For this week's episode, we invited Ziggie Grandin, a queer and trans multifaceted artist whose art centres and celebrates Black joy, healing, community and the re-imagination of Black futures (Afrofuturism). From poetry to visual creations, Ziggie's art is a creation of space and expression for liberation and the decolonization of subconscious and conscious thought. 

For this week's episode, we had the pleasure of gaining insight into the life of a visual arts performer. Nelson Smyles is a Cirque du Soleil performer from Melbourne, Australia. We dive into how his career as an artist, familial relations, and life experiences have influenced his engagement with self-compassion, touching on topics like mental health, inner resiliency, and self-patience.

WARNING: Explicit Language 

For this week's episode on C&C, we chat with Autumn Woods, a multi-media artist, film/documentary maker and creator based in Vancouver, about her recent experiences with coming out and transitioning to female. Struggling to figure out who she is deep down, Autumn has been on an on-going journey to determine her identity, all the while juggling her 4 podcasts, music career, and recent employment at a film production company. From family support to maintaining her life, Autumn is constantly evolving and progressing her life forward, and we highly recommend keeping an out for the young creator. 

Christa Kunuk is a Child and Youth Advocacy Specialist at the Representative for Children and Youths Office in Nunavut. Within this episode we engaged in a fluid dialogue centred around Christa’s identity and journey with self-compassion while unpacking colonialism and its relation to self compassion. Being an Inuk woman, mother, and grandmother, we explore Christa’s journey with self compassion and how each one of her identities have affected it. We explored how her direct community in Nunavut collectively engages with one another and how her culture and community has influenced her growth within self-compassion.

Raven Maus is a transgender semi-pro athlete who played soccer in Norway. After years of struggling with gender dysphoria, Raven decided to return to Canada to undergo top surgery and has been recovering since. From harassment at work, to being misgendered on the daily, Raven discusses what it's like being a transgender person in the sports industry.

Joshua Fernandez is a Vancouver-based dancer and aspiring dance teacher who currently performs at A3 Studios and for his collective INFAMOUS. Through a story telling dialogue, Joshua explains how his adolescent years spent in both the Philippines and Canada, and the past traumas concerning his identity and sexuality have been formative for the person that he is today. Being exposed to white supremacy ideologies, he discusses how he has unlearned the harmful internalized ideas that have painted his self-image for so long.

Aesha Chanté Young is a Vancouver based fitness instructor. She is a young black cis-gender female born and raised in Canada. Within our session, we specifically touch on mental health, racism, classism, current events, and Aesha's preconceptions of self-compassion and how they have all influenced her overall engagement.

Sam Davis is a practicing social worker currently working at a law firm that helps women that are in need of legal support and resources that are specifically fleeing domestic violence situations. In this episode Sam dives into how she shows self compassion through her professional and personal life, and how social paradigms have directly and indirectly affected her. 

Esteban Palacio (El Niño) is a HipHop artist from Vancouver. Born in Colombia, and moved here at the age of 3. Within this episode Esteban discusses how his experience as a visible minority within Canada, and his parents immigration status has impacted his understanding of self-compassion over his developmental to present years.  Esteban dives into how his intersecting identities informed the way he engages self-compassion.

WARNING: Explicit language used i.e. rape. 

In our first episode, my producer Ryu Darko/Jo Oguni and I dive into his understanding of self-compassion and his physical, emotional and introspective engagements with it. Ryu Darko is a Vancouver artist, who identifies as a cis-gender male. Within the episode we talk about how his upbringing, familial/personal relations, and exposure to specific social paradigms have influenced how he practices self-compassion.