of CBS Entertainment
Kathy Bates in ‘Matlock’
In my life and work, I’ve heard versions of that line whispered in coaching sessions, murmured in midlife circles, and written between the lines of late-night journal entries. For decades, many of us moved through life tethered to roles — worker, parent, partner, leader. But what happens when those roles fade, shift, or no longer define us?
THIS ISN’T A CRISIS. IT’S A CANVAS.
Midlife reinvention isn’t about going backward. It’s about becoming. And for women who’ve lived across cultures, creativity, artistry and craft often becomes the sacred brushstroke that reveals who we are now.
Throughout the world, and most especially in the Middle East, women have long told stories not just with words — but with their hands. For example, through tatreez, the intricate art of Palestinian embroidery, and the careful placement of tesserae in Jordanian mosaics, generations have stitched memory, meaning and resilience into beauty.
Tatreez, traditionally passed from mother to daughter, serves as a living archive of personal and collective histories, with each motif symbolizing aspects of identity and experience.
Similarly, in Madaba, Jordan, women artisans create mosaics that narrate cultural tales, each tiny piece contributing to a larger story. These crafts are more than art — they are acts of preservation and empowerment, reflecting the intricate layers of women’s lives across generations.
Midlife reinvention isn’t about going backward. It’s about becoming.
Much like these traditions, midlife creativity can feel like that slow, sacred stitching, each gesture of self-expression becoming part of a larger design. We may not always see the pattern right away. But the fragments — grief and growth, legacy and longing — begin to shape a new whole.
Take Keila Dawson, for example, a culturally fluid educator turned children’s book author who brings this concept of layered identity to life.
Raised in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, La., U.S.A. — a cradle of Creole culture, resilience and storytelling, Keila grew up
Tatreez embroidery
Photo by Ma’moun
immersed in a world where the vibrant fusion of language, music, cuisine and folklore mingled like spices in gumbo. Her international sojourns began in adulthood, yet she remained grounded in heritage, culture and family traditions passed down from her New Orleans and Caribbean roots.
After raising her two Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) children and living abroad in the Philippines, Japan and Egypt, she began writing stories that reflected her family’s heritage as well as other activist and global perspectives.
In this season of her life, Keila Dawson has emerged not only as
Take Keila Dawson, for example, a culturally fluid educator turned children’s book author who brings this concept of layered identity to life.
an award-winning author but as a vibrant example of what it means to step into a new identity chapter rooted in cultural wisdom, truthtelling, and reinvention.
“As a community organizer, former educator, and family historian, I’d always been a truth-seeker,” Dawson says.
“Today … my role has shifted to being a truth-teller.”
Dawson is a multiple-awardwinning children’s author whose books explore culturally relevant stories, some rooted in her New Orleans upbringing and others inspired by diverse histories, identities and justice.
Her books, like “Yumbo Gumbo” and “No World Too Big; Young People Fighting Global Climate Change,” serve as mirrors for children of color and as love letters to tradition and activism.
Photo courtesy of Keila Dawson
Book cover of ‘Yumbo Gumbo’
Courtesy Keila Dawson
In a recent conversation, Dawson describes writing as her post-parenting reinvention — a way to remain connected to truth, justice and cultural belonging.
Dawson shares that she had difficulty of anchoring into the community after years of expatriate life and the need to stay rooted in authenticity. For her, writing and creativity is not just about the art, but also became a way for her of anchoring, remembering, reimagining and reclaiming.
Her voice underscores what many women feel but haven’t always named: that midlife creativity can help us metabolize
who we were, and name who we are becoming.
Dawson’s own reinvention came as a surprise to her. What began as a reply to an online prompt turned into an eight-year collaboration and four poetry anthology book deals.
“Writing is often solitary,” she reflects, “but working in a group project with other writers and poets in an anthology means forming a community.” With each chapter — motherhood, expatriate life, advocacy, storytelling, Dawson continues to become.
In times of upheaval when identity unravels, when grief reshapes the ground beneath us, when the roles we wore no longer fit, creativity becomes more than expression. It becomes survival. But as Dawson offers, it’s even more than that.
“Survival isn’t the goal,” she says. “Death is inevitable. It’s about thriving. Becoming is about living my best life — the life I lived in my youth. It’s about holding on to that same energy, that same quality of life and surrendering as little as I can to what age and time try to take.”
Whether through movement, story, stitching or song, engaging in creative acts helps us metabolize the unspoken, reorient to meaning, and reconnect with the self beneath the rubble. In the wake of what author Bruce Feiler calls “lifequakes,” creative practice becomes a compass and a balm
“Survival isn’t the goal,” she says. “Death is inevitable. It’s about thriving. Becoming is about living my best life — the life I lived in my youth.
Book cover for ‘No World Too Big’
Courtesy of Keila Dawson
guiding us toward reinvention and also toward restoration.
It’s not about art for art’s sake. It’s about stitching ourselves back together, one creative act at a time.
These moments, whether stitched in stories, danced into light or journaled by lamplight — exist in what I’ve come to call memory heritage and culture music.
It’s that sacred, often invisible place between who we were and who we are still unfolding into. A space where identity is no longer fixed, where creativity becomes compass and where culturally fluid women, especially, are called to reclaim and themselves.
It is not a void — it is a threshold. Maybe that’s what Mattie Matlock was really saying, in that quiet line about “work friends” and “mom friends.” Not just naming the past, but asking: What now? What next? Where do I go from here?
Who are we when the titles dissolve, the applause quiets, and the mirror shows a woman we’re still learning to love? Women like Keila Dawson, and like so many of us, are answering those questions. Not with urgency, but with artistry. Through page and pattern, rhythm and remembrance, we are reclaiming the space between “used to be” and “not yet.” The space where becoming lives.
This is the art of midlife reinvention. It’s not about filling the silence but about listening to it. It’s not about proving worth but rather creating meaning.
It’s all the women who’ve ever stood at the edge of a former self, peered into the unknown and whispered, “I’m still becoming.”
To learn more about Keila Dawson, scan the code below. cultursmag.com/the-art-of-becoming-creativity
Photo
THE DELICACY OF TOFU: HODO FOODS FOUNDER MINH TSAI
By John Liang
In 1980, Minh Tsai’s parents told him they were going on a
family vacation.
It wasn’t until they were on the boat that his parents confessed that they were leaving their home country of Vietnam. They were headed to a refugee camp in Malaysia and subsequently made it to the United States.
After achieving the “American Dream,” earning a master’s degree from Columbia University and working in investment banking, Tsai decided to start a food business called Hodo Foods. Inspired by the flavors he grew up with, Tsai started making authentic tofu and selling it at a farmer’s market stand in San Francisco, Calif., U.S.A.
Twenty years later, Tsai is known as the “Tofu Disruptor,” making one of the most soughtafter tofu brands in the United States. He’s even collaborated with Chipotle to create the famous plant-powered vegan option, Sofritas — made with Hodo’s extra-firm tofu.
For Tsai, having spent part of his youth in Vietnam, food has been one of his great loves. Southeast Asian food in particular is an amalgam of South Asian food and East Asian food.
“The culture there is buy every day, go to the wet market, the farmer’s market. So that’s how I grew up,” he says.
Once he was settled in the U.S. as a teenager and in subsequent years after, Tsai discovered that he missed that type of food.
“The majority of my credit card bill, over 90%, was actually on food,” he says. That’s what led him to the food business.
“I was thinking, ‘OK, I love food,’” he adds. “I spend a lot of money on food. Food is more recession-proof. So at least that’s how I got into this business in the first place.”
Photos courtesy of Minh Tsai/Hodo Foods
Tsai says it was a “silly idea” to try to make a tofu that he grew up eating and loving.
“Super silly if you think about it, but I got lucky in that it happened at the right time and the right place, and so time and place played a significant role in the success of Hodo Foods,” he adds.
GROWING UP IN A NEW COUNTRY
Like with many immigrants, it was very difficult for Tsai in the beginning because he didn’t speak the language and missed his extended family back in Vietnam.
“There was a lot of crying, initially,” he says. “The first year was very challenging, being in an [English as a Second Language] class, living in sort of a neighborhood that’s not friendly to outsiders.”
Despite those challenges, Tsai was able to find a community while growing up in San Francisco, Calif., U.S.A. that allowed him to blossom academically.
“I feel very lucky,” he says. “I still believe that there are no countries that I’m aware of that allow anyone to reinvent themselves as much as in the United States. So I’m a testament to that. I’ve had so many careers and I might have more careers coming.”
TO ASSIMILATE OR NOT TO ASSIMILATE
Like many immigrant families, Tsai’s parents didn’t want to keep a lot of Vietnamese traditions because they wanted him to assimilate as quickly as possible.
“Essentially, outside of the Lunar New Year and gatherings with friends around that time, we didn’t really keep a lot of the traditions that I grew up with, like Autumn Moon Festival and any of those sort of festivals and celebrations,” he says.
One thing that Tsai’s family did keep pretty consistent is that all the meals were — and still are — “massive and epic.”
“It’s like, big families, lots of friends, lots of drinking and a ton of food — really, really good food,” he says. “So that tradition remains to this day.”
Time and place played a significant role in the success of Hodo Foods.
CLASS EXPOSURE
Tsai says he was “very fortunate” to be exposed to “so much when I first came to the United States,” in that he went from a school in a low-income neighborhood to a private school in a high-income neighborhood.
“That contrast was extreme, but also really wonderful from an exposure standpoint,” he says. Additionally, his parents sent him to a boarding school in the summers on the U.S. East Coast.
That exposure — from lowincome kids to the “blue-blood” children of global leaders — helped him navigate many different settings and classes, according to Tsai.
“So that, to me, is probably one of the reasons I was able to navigate Hodo as well,” he adds. “It’s really understanding what American consumers want from this Asian food, this Asian ingredient. I think of all of my life exposure really helped me create these products and the company.”
STARTING HODO FOODS
Tsai say his main goal when he started his company was simply “to show people what tofu was.”
He grew up in San Francisco during the era known as the “Farm to Table movement,” where consumers really wanted to know where their food came from. It was the time of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “Food Rules” author Michael Pollan and culinary entrepreneur John Scharffenberger.
“So for me, I was just like, OK, people have no clue what tofu is, where it came from, and the tofu
MInh Tsai as a child.
Photo courtesy of MInh Tsai
at the time, and still is to this day, it’s still subpar,” according to Tsai. “So I was just like, I love tofu. I’m gonna show anybody who’s interested how to make tofu, what it is. I’m just really gonna be an open kimono about it.”
Fortunately for Tsai, the farmer’s markets in San Francisco were the right place — not just for potential customers but also because a lot of chefs went there.
“It was instant feedback for me,” he says.
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Making tofu “yummy” tended to be the easiest thing for Tsai. The hard parts were on the business end, i.e. the logistics of refrigeration, or the permitting, or even the weather.
I love tofu. I’m gonna show anybody who’s interested how to make tofu.
“I remember in the winter, I’m standing around for six hours and I’m selling like 80 bucks’ worth of tofu,’” he says. “Those were brutal days, but I think I had this attitude that I needed to be there because there’s these three customers that really love my stuff and they would be so bummed if I don’t show up, or this one chef that will come out and pick up some soy milk that I want to make sure I’m there for him.”
Over time, though, those relationships paid off.
Nowadays, when asked what he thinks success is when it comes to the food business, Tsai responds: “Stick around.”
“The longer you can stick around … eventually, somebody over time will find you and you can sustain yourself,” he says. “So that’s sort of how we sort of got
lucky in that there were times where I’m like, ‘I should just throw in the towel.’
“But I thought, ‘You know what? [Let’s try] another year.’ And then something happened, a customer would come along and we’re like, oh wow, OK, we’re good now,” he says. “So that is really for me a combination of hard work, patience and luck.”
RETURNING TO VIETNAM
As an adult, Tsai has traveled back to Vietnam multiple times.
“It’s changed so much,” he says.
While plenty of mom-and-pop tofu shops still exist in Vietnam, Tsai was able to meet what he calls “the monopolist of tofu.”
The biggest tofu maker in Vietnam is a company owned by a woman who was a former Soviet engineer.
“So she’s Vietnamese. She went to the Soviet Union after the war, became an engineer there,
and she took all that engineering skill and came back and built this massive, automated tofu plant,” he says.
When he goes back to Vietnam, Tsai knows he’s no longer completely a “local,” though.
While he may look like a local, dress like a local and still speaks Vietnamese, it’s his lack of familiarity with the current slang that makes him stand out.
“I sound like a foreigner,” he says. “Like, not from accent, but it just sounds funny when I talk. So they know right away: They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, you ain’t from around here. You must be from overseas.’ And I was like, busted! So I get that, but at least I don’t get ripped off, so I’m cool.”
To learn more about Minh Tsai, scan the code below.
cultursmag.com/hodo-foods-founder-minh-tsai-on-
From shows to watch and songs to hear, to artistry, shopping and things to explore, know and do, here’s a specially curated list of things we recommend as MUST experience items for the culturally fluid.
THEMUSTLIST
PERUVIAN ANIME
The Peruvian animation studio Ninakami
Animation has unveiled the trailer for its ambitious anime project, “Apukunapa Kutimuyñin: The Return of the Gods.”
The trailer was a product of Peruvian filmmaker Omar Vallejos, who developed the project as part of his Master’s degree at the Kyoto University of the Arts in Japan.
The series follows the arrival of mythical creatures and deities from Peru into the modern world. Although it hasn’t yet been greenlit for production, with enough support, it could become the first Peruvian anime in history.
Those deities include Inti, the god of the sun; Illapa, god of thunder; Pachamama, goddess of earth; as well as the jarjacha, a nocturnal beast along with the Mallki (Incan mummy) and the torito de Pucará (Pucará bull) figurine that represents protection, fertility and prosperity.
Apukunapa Kutimuyñin comes from Quechua and means “The Return of the Apus” (gods). This story with ancient roots seeks to honor the animators’ South American past.
The trailer also alludes to Peruvian cuisine as well as a scene with anticuchos — the sacred cats of the Andes, the Misti volcano and its deity, the Church of the Nazarenas, and references to the Spanish conquest and the Catholic religion.
With the release of the trailer, Ninakami Animation is expressing its deep ambitions and desire to create their own intellectual property and develop an animated series based on it.
“Our goal is to showcase the talent that can be born and forged in this part of the world,” the studio says.
To view the trailer, scan the code below. cultursmag.com/a-new-anime-series-about-peruvian-
Photo courtesy of Ninakami Animation
FEELING ‘MISUNDERSTOOD’
Kevin Olusola, one-fifth of the Grammy-
winning a capella group Pentatonix, says he’s felt “misunderstood” his whole life.
“My dad’s from Nigeria and my mom’s from Grenada,” the Adult Cross-Cultural Kid says in a recent Instagram post, adding that he was raised in suburban Kentucky.
“They kept telling me I was too black for the white kids,” he says. “I was too white for the black kids. I’m not African enough. I’m not African-
American enough. I’m not Caribbean enough. I’m not hiphop enough. I’m not classical enough.
“When am I just going to be enough?” he continues. “When am I just going to finally fit in? And then I think to myself, well, maybe I’m not supposed to fit in, but then that feels isolating as well. And I just don’t want people feeling the same way I have always felt: crazy.”
Did you know Kevin Olusola is also fluent in Mandarin Chinese? Scan the code below to find out more. cultursmag.com/pentatonixs-kevin-olusola-on-
by Xavier Sotomayor
Photo
Kevin Olusola
SINGING IN QUECHUA
Peruvian singer/ rapper and activist Renata Flores has
been one of the major voices advocating for the preservation of the Quechua language for a decade now.
Flores’ cover of Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” in Quechua went viral 10 years ago.
Flores only began studying the language at age 13, and as she told “The Economist” in 2021: “I think people can do much bigger things when they can use their own language. The use of Quechua, for me … is being able to express yourself in a way you feel comfortable.”
Flores subsequently went on to release her first album, where she delved into the past of the Incan empire, discovering stories of fighting women, Andean warriors seeking to have their
voices heard, eager to change the history of Peruvian women. She identified with each of them and decided to pay tribute to them on this album.
According to perutravelwithpurpose.com:
Renata Flores isn’t just making music — she’s creating a movement. Her art is a reminder that languages like Quechua aren’t relics of the past but living expressions of identity, resilience and creativity. By blending tradition with modernity, she’s ensuring that the voices of the Andes echo for generations to come.
More recently, Flores released a single last month, “Tijeras II,” as a response to mass protests and government killings in 2022 and 2023.
Scan the code below to check out her single “Tijeras II.” cultursmag.com/renata-flores-has-something-to-say-
Cover art for Renata Flores’ album ‘Isqun’
POETRY SPANNING WORLDS: NAMAL SIDDIQUI
By Chris Van Laak
Namal Siddiqui has always had a knack for
words. When she was a child and her parents bought her favorite chocolate, she wrote a poem about it. When her family first had Internet on a desktop computer connected to the web via a modem that made the characteristic sounds, the first thing she did was look up the etymology of words she found interesting.
Siddiqui might have seemed destined to become one of the stalwarts in Dubai’s Englishlanguage poetry and spoken-word scene, but it took her a detour and a U-turn to get there.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in marketing and HR from the American College of Dubai, she instead opted for a career in advertising. Living in the United Arab Emirates as a lifelong noncitizen — just like virtually all immigrants and their children in the country — a job that could sponsor her visa was the easiest way to get the safe status she needed in the place she called “home.”
BACK TO HER FAMILY’S ROOTS
Aside from her day job, writing poetry has always come naturally to her ever since the first “chocolate poem.”
“It’s one of the things that exist within you since you were born,” she says.
However, it only took center stage in the past few years. It was also at that time that she asked herself what “home” meant, and whether the way she “felt at home in Dubai was the right way of feeling at home.”
Photo courtesy of Namal Siddiqui
FINDING A HOME IN CULTURE
“I started thinking about my language, Urdu, in relation to home much more when I was in Pakistan,” she says, adding that she speaks Urdu with her parents, while English has always been the language of her daily life in the “multicultural Dubai bubble.”
“Urdu is what my ancestors spoke,” she says. “These are things that should ground us, not physical places we call home.”
MOMENTS OF HEIGHTENED PERCEPTION
I
started thinking about my language, Urdu, in relation to home much more when I was in Pakistan.
For about a year, she lived in Pakistan, the country that issued her passport and the country that her parents still considered home. Her life in Islamabad, in the foothills of the Karakoram Mountains, which feature some of the world’s highest peaks, was different from in the desert city in the Gulf. But Siddiqui, who had recently become serious about mountaineering, appreciated the new environment and made it her home, too.
“I realized I could feel at home anywhere I feel comfortable,” she says.
More importantly, though, her concept of home shifted altogether — a development that was soon to influence her poetry.
Initially influenced by the heavyweights of Englishlanguage poetry, such as William Blake or William Wordsworth, Siddiqui has long since freed herself from the meters and structures of classic poetry, as well as from its typical themes. In her poems, Siddiqui often captures moments of heightened perception of her rich inside world and her environment, be it while stuck in thick traffic in Dubai or in a stuffy elevator.
Some of her recent poems have the form of a “ghazal,” an amatory ode that is closely linked to Sufi mysticism and the greats of Middle Eastern and South Asian poetry, such as Rumi or Muhammad Iqbal. Blending in this tradition of poems, typically written in Arabic or Urdu, also came naturally to Siddiqui once she realized it was part of her all along.
Photo by John Navarro
Namal Siddiqui at an Emirates Literature Foundation event
DEEPLY MULTILINGUAL
In Pakistan, Siddiqui began thinking about what’s going on inside of her when writing.
“I realized that when I’m writing I’m not thinking only in English or Urdu,” she says. “When I’m thinking in English, I’m at the same time thinking in Urdu as well.”
In her poetry and spokenword performances, Siddiqui began to incorporate elements of all the languages that are part of her identity.
“I have this Middle Eastern concept of culture,” she says. “When you hear me talk to an Arab friend, I’ll have a slight Arab accent. When you hear me talk to a Pakistani or Indian friend, I’ll drop in words in Urdu.”
With that realization, her family’s migration from Pakistan — and in part Bangladesh, which was at the time known as East Pakistan — began to form the backdrop of her craft.
“Most people in the world today are products of imperialism,” she said. “I want to map the history of my family through my poetry.”
When
you hear me talk to an Arab friend, I’ll have a slight Arab accent. When you hear me talk to a Pakistani or Indian friend, I’ll drop in words in Urdu.
Photo courtesy of Namal Siddiqui
MANY PROJECTS
Siddiqui began to dig deeper into the history of her family and learned about episodes that were rarely talked about before, such as when her father traveled on a train scattered with blood in the wake of the Partition of India and Pakistan. She also realized the extent to which her mother’s “creative urge,” as she calls it, has always found an outlet in poetry, too. Little poems written by her mother were frequently found on the back of notebooks the family used to keep next to the telephone.
After earning a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in the U.K., Siddiqui is now working on a book about her family’s history, as well as one about being a woman in the mountaineering space.
However, as Siddiqui wants to stay true to her first love — poetry — she is planning to publish her poetry selection first. She hopes it will be a collaborative project with her mother.
“I now urge my mother to write down all her poems in one place,” Siddiqui says. “She tends to write down her work in scattered places.”
To read some of Namal Siddiqui’s poetry, scan the code below. cultursmag.com/poetry-spanning-worlds-namal-
Photo courtesy of Namal Siddiqui
Namal Siddiqui at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024
UNLOCK YOUR INFINITE POTENTIAL: THE YOGIC PATH TO CREATIVITY
By Shanthi Yogini
As an Adult Third Culture Kid (TCK) or
Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK), have you ever thought of yourself as not being creative? Or do you know you are creative but wish to enhance your creativity?
Creativity is often associated with artists, musicians and writers, but in reality, creativity is an inherent power within every individual. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a parent, a teacher or a scientist, creativity fuels your ability to think outside the box, solve problems and bring fresh perspectives to life.
The ancient Yogic wisdom reveals that creativity is not something external that you acquire — it is already within you, woven into the very fabric of your being. Creativity is not a gift bestowed upon a select few — it is the natural expression of a being. Each of us is inherently creative, yet this energy often lies dormant, buried under layers of stress, self-doubt and disconnection.
The Aatmaa (inner being) is the source of creativity, intelligence, highest potential, true freedom, unconditional love, profound peace and lasting happiness.
These traits are not separate. You do not have to strive for each one individually. When you tap into your inner creativity, you also awaken intelligence, clarity, peace and happiness.
But how can we access and expand this inner creativity?
The ancient Yogic wisdom provides a comprehensive lifestyle and spiritual pathway that unlocks creativity from within. Through the C.R.E.A.T.E. path — a six-step journey rooted in Yogic principles — you can cultivate the conditions necessary to express your fullest creative potential.
C – Connect with Your Creative Core
R – Relax for Creativity
E – Eat to Fuel Your Creative Energy
A – Affirm Your Creative Power
T – Think with Yogic Wisdom
E – Exercise Yogically to Awaken Creativity
Let us understand these one by one.
C – CONNECT WITH YOUR CREATIVE CORE
Creativity is Your Core
Every spark of creativity originates from within. In modern life, we often look outside ourselves for stimulation and solutions. But Yogic wisdom reminds us that everything we seek already resides within. The practice of turning inward — through silence, breath and self-reflection — helps us access our inner world, where the creative wellspring resides.
Creativity is not a skill you learn — it is who you are.
Fact #1: Your body is constantly creating. New cells replace old ones every second. When you eat, your digestive fire converts food into energy, enabling every activity you do.
Fact #2: The chemical processes taking place in your body with the secretion of hormones and juices from glands create new elements ensuring peak efficiency of your body.
Fact #3: Your mind is continuously creating. Thoughts, emotions and ideas are constantly emerging within you, shaping your perception of life.
Creativity is not a skill you learn — it is who you are.
Fact #4: Your existence itself is a creation. The reproductive system carries the power to create new life, proving that creativity is embedded in your very being. It is the creative energy in you that expresses itself through writing, speaking, mentoring, drawing, painting, music, dance, theatre, cooking or inventing. There is NO limit to that creative energy or how it wants to express itself in you.
Try This: Begin your day with a five-minute silent meditation, focusing on your heart center. Imagine a radiant light awakening your creativity. This simple practice can attune you to your deepest inspirations.
Yogic Insight: In Yogic texts, your inner core is the gateway to infinite wisdom. True creativity is not an act of ego, but a flow from this sacred space.
R – RELAX FOR CREATIVITY
Stillness births creativity. Relaxation is not the absence of activity; it is the presence of conscious rest. It is not about doing nothing — it is about being in a state of inner calm while remaining fully aware.
According to Yogic wisdom, when the body is relaxed and the mind is calm, PraaṇaH (life-force energy) flows more freely. And wherever PraaṇaH flows, creativity follows.
Tension, worries and stress block not just joy, but innovation. You cannot be inspired when your nervous system is in survival mode.
Try This: Lie down in Shavasanam (corpse pose), close your eyes and mentally scan your body from head to toe. Release any tension you find. After just 10 minutes, you will feel lighter — and more receptive to creative ideas.
Relaxation is not the absence of activity; it is the presence of conscious rest.
Yogic Insight: The mind is like a lake. When disturbed by stress, its surface is choppy, distorting the reflection of truth. But when relaxed, the waters settle, revealing deep insight and clarity.
E – EAT TO FUEL YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY
Food affects not just your body but your mind and imagination.
Food is not just nutrition; it is energy, vibration and consciousness. The food you consume directly affects your mental clarity, focus and creative potential.
What you eat determines the Guna-s (qualities) active in your mind:
Saatvic (pure) foods increase clarity, lightness and inspiration.
Raajasic (stimulating) foods agitate the mind and create restlessness.
Taamasic (lethargy-inducing) foods cloud perception and diminish creativity.
A Saatvic diet — composed of fresh, plant-based, seasonal and lightly cooked foods — supports clarity, peace and vitality.
Food is energy in tangible form. The more PraanaH (life force) a food contains, the more it elevates your energy and mental state. Processed, heavy or excessively spicy foods can dull your senses.
Try This: For one week, eat a purely Saatvic breakfast — fresh fruit, soaked almonds, herbal tea or warm porridge. Observe how your thoughts and energy shift over the week.
Yogic Insight: You are what you eat. As you eat, so you become.
A – AFFIRM YOUR CREATIVE POWER
Your words shape your world. Use them wisely.
Your thoughts shape your reality. If you constantly tell yourself you are not creative, those words become your reality. But if you affirm your potential — “I am a vessel for divine inspiration” or “Creative energy
flows through me with ease” — your subconscious begins to rewire itself to support that truth.
Try This: Write down three creativity-affirming phrases. Repeat them aloud each morning and evening. Feel the vibrations in your body as you speak them with conviction.
Yogic Insight: Yogic sound practices resonate in specific energy centers (Chakrams), unblocking stagnation and opening the flow of creative power.
T – THINK WITH YOGIC WISDOM
Yogic values create the inner space for ideas to flourish.
In the Yogic path, thinking goes beyond mental activity. It teaches universal principles that refine your inner landscape and unlock deeper levels of creativity. Let’s explore how these core values promote creativity:
Ahimsa (Non-violence): When you live with non-violence in thoughts, speech and action, your mind becomes calm and fearless. Fear is one of the biggest creativity blockers.
Satyam (Truthfulness): Living in truth lets your authentic voice shine.
Shoucham (Purity): Purity is not just about physical cleanliness — it is about clarity in the body,
In the Yogic path, thinking goes beyond mental activity.
mind and environment. A cluttered space — be it physical, digital or mental — hinders innovation.
SvaadhyaayaH (Self-Study & Study of the Self): By studying sacred texts and reflecting on your own patterns, you gain deeper self-awareness. Creativity flourishes when you truly understand yourself — your gifts, wounds, vision and potential.
Yogic values are not limitations. They are the boundaries that create boundless freedom — they are liberators of your creative genius. They help you create the life you have always wanted, the one that you truly deserve.
Try This: Each night, journal your top three recurring thoughts of the day. Ask yourself: Are they serving my creativity or limiting it? Choose one to consciously shift tomorrow.
Yogic Insight: In an authentic Yogic text called the “Bhagavad Gita,” Krishna teaches Arjuna that the mind must be trained through discipline and detachment. A Yogic thinker is not a passive dreamer but a conscious creator of their inner and outer world.
Creativity flourishes when you truly understand yourself — your gifts, wounds, vision and potential.
E – EXERCISE YOGICALLY TO AWAKEN CREATIVITY
Your body is not separate from your creative expression.
Physical movement is essential for creative expression. Yogic movement is not about performance — it is about presence. When you move with awareness, you awaken PraanaH, and remove blockages in the Naaḍi-s (energy channels).
You do not need complex poses to unlock this power. Unlike ordinary exercise, a Yoga-posture, even the simplest one, is done with awareness, breath synchronization and inner focus, making it a moving meditation that refreshes body, mind and Aatmaa.
Creativity is not just a mental process — it is an energetic flow. When your body is flexible, your mind becomes flexible, allowing ideas to flow effortlessly.
Try This: Begin your creative work with two simple Yoga-poses. Feel the difference in your focus and flow.
Yogic Insight: When your spine is activated through Yogic movement, it becomes the superhighway of inspiration and insight.
CONCLUSION: BE THE CREATOR YOU WERE BORN TO BE
Creativity is not something you do — it is something you are. It is the natural state of a being in harmony with themselves and the universe. The Yogic path does not offer a formula for creativity; it offers a way of life that removes the blocks to your natural creative essence.
By following the CREATE framework, you can tap into the infinite wellspring of creativity that resides within you. You CREATE from the inside out.
Now, go forth and CREATE! Your Creative Journey Starts Now
Begin with one step — whichever resonates with you the most. Perhaps today, you affirm your creative potential. Tomorrow, you choose Saatvic meals. Slowly, these practices pave way for your transformation. And as you evolve, so does your art, your work, your life.
Remember: You are not here to merely consume life. You are here to CREATE it — beautifully, consciously and joyfully.
The Yogic path does not offer a formula for creativity; it offers a way of life that removes the blocks to your natural creative essence.
For more tips on the Yogic path to creativity, scan the code below. cultursmag.com/unlock-your-infinite-potential-the-
BEHIND THE SCENES
Actor, producer and activist Yara Shahidi
Watts Labor Community Action Committee Director of Family Services Sheila Thomas
Jimmy Chris with Genius in the Hood participants
Jimmy Chris and Emil Genius in the Hood
Elleyne with Yara Shahidi and Genius in the Hood participants
Ruth Van Reken and Deidre Hardin Grasse, France
Grasse, France
“American girls” celebrating graduation from University of Edinburg while in Grasse
At Inkwell beach with Novartis, Cannes France
Elleyne interviewing Genius in the Hood Co-Founders Malcolm Spellman, Emil Pinnock and Jimmy Chris
Emil Pinnock with participants
Culturs fam: Alchemist Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ruth Van Reken, columnist Dr. Paulett Bethel, Elleyne, Mistine and Jaime Varela, Amanda Barr and PocStock VP DeSean Brown
Elleyne with Andrea Bazoin and guest
Truly, authentically you
Uplifting those who grew up in multiple countries or having meaningfully experienced multiple cultures.
BECAUSE CULTURE ISN’T FOLLOWED. IT’S FORGED.
TRANSFORM FROM OUTLIER TO ORIGINAL.
