🎂 Love letter to myself

how do you celebrate yourself?

Dear friend,

Happy July! Happy cancer season!!! 🦀

I’ve been wanting to write to you, but life just kept lifing. how have you been?

July 2024 Asian queer love calendar. dreamt with midjourney AI.

Summer has truly kicked in here in New York. I had my bday on 6/23! I am a solstice and cusp baby, surrendering to the liminal nature of my being.

I’m still coming down from the birthday celebration high! I felt so loved and held by myself, my people, and the nature itself!

The recent cancer new moon asked us to evaluate our relationship with giving and receiving love. What intention did you seed?

❤️ SEEDS:

🌱 I celebrate my vulnerability as a gateway to genuine intimacy and stronger relationships.

🌱 Like water, my desires are a natural force; I let them flow freely, attracting pure prosperity and pleasure.

🌱 I trust the process of my new venture. It is aligned with my true self, and I move forward with confidence and peace, knowing that financial abundance is on its way to me.

July 2024 Asian queer love calendar. dreamt with mijourney AI.

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❤️ a multimedia love letter to myself

How do you celebrate yourself?

This question was not familiar to me growing up.

I’ve realized that daring to celebrate yourself takes so much courage and compassion.

This year, I made myself a multimedia love letter.

I combined photos from my self-portrait ritual, bday party and ocean retreat. Music is from leah dou’s 烟花. :)

bday questionnaire:

• what to keep?
  love, curiosity, community
  

• what to let go?
  self-doubt, people-pleasing, procrastination
  

• what to call in?

  spirt-led entrepreneur
  

• 3 lessons did you learn in 33?
  🛕 my body is my home and my temple.
  🌊 I am surrounded by abundance. when I forget that, I sit down and notice.
  🥹 growth comes with lots of grief. hold yourself in your complexity. channel fiery energy to fight forward.
  

• 3 journal entries from last year

  

  “life is always happening. life is happening for me. trust. creativity > competition. be in your inner authority. desire is potential wanting to move through you. “

  

  “everything is part of a learning curve. stop over analyzing.”

  

  “计划旅行是旅行的一部分。决定”我想去哪里?我想体验什么?是重要”的启动仪式. planning is part of the trip. deciding where do i wanna go and what i want to experience is an important initiation。”

• 3 things on the bucket list for 34?
  👁️ create > consume.
  🔮 experience the magic of hawaii. connect deep to inner and outer landscape land. maybe learn surfing?
  🧧 enjoy the process of creating an aligned, sustainable and nourishing business rooted in my desire and expanded in the community.
  

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❤️ Sunset Studio updates

Last month I kept delving into the intersection of photography and somatic coaching.

Besides home studio sessions, I developed a longer flow called “Alchemy portraits” that prepares the portrait session with four somatic coaching sessions to heal the past, face the present and call in the future.

I just wrapped up an amazing journey with Shen Lu, a talented journalist, writer and chef. We’ve known each other for years and went through many challenges together. She’s strong and wise, but self-love has always been difficult. During the photoshoot, I kept hearing her saying “I love myself! I am so beautiful!“ It felt soooooo rewarding to see your friend shine and bloom!

Shen Lu: “For much of early 2024 I felt trapped. In April, I reached out to my friend @mengwencao for an affirmation portrait shoot. After learning I was also looking for a life coach, Mengwen, who’s in somatic coaching training, invited me to be their first client. We decided to combine the two projects to help me explore and express myself.

Mengwen and I did the shoot after what felt like a major transformation, in which I made a promise that I will always center myself and show up for myself. This photoshoot was both a celebration of my growth and a ribbon tied on a monthslong existential crisis.

I opened myself up, inviting Mengwen to see me. With great care and tenderness, they helped me unlock many versions of myself that I was unfamiliar with. What a precious experience we created together.

When they revealed the photos they had edited to me, I was deeply moved to see myself looking strong, glowing and full of light.
This was the best gift I have ever given myself.”

If you are interested in having somatic coaching or portrait session with me, feel free to book a call with me or email back. We can customize something for you.

❤️ Sunset Studio Giftshop

Thanks for all the love for Asian queer calendar series!

I decided to open a gift shop! Get your high-res download here: https://bit.ly/asianqueercalendarjuly2024 Or become a paid subscriber for the newsletter to get them for free. :)

I’m a full-time artist living in New York. I appreciate your support! If you have any feedback or product you want to see, email me!

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Now tell me, how do you celebrate yourself? Hope to hear from you!

Wishing you well ~

warmly,

meng