Welcome to this {Finding Space} series – INSPIRED INTERVIEWS. This is where I seek out inspiring individuals to share their stories with us. In these interviews we touch on inspiration, passion, community, wanderlust, home + more. Today we catch up with Selome Araya, Pan-African Jedi. She is a healer, teacher, doula, advocate, traveler, and more. Check out her website for more on her healing work. Be on the look out for her children's books in the future. She is also another dear friend of mine - soul sister. Enjoy…
Meet Selome:
What is your motto or mantra?SA: So many things came to my mind when I heard this question, so many quotes and different things have been inspirational, but if I have to choose one, it is a line from a song at Agape (my spiritual center in LA):
I release and I let go, I let the spirit run my life.
It sums up so much of my journey; surrendering, letting go and letting everything happen when it should and how it should, understanding I am a co-creator in my experience, and there is something bigger that’s guiding my journey and if I honor it there are endless possibilities.
What is your passion?SA: I get so overwhelmed with this question, because there are so many things...
Give us the top 3.
SA:Supporting others on their journey, helping to make positive impacts in the lives of others. Advocating for disenfranchised communities, improving health and healing in the U.S. and the global south for people who don't have easy access or those in need. This concept of helping is growing for me, I am stepping into the path of being a healer; focusing on holistic healing. Since I was 14, after my first experience volunteering with foster children, I have wanted to help people to live in balance and experience less suffering/inequality, and experience more happiness, peace and positive health, have equal access to things that will enhance and beautify their journey. There is so much imbalance in the world, and even at that age I thought, I have to do something about it. I want to combine activism/humanitarian work with the healing work I am now doing; that is the ultimate dream. I've also had a passion for supporting refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP's), a group I have worked with in different capacities over time....
Traveling and connecting with people. Learning from people and connecting to different cultures. To see humanity and be humbled. Keeping an open mind and to be in awe. To respect how varied people are. Something in travel just wakes me up, I learn and grow so much. Traveling has been one of my greatest teachers in my life.
Selome visiting a waterfall in Panama
Children/ Nature/ Spirit. I feel these are all one thing. It is connecting with those elements, connecting with their pureness that inspires me and moves me...
ethiopia wanderlust
Is it like connecting with the Essence?SA: Yes... spirit is essence... children are essence... nature is essence... being with water, by ocean, in trees, in the sun. Children are magic, they always give me so much spiritually.
Selome in panama, were she lived most recently before returning to the States.
Why do you travel?SA: I feel my spirit is pulled to places. It is a combination of nomadic spirit from ancestors and that I moved a lot growing up. To me it is like second nature to get on a plane and go somewhere. When I go, I don't feel like I am searching, instead I feel like I am going to something. I am always transformed from having gone somewhere. It almost feels like it is a part of my path to get on a plane and be in a new place. The places feel familiar when I get there, there is something to connect with in every place, culture, people, history, spirit. I am who I am because I have been able to travel. I have been thinking about how I am privileged to go, there is a reason why I am in a position to do this. It is an enriching experience every time. At the end of the day it feels like a calling.
haiti
I’ve also traveled due to having worked in the humanitarian and activist fields. This work took me to many places. Sometimes spirit and work conspired to guide me to a place. And sometimes the places I've traveled to became my new home.
Your story reminds me of The Art of Pilgrimage. It reminded of the Heros journey; like the story line of The Oddessy or The Ramayana. It breaks pilgrimage down into 7 parts. Some people literally go places, but I took from it that it really it boils down to having a pilgrimage right where you are - just going through different phases in your everyday life.
SA: Yes, you discover more of who you are, not the place where you are from or where you are going. I learned about myself in all these moments. All the things that can happen from going somewhere new. There have been people on my journey have said I am traveling to escape something. I might have agreed at some point, but I've learned that it's really bigger than me. Traveling has helped me to heal, has helped me in my transformation. So, there was a different reason why sometimes-actually it felt like I was “going” to myself, discovering who I am fully. As I reflect on my journey, Ive realized that traveling has been one of my greatest teachers in this life. Ive learned some of my biggest life lessons and grown exponentially through traveling. It's been a blessing.
I completely resonate with this... I think the key has been taking the leap without trying to figure it all out. When you try to figure it out it is like you are not taking the full leap. Ahh, so nice that you keep taking these great leaps of faith.
Where did you go on your last trip?SA: Morocco! A lot of the traveling I have done has been been to work/help others, and sometimes to relocate, but occasionally I have been blessed to travel just for adventure. Morocco was more like the latter, a real (and short) vacation! I visited 3 towns while I was there, Chefchaouen, Tangier, and Marrakech. It was nice to go and just BE.
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
What memories stand out from this trip?SA: Oh my god, so, I have always wanted to go to Morocco and I was finally able to go! It was everything I thought it was going to be. I got to travel with 2 of my soul sister friends, I don't usually travel with friends, and it was something I really needed at the time. We had such an easy flow as travelers together. We have similar philosophies of being in another country. Lots of wonderful people helped us along our time there. The food was amazing. This was the 6th country in Africa that I have been to, and it always has an energy, a magic in the air.
The city that stood out the most was Chefchaouen. I want you to look this place up! A small town nestled in the mountains painted in every range of blue you can think of. It was like walking through an underwater castle or a piece of art. Everything is painted blue because Israeli refugees settled there many years ago, and painted the town blue. For them, blue is a sacred color. The whole town pops!
Seems like it had the energy you connect to on so many levels... refugees, Africa, colour.
SA: Yes! The energy is indescribable. We also had a chance to go to mountains and waterfalls in Morocco, so many awesome things about it. I really like the two smaller towns, we could connect with people more. I got to use my Spanish in Tangier because it borders with Spain. So it was fun to be able to communicate with people while there.
Did you bring anything home as a reminder?SA: Yes, I brought home a Moroccan tea set (tea is so important to Moroccan culture), and gifts for loved ones and some rocks. Also, a blanket from Chefchaouen with the blues. Every time I use it I think about that trip.
What place has impacted you the most?SA: Haiti has impacted me the most. And another place that has really stuck with me is Zambia. Both of these places are magic. I spent some time in each place, living and working. I was in Haiti for a year and left for personal reasons but there has been something about Haiti that’s been calling me back. I feel like I need to go back, like something is unfinished. So much love in Haiti. My job there was very stressful but the love from the people and the magical energy of the place is hard to really put into words. In Zambia it was the people too, there is a vibration of the place and the people. It was a similar feeling, everyone felt like family instantly. Those 2 places have been really powerful in how people embrace you and take you in. A lot of happy souls, very loving. Even though they are going through things they are very generous.
Moving to Ethiopia was also really powerful because its my fathers home country. I got to connect culturally and linguistically in a much deeper way than I ever had. After living there I felt like I could actually call myself Ethiopian.
Where to next?
SA: I was supposed return to Haiti for healing work, but last minute was not able to go. I would like to go back to Ethiopia next year to visit family, and hopefully Australia one day (giggle), to visit you.
Whats on your must visit list?SA: Everywhere! But I have always wanted to visit Indonesia, Bahia in Brazil and India. I want to travel in the future doing healing work combined with humanitarian work.
So I think all roads lead you back home, so what does home mean to you?SA: So I was pondering this question, I think because I move around so much, I found that home is not so much a place, but a feeling. Where I am really centered in myself, and no matter where I am I can make that place home. Where I am able to open up and see community. It is really comfort (comfortable in myself in myself and my skin and environment). Home is also where people that I love are. Everywhere Ive gone I have been able to connect with people that become my family - global and spiritual family. In the literal since home is Los Angeles where I grew up but my community has expanded. I am at home wherever I am comfortable, at peace and feel love. Currently, home is Brooklyn New York, where I moved to live with my partner.
How do you make your current physical space a home?SA: It’s interesting because I realized a while ago that because I moved around so much in the world, I literally don’t have many “things” left, material things that is. I don’t even have much to “put up” in the new space, because the more you move, the less things you have as each move means you give things away or shed in some way. My relationship to things has really shifted with my nomadic way of living.
My current space is unique because I am sharing with my partner and it was his space before. Normally I like to put things that matter to me or might be important (drawings from godchildren, photographs of family and friends, books). I put my stuff on walls or on shelves. I haven't put up my things yet but I need to. I like a space that is clean, a space to put art from travel, gifts that have been given to me, reminders of love, travel and children). I like a space to be quiet and meditate. A place to feel comfortable cooking and eating. A place where I can find everything. A place that I want people to come to, where community can gather. A place that is aesthetically pleasing: colorful, candles, and enough sunlight as possible. Oh, and fresh air (open a window). I really found it necessary to have a place to pray and have spiritual connection with ancestors, so I keep an altar which is on my list to set up.
What do you put on your altar?SA: My altar has specific crystals, white candles, a glass of water, photos of ancestors, and a list of names for those without photos, fresh flowers, fresh sage, over a white cloth, thats it!
What is your favorite spot in your current home?SA: I like the dinner table, it is an old wooden table. My partner and I cook dinner together almost nightly and this is where we eat together and talk. It is very nice, I appreciate that cooking and sharing a meal is one of the things we do together, a very bonding experience. Something new I haven't experienced a lot in past. Feels like an act of love.
What does community mean to you?
SA: These questions are so grand (giggle). My sense of community has changed. It is people that I feel an ease with, people I can connect with in different regards; similar interests, we are feeding each other in a way - support, inspiration. fellowship (able to do activities together as a group). It feels good. We gather a lot and we exchange and we learn and we share. I feel like it is a feeling of having support too, feeling like you are not a lone. When I travel it is different. Even though I connect to people that are there, it people supporting you on your journey. Community is people you can be yourself with. People you can grow together with. A shared harmony. I feel like I belong to different communities too, and that is a blessing, and each serves a different purposes. Global, sisters/ friend, spiritual, people I worked with or have gone to school with... many different manifestations of community.
What type of events or spaces do you think get people to interact the most? With your community or people you don't even know yet?
SA: A warm energy in the space. That means literally and energetically. If it feels good, light and happy. Light, music, the colors people are wearing, the color of the room. Food being present - open sharing. Circles help a lot. Chairs in a circle or people sitting in a circle. That shape gets people to open up and interact. Being outside in the sunshine gets people to open up and engage. Children help to ease a space, they bring a lightness to a space. Ice breakers (giggle). Big open spaces, I have attended and hosted a lot of gatherings in open spaces.
What would you tell your 18 year old self if you had the chance? 3 top things?SA: Oh my god... I just lead a blessing way for a friend that is having a baby. There is a part in this ceremony where we talk directly to the baby who is still in the womb, giving her any message we want about life. Later I I regretted not telling her about SELF LOVE!
SELF LOVE is the most important love in life because if you can love yourself you can love everybody and everything else in the world. It took me a long time to learn this, I guess it happens when it happens. If I had learned to think about and nurture myself more and sooner, my journey would have been a little different. (update based on recording)
Your path is going to look one way right now and its going to change, and be okay with that. Every time it changes you expand and you grow. You don't have to stay the same. You are going to become more and more yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself if your path, ideas, school major or career changes. I’ve changed my mind and my path a few times over. Everything brought me to where I am. So it is all good. Be open and accepting of your path changing and it will all end up exactly where it is supposed to!
Heartbreak will come, but it will heal. The pain will seem like it will last forever, but it will not. My mom tried to tell me that when I was 20, when I thought life was over after the love of my life vanished. Love and emotions are such a big part of our journey. You are going to fall out of love and lose friends and new ones will come. The heartache can come in romantic relationships and friendships and even with family. Not everyone is supposed to continue with you on this journey. Some people come for a lesson or a reason and they go and its okay you know, you are going to be alright.
Wow, awesome reminders. So with that, how do you stay inspired now?
SA: I keep very inspirational people around me, I read about inspirational people and stories, and I listen to my feelings and my heart following that helps feed my inspiration. There are things I can do creatively to tap in more, but I feel like I am just starting to walk the path I am meant to walk and I am responding to that call - I am not holding back, I am taking risks. I really do get inspiration from others around me, doing similar work or walking their journey with conviction, being around children always to inspires me to be alive, reminding me to connect and be magical. Children are always so magical. I have little kids tell me I am their best friend. I have a renewed energy and vibrancy. Meditation helps, go within, back to source, being quiet. Being grounded is where inspiration can come from. Oh, and traveling too, it keeps me inspired. Definitely.
Anything else you want to share? What do you want your legacy to be?
SA: I have a feeling deep within that it is not suppose to be a simple legacy, I am supposed to make a movement. Sometimes I feel pressure on myself,and feel that I have not fully stepped into my path or role as healer, a leader, an advocate. I feel that now I am developing and cleansing my soul, doing the ground work, building my confidence, stepping into it slowly but surely! I want my legacy to make an impact, leaving something that was not here before, something that shifts consciousness and shifts the journey of individuals and communities to something more positive, more whole, something that decreases the level of suffering our communities experience as a result of lack of access, something that enhances healing for community. I am supposed to create something that is not already here. There are times when I tell myself that I have already done so much, that I have impacted others, that no impact is “small”. I am still becoming clear, I have been a reiki healing practitioner for a couple of years now, recently became a birth doula, and am a teacher, a ritual/workshop facilitator in community spaces, an advocate-and I know it will eventually all blend together in harmony. I want to learn herbal medicine and be versed in other healing modalities. I did a lot of humanitarian and advocacy work in the past; I am no longer working in the NGO/non-profit realm but I want to somehow combine this healing work with advocacy, working with under-served communities in the U.S. (communities of color), and refugees/internally displaced persons-a group I have worked with in many instances and continue to have a passion to support. I want to be a creator, manifest my own visions of how to support others, and feel that traveling will be involved. The vision is so big and multi-layered, I am working now to manifest how it will all be packaged together. Sometimes I overwhelm myself but I trust it will all come to life at the right time and in the right way. I'm currently part of a healers collective in New York City that is giving me the opportunity to experience combining healing work with activism, as we hold healing villages for people who don't normally have access to such services and support. I have a feeling deep within that it is not suppose to be a simple legacy, I am supposed to make a movement. Sometimes I feel pressure on myself,and feel that I have not fully stepped into my path or role as healer, a leader, an advocate. I feel that now I am developing and clearing my soul, doing the ground work, building my confidence, stepping into it slowly but surely! I want my legacy to make an impact, leaving something that was not here before, something that shifts consciousness and shifts the journey of individuals and communities to something more positive, more whole, something that decreases the level of suffering our communities experience as a result of lack of access to inequality. I am supposed to create something that is not already here. There are times when I tell myself that I have already done so much, that I have impacted others, that no impact is "small". I am still becoming clear, I am doing reiki healing, am now a doula, a teacher, a ritual/workshop facilitator in community spaces-and I know it will continue to grow. I want to learn herbal medicine and be versed in other healing modalities. I have done a lot of humanitarian and advocacy work in the past, I want to somehow combine this healing work with advocacy, working with under-served communities in the U.S. (communities of color), and refugees/internally displaced persons-a group I have worked with in many instances and continue to have a passion to support. I feel that traveling will be involved. The vision is so big and multi-layered, I am working now to manifest how it will all be packaged together. Sometimes I overwhelm myself but I trust it will all come to life at the right time and in the right way.
Giving people the ability to be healers themselves, but it is still not fully clear.. but it is a legacy of healing. I want to help a lot of people and make their life better - alleviating suffering... emotional, physical, environment, political. When I am ready to step into it I know it is bigger than I can imagine right now, I am still learning how all of this will look.
Again, it is so powerful and empowering to see you looking at your life from this level. What are some words you would share with someone to lead a more positive, healthy life?
SA: Take care of yourself in different ways of balancing emotions, mind and body. Daily acts of self love. Listen to intuition. We know what we should do. I would tell people when challenges come, it is an opportunity to master, a friend said this some time ago and it still resonates. Challenges come for us to learn and be transformed. Let go of things that don't serve you. Challenges are positive things if you can see the lessons in them and make the changes. Look at why it is happening and what you can do differently to come out on the other side of it. See the reason. Why am I experiencing this? What am I supposed to learn?
These books came to mind too they are full of gems: The Alchemist, The 4 Agreements, Of Water and the Spirit, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, The God of Small Things
And this quote I leave at the end of all my emails: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”- Arundhati Roy
Thank you Selome, you are inspiring! Look forward to seeing where your journey in healing takes you and cant wait for you to visit me here in Australia.
Be Wonderful.
LaToya
xx
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