From as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a spiritual longing deep in my bones.
Like many kids of the Asian diaspora growing up in the U.S., my mother dutifully ushered me to piano, dance and drawing classes a few times a week after school.
Art-making became a cycle of mimicking teachers, meeting expectations and something I completely dreaded. My attention shifted to consuming popular media and music that dominated my time and inner imaginative world.
As I entered adulthood, I continued pursuing the “American Dream” constructed by the media I consumed during my formative years. Find “your person,” secure that apartment in the city, and climb the career ladder — these were the promises I thought would bring contentment.
But that longing in my bones didn’t go away, it just continued to grow.
When I turned 28, my Saturn Return began - a time astrologers often describe as a period of "growing up” and reality shattering where we’re called to confront limitations, solidify foundations, and move toward a more authentic life path.
And wow, it completely shook my world. I had reached what I thought was the “peak” of my career, yet I felt spiritually empty. Desperate for answers, I began my spiritual journey — I joined virtual and local healing circles, took classes, and bought my first deck of oracle cards. But I knew I couldn’t navigate this alone. I enrolled in my first mentorship program, where I found the one-on-one support I needed to reconnect with a redefined sense of purpose and inner power.
Through many calls and lots of tears, what was revealed through my initiation was that I wanted to feel an active participant in creating my reality.
I desired to live the life of an artist.
But at the time, my conception of being an artist was still forming and shrouded by desire for institutional recognition. For a couple years I assisted a well-known artist in San Francisco in hopes of being validated in the world of fine art, only to be continually disappointed.
Although that experience was discouraging, I was given the gift of revelation: I came to realize that my identity of an artist is not given or earned, but rather reclaimed.
And if I was being called to expand beyond the white colonial imagination, I could also redefine art as practice of intentional living. My life could become the canvas for me to consciously design. I began to see every moment of my day as an act of creation, where I was both the artist and the medium.
In recent years, I’ve continued my decolonization work and reconnection to my ancestry, immersing myself in the study of Taoism and Taoist alchemy. This exploration gave rise to birthing the concept of Art Alchemy — a personal practice of intentionally transforming life’s raw materials into something meaningful and in harmony with the universe.
It’s a process of inner transformation, where my conscious choices, daily actions and experiences are channeled into purposeful expressions of my authentic self.
More to come on this ever-evolving story, but I’m excited to invite the you to be in practice and conversation around these topics in tonight’s Art Alchemy Activation gathering.
Curious about the Art Alchemy approach?
Join me tonight at Art Alchemy Activation at 5pm PST for a 60-minute journey of rest, divination, and free flow expressive arts to spark the flame of your innate creative fire and where I’ll share more about this philosophy and framework.
Hope to see you there!
With Soft Power,
Co-Founder
Upcoming Gatherings
Soft Power operates as a virtual church, gathering regularly in our Village Sanctuary to connect with our community and creativity (read more about our decision to transition from LLC to lay-led secular church here).
All of our Sanctuary gatherings are open to the digital public.
Movement Cafe with
Thurs, 11/21 at 5:30-6:30pm PT
Movement Cafe is a 60-minute session to drop in and connect with your breath and move your body. This movement class integrates the principles of breathwork, Qi Gong, and yoga into a holistic practice that nurtures the mind, body and spirit. Flo will guide a gentle movement practice to release stress and tension in the body, followed by music for your creative expression and freestyle.
The Village Townhall
Fri, 11/22 at 12-1pm PT
An opportunity to gather in conversation around Soft Power's transition to church nonprofit status. All members and interested community are welcome. Intentions are to create space for questions, weaving in somatic practices for general connection and co-regulation.
Soft Power Choir with & N4than
Mon, 11/25 at 5:30-6:45pm PT
Our last choir gathering of the year!
Soft Power Choir facilitated by Dr. Kiki and n4than is a virtual community for folks who want to intentionally connect with their voice and the power of singing in community through somatic-spiritual rituals and co-regulation, while also redefining and expanding the definition of what we recognize as a “choir."
Missed our announcement? Read about our transition below.
A church of Soft Power
TLDR: we’re now a church nonprofit & our events calendar is open to the public, starting with Journey to The Birth Realm today at 12p PT