October 15, 2025 ā¢ 28 mins
Welcome to a special episode of 'How Do You Divine'? where we explore Feel Ah Away, a project aimed at understanding the unique emotional communication within Caribbean culture. Discover the unfiltered, raw dialogues from the streets of Brooklyn, stories that highlight the complexity of Caribbean emotional intelligence. Sanika delves into how generational and cultural nuances shape our way of expressing and processing feelings, bridging past and future generations. Tune in to learn about the project's inception, its goals, and why its street-level insights are crucial for evolving our communal and emotional well-being.
Watch the series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_zO7uQUSvjTHmRPx7fPpf9X3Kz2Nw2ZK
Thank you for listening and for adding new dimensions to your definitions. Keep growing, keep exploring, and keep defining life on your terms.
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Meet Our Founder & Host šļø
Sanika is a storyteller, vibe architect, and crowd igniterāpassionate about self-discovery, culture, and the power of words. With a background in technology and marketing communications, sheās built a platform rooted in authenticity and resonance. Whether commanding the stage or leading deep conversations, Sanika doesnāt just hold spaceāshe transforms it. Her work inspires growth, challenges perspectives, and amplifies the voices that need to be heard most
As the host of How Do You Divine?, she invites listeners to redefine meaning, embrace transformation, and navigate lifeāone word at a time. Her mi...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome back to How Do You Define a show where we
explore how we've come to defineand redefine the words that
drive our life and how thatconflicts or compliments with
our spirituality.
And on today's episode is gonnabe a little bit different.
We are going to explore aproject that I launched earlier
(01:14):
this year called Feel Away.
Let's get into it.
Speaker (01:21):
As we wind down season three, I wanted to bring you
into the special project, feel away that we recorded over the
summer.
I briefly mentioned it in Sticka Pin episode, but with only two
episodes to go for this season.
I thought it deserved its ownepisode to speak about the
(01:41):
importance of why Feel Away wasborn.
Give you a little insight onwhere it's going, and share the
true vision that feel a way willbecome as a home for scenarios,
conversations that we wanna havein the Caribbean, but we're too
(02:04):
afraid to have or not ready tohave.
As we evolve as a culture and asa community to adapt things like
social media, ai, even somecountries are updating their
infrastructure.
How are we emotionally adaptingto this evolution, our
(02:29):
communications following and howwe leave our people feeling both
at home and abroad is important.
It is our responsibility tobring generations, past and
generations to come into a worldthat is welcoming, that honors
(02:50):
who you are, as well as see youbeyond your external appearance.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
This project isn't about our accents or traditions.
It's about emotional literacy inCaribbean culture, how we love
how we defend, and how we heal.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You ever notice how a Caribbean person can tell you a
story just by using a phrase?
And when I initially thought ofthis concept, I wanted to
explore the dynamicrelationships and the way we
communicate, how we grow, andhow we explore as Caribbean
people, The Caribbean spans manydifferent countries, but
(03:31):
somewhere in that through line,we have very similar ways of how
we treat each other, how we loveeach other, and most important
how we communicate.
It's not anger, it's notsadness.
It's this in-between space whereemotion meets reflection.
Where words fall short, butfeelings says it all.
(03:55):
That's what feel away is allabout.
It is more than a phrase.
It's about that emotionaltakeaway.
When common scenarios happen inthe Caribbean, that leaves us
feeling unsettled, not hurt, butalso not satisfied, not happy,
(04:15):
but maybe a littleunderestimated.
Feel a way is peeling back theonion on how we intended, on
communicating to how it wasreceived.
Not only from our familymembers, but our friends.
And an effort to bridgegenerations to see how we can
(04:36):
evolve together in a world ofai, social media, many people
feel like this is a new world.
This didn't happen when I was akid.
I don't know how to understand.
I don't know how to comprehend.
I don't even know how to relate,but feel away levels.
The playing field, we talk aboutthese common scenarios that
(04:59):
happened in the Caribbean thatoften go unaddressed because it
is becomes standard.
And what is our standard way ofcommunicating, of loving and
treating one another?
How we process, it's how weprotect, and it's also how we
present and preserve ourselvesin a world that often
(05:25):
misunderstands our rhythm.
They can take, they love thevibes, but don't understand the
beats.
They don't understand the melodythat brought together the
culture of the Caribbean.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Migration gave us survival instincts, but survival
isn't the same as healing.
Feel away acts how we move fromsurviving to thriving without
losing our rhythm.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
First, let's discuss why this project exists for
generations.
Caribbean people have beenlabeled as too loud or too much,
but those same traits are whatmakes us dynamic.
Our culture feels deeply loudand profound and sometimes
(06:19):
problematic.
I created feel a way to explorethe truth, to show how that
emotional intelligence exists inour culture, just in a different
dialect.
We laugh through pain.
We reason through rhythm.
We connect through conversation.
(06:40):
Why?
Street interviews and not a sitdown interview with many
different generations and peoplefrom various islands, because I
wanted it to be raw.
I wanted it to be real.
I wanted it to be off the cuff.
How would you respond in thisscenario?
And.
(07:01):
Most often, it's something thatyou've actually already come
across.
I didn't wanna talk aboutCaribbean people.
I wanted to talk to my fellowCaribbean people.
I wanted.
This conversation to have thelens of multiple generations,
(07:23):
multiple countries from variousperspectives of a common
scenario.
So one of the scenarios that Italked about was about being
approached in regards to yourparents.
And in the Caribbean, you'reeither too fat or you're too
skinny.
You're rarely in a happy medium.
(07:46):
But when presenting thisscenario to the people on the
street.
That was the response that somepeople would either address it
head on, depending on who waspresenting them in the
situation.
Even the younger folks talkedabout the importance of honoring
the elderly and the seniors intheir community or even in their
(08:08):
family.
So sometimes theremisunderstandings when someone
would walk up to you and say,Hey.
You getting big.
You see, see your face is fat.
And instead of addressing ithead on and saying, that hurts
my feelings.
Why would you say that about myappearance?
I don't come to you to bebelittled or hurt about my
appearance I would love for usto have a more comforting and
(08:31):
nurturing relationship.
They just would say nothingbecause sometimes.
In order to address a situationin real time can be received as
confrontation.
So the alternative is Nora, justbe passive and let it go and
(08:52):
deal with it on the back end inyour room alone, or hopefully
with another family member.
But how do we move past thisstandard way of conducting
ourselves when we are met with asituation that leaves us feeling
uncomfortable?
That's why I feel a way happenedin the streets, because that's
where our story lives.
(09:14):
At.
The corner bus stop, in thebarbershops at the market.
That's where we exist in reallife.
So I wanted to meet people wherethey were.
No fancy studio, no need for.
Performative responses where UAEnglish and laughter overlap
(09:36):
without apology because we knowthe migration story can
sometimes come with a deep senseof shame and presentation.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
Feel ah way is what happens when, how do you divine
leaves the studio.
It's the street level version ofself-awareness where reflection
meets reality.
It reminds me of being on theveranda are a stoop with a
mango.
In one hand it's theconversations that connect us,
but also evolves us.
(10:11):
It's the reasoning.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Do I look proper for that format?
Am I speaking clearly enough?
I wanted to remove thesebarriers to be a part of the
conversation because if you'reliving and you're breathing and
you are from the Caribbean, youare already qualified.
No subjects required.
If you've done the CXC, nodegrees necessary and no need to
(10:43):
straighten your hair opia locks'cause everyone deserves to have
a seat at the table.
To speak about how can wecommunicate to each other our
concerns or observations in away that does not leave us
feeling not enough or of novalue or discarded.
(11:10):
These lingering feelings happenvery commonly because we're
busy, we're running, we're insurvival mode, because that is
also deeply woven into themigration story.
But how do we set a new standardto take a beat, take a pause
(11:32):
before we engage, before werespond to someone about their
appearance, before we inquireabout their current work status
or their pursuits in school, orwithout attacking their
character.
By taking.
To the streets, we got raw,unfiltered voices of the
(11:54):
culture.
That voice that doesn't make itto boardrooms and headlines, but
drives how we show up everysingle day.
We can all remember someone inour community or in our family
that really nurtured that childinside of us, that help us stand
tall or maybe sometimes standbeside them in an effort to find
(12:18):
your way, feel a way is aconversation that happens on the
(13:14):
stoop in the island.
It happens as you walk intomarket.
It happens as you're standingoutside, after church.
Wow.
But how do we bring thatconversation to a platform in
its most authentic versionwithout exposing, because
there's still an element of nottelling embodiment business in
(13:36):
the culture and also worryingabout what people will think
because it's deeply woven in themigration story.
So how do we honor the cloth ofthe migration story while.
Building and interweaving abetter fabric, a new version
(13:56):
that will heal generations topass and also usher in new
generations to come.
What you heard on Feel Away,which is now available on
YouTube?
You'll hear joy.
You heard humor.
Sometimes a little tension basedon those situations.
(14:17):
Two people can feel a way abouta same situation, one ready to
cuss and the other ready toNevada.
But deep down inside, they wannapray for you or they hope you
would've went about addressingthat situation differently, but
both responses come from loveand survival.
How do we create a mirror?
(14:39):
In our migration stories so thatwe are positioned to thrive
because survival is a verystifling stage in life.
And while we all need it toachieve the goals and
aspirations that we have for whowe are in this world, and the
purpose that God or whomever youworship.
(15:00):
Have placed on your life?
How do we transition fromsurvival to thriving in the
Caribbean culture if we do notaddress the pain of the
migration story?
So let's talk about it and feelaway.
It's about seeing how we carryemotion through language,
through history and pride andhow that shows up across
(15:23):
generations and islands, and howcan we show up differently.
1% different every single dayis, um, author James Col.
James talks about in his bookAtomic Habits.
My goal in all of my creativeendeavors is to improve the way
the Caribbean culture is seenand evolves 1% better every
(15:49):
single day.
There is so much intelligenceculture love and unique.
Honor in being from theCaribbean, that can also be
misinterpreted as hustle, grit,and sometimes a bad attitude.
(16:10):
How do we change that cloth toshow them who we really are?
I'm not a therapist or ascholar.
I am a student of the culture.
I was raised in it actuallyacross three separate religious
practices.
(16:33):
I have one side of my familythat's Seven Day Adventist,
another side that's Baptist,Christian, and another that is
Rastafarian.
I have seen the full range ofwhat it means to be a Caribbean
girl.
And now a Caribbean Americanwoman, wife, and professional.
(16:57):
I've lived it, I've observed it,I've meditated through it.
And what I've learned is simplehealing doesn't happen in
silence, not in the corners onthe phone with a friend, hoping
that it can help you through thenext interaction, a healing.
(17:19):
Happens when we start to talkabout it, when we start to
understand it, when it's okay tolaugh at the things that hurt
you, when it's okay to see ithappen in another generation and
help them see the line ofdifferentiation between who they
were as a child and who theyhave become as an adult.
(17:42):
Healing in my perspectivehappens when.
We can sit down and talk aboutone event experienced three
different ways because of thebaggage we brought into that
event.
Often we talk about how funeralsand weddings can really show you
(18:03):
who people are or who they usedto be.
And I actually feel likefunerals and weddings show who
you'd like.
People to see you as versus whoyou really are.
It's this silent behavior inbetween when you think people
are watching and when they'renot, is the version of you
(18:29):
you're afraid to show.
Feel a way was yet anotherpillar.
My creative universe ofCaribbean excellence.
We were in the streets ofBrooklyn, New York, talking to
different people about how theywould respond to these common
scenarios and why they felt theneed to respond in the way that
(18:53):
they did.
Is it based on their familyhistory?
Conditioned behavior.
We walked the streets My teamand I, we laughed.
We love, we made really goodconnections.
But one of the best takeawaysfrom Feel Away.
Was an elderly man in hiseighties from Haiti.
(19:15):
After the cameras were turnedoff, we started talking about
the purpose of the project andwhere I was going to put it and
how it aligned with my goal andI spoke to him about my desire
to unite people acrossgenerations.
As a millennial, we have theawareness.
(19:36):
We are slowly getting the toolsand we have the experience of
the traditional way of how wewere brought up.
Many of us are first generationAmericans, so in our homes we're
very much like the island.
While outside our door, we livedin this new reality that we
(19:57):
helped our parents adapt to.
And I feel like as millennialswe have this unique perspective
and strength and ability to dothat because while we are first
generation, we can also.
Pull from our relationship withour grandparents who may
(20:19):
probably still be in the island,and the conversations we have
with our grandparents.
So speaking to him, I spoke tohim about my grandfather who was
Rastafarian and his wife, whowas very much a Christian, and
just the dynamics of theirrelationship and how I felt
(20:39):
that.
In the Caribbean culture, wecommunicate quite often, but not
to be understood, but mostly tobe heard.
And as a child I can see andhear the way messages and
situations where communicatedwith one another and how we can
(21:01):
improve it if we just slow.
Down and pause and listen morethan we talk.
I say that as someone whosometimes also need to listen
more than I talk.
So again, not a therapist, not ascholar, just someone really
dedicated to connecting anduniting people for the purpose
(21:27):
of living well together.
I like to read a lot of booksabout wellness and to be
emotionally and mentallyhealthy, and a lot of those
authors and doctors speak aboutboundaries and isolation and all
these things, these tools andgreat, um, systems that they've
(21:50):
set up in place, many of them,which requires you to have a
great sense of self.
I believe that generations thathave passed, unfortunately never
got the opportunity to gain astrong sense of who they were
due to survival mode and throughsurvival mode.
(22:14):
They raised their children tosurvive and progress.
They also did not have theopportunity or space to identify
who I, who am I?
And here we are as firstgeneration kids, millennials,
who had that opportunity to livein the progress that was made a
(22:40):
few generations prior to us, butalso given the tools and the
language to go, who am I?
And create the space to identifythe answer.
It's a game changer.
Generations of past didn'talways have that opportunity,
(23:01):
and if they had, it was due todifferent economic situations.
So how do we bring everyonealong?
Feel a way is my way.
Identifying common scenariosthat happen in the Caribbean and
asking the audience theirresponse to how they would
(23:24):
react.
Because every single day we allget 1% smarter and we become
more and more aware of therelationships we'd like to
retain in our lives.
And the ones that don'tnecessarily mean that much, but
feel away also has asubconscious task, feel away
(23:47):
also forces you.
To address why you would respondthat way.
And one of the great thingsabout this being an In the
Streets Real Talk series is thatevery respondent talked about
their source of the response.
One woman told us it wasbecause.
It's happened many, many timesbefore.
(24:08):
Friends would disappoint her andnot show up, make a commitment,
so she's sick of it.
So if someone would disappointher again, she had nothing to do
with it.
She was over it.
We had another scenario where ayoung man said that he would
respond more passively to asituation because he knows the
(24:29):
burden his mom is bearing, hewouldn't want to.
Bring her any more hardship orheartache.
So he would bury how he feelsand channel forward.
And I love that we talked aboutthe response and the why to a
response.
Because in the Caribbean oftenwe just respond.
(24:50):
We don't leave any room for whydid you come to that decision?
And the the sauce, the real goalisn't why did you come to that
decision?
And sometimes.
Guilty as charges Myself.
We are so hothead and sodetermined to move to the next
thing that why does not haveroom to grow in the discussion.
(25:16):
It's like I told you, but tell Ido this thing.
I'm gonna want you to do it andjust shut up and move on.
But while the task is complete,you've just planted a seed of
trauma and hurt that will growto build.
Distance in that relationship,resentment in that relationship.
And that's what feel away is.
(25:36):
Where culture meetscommunication.
Emotions meets understanding.
Let's continue to talk about it.
Speaker (25:45):
I Believe curiosity and self-awareness are the gateways
to growth.
We live in a time whereemotional passiveness has become
the norm.
People scroll past theirfeelings.
They ghost instead ofcommunicate.
They deflect instead ofreflecting, and I can sometimes
(26:06):
be guilty of that.
But one thing I'm very gratefulfor is that I'm very self-aware.
I hold myself accountable tointeractions, relationships, but
never the outcomes.
I lead with intention and ensurethat my actions are aligned.
The rest is up to God.
So the outcomes are never myconcern, but feel a Way is a
(26:29):
direct challenge to that.
It's a reminder that curiosityisn't just about learning, it's
about listening.
It's about asking, why did thatmake you feel this way instead
of pretending it didn't.
That's the heartbeat of how doyou divine finding meaning and
emotion and making.
(26:49):
Space for reflection instead ofreaction.
Because when we get curiousabout what we feel, instead of
numbing it and dismissing it, itleaves space for awareness.
We evolve, we divine.
Feel away isn't just a sideproject, it's a living and
(27:09):
breathing expansion to how doyou divine.
And what it stands for.
It stands alone, but it standsin the streets.
So while we started in Brooklyn,New York, we will be in a
country or state near you.
It's the street levelapplication of self-awareness,
(27:30):
real people, real feelings, realdialogue.
And this is how do you divine?
Speaker 6 (27:40):
So next time you feel way, don't scroll past it.
Sit with it.
Ask yourself why.
That's where growth begins.
If this episode made you think,share it with someone who needs
that reminder too, because themore we talk about how we feel,
the more we evolve together andnot isolated.
Speaker (28:05):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of How
Do You Divine?
Feel Away.
See you on the next one.
Two more episodes to go.
Welcome back to How Do You Define a show where we
explore how we've come to defineand redefine the words that
drive our life and how thatconflicts or compliments with
our spirituality.
And on today's episode is gonnabe a little bit different.
We are going to explore aproject that I launched earlier
(01:14):
this year called Feel Away.
Let's get into it.
Speaker (01:21):
As we wind down season three, I wanted to bring you
into the special project, feel away that we recorded over the
summer.
I briefly mentioned it in Sticka Pin episode, but with only two
episodes to go for this season.
I thought it deserved its ownepisode to speak about the
(01:41):
importance of why Feel Away wasborn.
Give you a little insight onwhere it's going, and share the
true vision that feel a way willbecome as a home for scenarios,
conversations that we wanna havein the Caribbean, but we're too
(02:04):
afraid to have or not ready tohave.
As we evolve as a culture and asa community to adapt things like
social media, ai, even somecountries are updating their
infrastructure.
How are we emotionally adaptingto this evolution, our
(02:29):
communications following and howwe leave our people feeling both
at home and abroad is important.
It is our responsibility tobring generations, past and
generations to come into a worldthat is welcoming, that honors
(02:50):
who you are, as well as see youbeyond your external appearance.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
This project isn't about our accents or traditions.
It's about emotional literacy inCaribbean culture, how we love
how we defend, and how we heal.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
You ever notice how a Caribbean person can tell you a
story just by using a phrase?
And when I initially thought ofthis concept, I wanted to
explore the dynamicrelationships and the way we
communicate, how we grow, andhow we explore as Caribbean
people, The Caribbean spans manydifferent countries, but
(03:31):
somewhere in that through line,we have very similar ways of how
we treat each other, how we loveeach other, and most important
how we communicate.
It's not anger, it's notsadness.
It's this in-between space whereemotion meets reflection.
Where words fall short, butfeelings says it all.
(03:55):
That's what feel away is allabout.
It is more than a phrase.
It's about that emotionaltakeaway.
When common scenarios happen inthe Caribbean, that leaves us
feeling unsettled, not hurt, butalso not satisfied, not happy,
(04:15):
but maybe a littleunderestimated.
Feel a way is peeling back theonion on how we intended, on
communicating to how it wasreceived.
Not only from our familymembers, but our friends.
And an effort to bridgegenerations to see how we can
(04:36):
evolve together in a world ofai, social media, many people
feel like this is a new world.
This didn't happen when I was akid.
I don't know how to understand.
I don't know how to comprehend.
I don't even know how to relate,but feel away levels.
The playing field, we talk aboutthese common scenarios that
(04:59):
happened in the Caribbean thatoften go unaddressed because it
is becomes standard.
And what is our standard way ofcommunicating, of loving and
treating one another?
How we process, it's how weprotect, and it's also how we
present and preserve ourselvesin a world that often
(05:25):
misunderstands our rhythm.
They can take, they love thevibes, but don't understand the
beats.
They don't understand the melodythat brought together the
culture of the Caribbean.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Migration gave us survival instincts, but survival
isn't the same as healing.
Feel away acts how we move fromsurviving to thriving without
losing our rhythm.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
First, let's discuss why this project exists for
generations.
Caribbean people have beenlabeled as too loud or too much,
but those same traits are whatmakes us dynamic.
Our culture feels deeply loudand profound and sometimes
(06:19):
problematic.
I created feel a way to explorethe truth, to show how that
emotional intelligence exists inour culture, just in a different
dialect.
We laugh through pain.
We reason through rhythm.
We connect through conversation.
(06:40):
Why?
Street interviews and not a sitdown interview with many
different generations and peoplefrom various islands, because I
wanted it to be raw.
I wanted it to be real.
I wanted it to be off the cuff.
How would you respond in thisscenario?
And.
(07:01):
Most often, it's something thatyou've actually already come
across.
I didn't wanna talk aboutCaribbean people.
I wanted to talk to my fellowCaribbean people.
I wanted.
This conversation to have thelens of multiple generations,
(07:23):
multiple countries from variousperspectives of a common
scenario.
So one of the scenarios that Italked about was about being
approached in regards to yourparents.
And in the Caribbean, you'reeither too fat or you're too
skinny.
You're rarely in a happy medium.
(07:46):
But when presenting thisscenario to the people on the
street.
That was the response that somepeople would either address it
head on, depending on who waspresenting them in the
situation.
Even the younger folks talkedabout the importance of honoring
the elderly and the seniors intheir community or even in their
(08:08):
family.
So sometimes theremisunderstandings when someone
would walk up to you and say,Hey.
You getting big.
You see, see your face is fat.
And instead of addressing ithead on and saying, that hurts
my feelings.
Why would you say that about myappearance?
I don't come to you to bebelittled or hurt about my
appearance I would love for usto have a more comforting and
(08:31):
nurturing relationship.
They just would say nothingbecause sometimes.
In order to address a situationin real time can be received as
confrontation.
So the alternative is Nora, justbe passive and let it go and
(08:52):
deal with it on the back end inyour room alone, or hopefully
with another family member.
But how do we move past thisstandard way of conducting
ourselves when we are met with asituation that leaves us feeling
uncomfortable?
That's why I feel a way happenedin the streets, because that's
where our story lives.
(09:14):
At.
The corner bus stop, in thebarbershops at the market.
That's where we exist in reallife.
So I wanted to meet people wherethey were.
No fancy studio, no need for.
Performative responses where UAEnglish and laughter overlap
(09:36):
without apology because we knowthe migration story can
sometimes come with a deep senseof shame and presentation.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
Feel ah way is what happens when, how do you divine
leaves the studio.
It's the street level version ofself-awareness where reflection
meets reality.
It reminds me of being on theveranda are a stoop with a
mango.
In one hand it's theconversations that connect us,
but also evolves us.
(10:11):
It's the reasoning.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Do I look proper for that format?
Am I speaking clearly enough?
I wanted to remove thesebarriers to be a part of the
conversation because if you'reliving and you're breathing and
you are from the Caribbean, youare already qualified.
No subjects required.
If you've done the CXC, nodegrees necessary and no need to
(10:43):
straighten your hair opia locks'cause everyone deserves to have
a seat at the table.
To speak about how can wecommunicate to each other our
concerns or observations in away that does not leave us
feeling not enough or of novalue or discarded.
(11:10):
These lingering feelings happenvery commonly because we're
busy, we're running, we're insurvival mode, because that is
also deeply woven into themigration story.
But how do we set a new standardto take a beat, take a pause
(11:32):
before we engage, before werespond to someone about their
appearance, before we inquireabout their current work status
or their pursuits in school, orwithout attacking their
character.
By taking.
To the streets, we got raw,unfiltered voices of the
(11:54):
culture.
That voice that doesn't make itto boardrooms and headlines, but
drives how we show up everysingle day.
We can all remember someone inour community or in our family
that really nurtured that childinside of us, that help us stand
tall or maybe sometimes standbeside them in an effort to find
(12:18):
your way, feel a way is aconversation that happens on the
(13:14):
stoop in the island.
It happens as you walk intomarket.
It happens as you're standingoutside, after church.
Wow.
But how do we bring thatconversation to a platform in
its most authentic versionwithout exposing, because
there's still an element of nottelling embodiment business in
(13:36):
the culture and also worryingabout what people will think
because it's deeply woven in themigration story.
So how do we honor the cloth ofthe migration story while.
Building and interweaving abetter fabric, a new version
(13:56):
that will heal generations topass and also usher in new
generations to come.
What you heard on Feel Away,which is now available on
YouTube?
You'll hear joy.
You heard humor.
Sometimes a little tension basedon those situations.
(14:17):
Two people can feel a way abouta same situation, one ready to
cuss and the other ready toNevada.
But deep down inside, they wannapray for you or they hope you
would've went about addressingthat situation differently, but
both responses come from loveand survival.
How do we create a mirror?
(14:39):
In our migration stories so thatwe are positioned to thrive
because survival is a verystifling stage in life.
And while we all need it toachieve the goals and
aspirations that we have for whowe are in this world, and the
purpose that God or whomever youworship.
(15:00):
Have placed on your life?
How do we transition fromsurvival to thriving in the
Caribbean culture if we do notaddress the pain of the
migration story?
So let's talk about it and feelaway.
It's about seeing how we carryemotion through language,
through history and pride andhow that shows up across
(15:23):
generations and islands, and howcan we show up differently.
1% different every single dayis, um, author James Col.
James talks about in his bookAtomic Habits.
My goal in all of my creativeendeavors is to improve the way
the Caribbean culture is seenand evolves 1% better every
(15:49):
single day.
There is so much intelligenceculture love and unique.
Honor in being from theCaribbean, that can also be
misinterpreted as hustle, grit,and sometimes a bad attitude.
(16:10):
How do we change that cloth toshow them who we really are?
I'm not a therapist or ascholar.
I am a student of the culture.
I was raised in it actuallyacross three separate religious
practices.
(16:33):
I have one side of my familythat's Seven Day Adventist,
another side that's Baptist,Christian, and another that is
Rastafarian.
I have seen the full range ofwhat it means to be a Caribbean
girl.
And now a Caribbean Americanwoman, wife, and professional.
(16:57):
I've lived it, I've observed it,I've meditated through it.
And what I've learned is simplehealing doesn't happen in
silence, not in the corners onthe phone with a friend, hoping
that it can help you through thenext interaction, a healing.
(17:19):
Happens when we start to talkabout it, when we start to
understand it, when it's okay tolaugh at the things that hurt
you, when it's okay to see ithappen in another generation and
help them see the line ofdifferentiation between who they
were as a child and who theyhave become as an adult.
(17:42):
Healing in my perspectivehappens when.
We can sit down and talk aboutone event experienced three
different ways because of thebaggage we brought into that
event.
Often we talk about how funeralsand weddings can really show you
(18:03):
who people are or who they usedto be.
And I actually feel likefunerals and weddings show who
you'd like.
People to see you as versus whoyou really are.
It's this silent behavior inbetween when you think people
are watching and when they'renot, is the version of you
(18:29):
you're afraid to show.
Feel a way was yet anotherpillar.
My creative universe ofCaribbean excellence.
We were in the streets ofBrooklyn, New York, talking to
different people about how theywould respond to these common
scenarios and why they felt theneed to respond in the way that
(18:53):
they did.
Is it based on their familyhistory?
Conditioned behavior.
We walked the streets My teamand I, we laughed.
We love, we made really goodconnections.
But one of the best takeawaysfrom Feel Away.
Was an elderly man in hiseighties from Haiti.
(19:15):
After the cameras were turnedoff, we started talking about
the purpose of the project andwhere I was going to put it and
how it aligned with my goal andI spoke to him about my desire
to unite people acrossgenerations.
As a millennial, we have theawareness.
(19:36):
We are slowly getting the toolsand we have the experience of
the traditional way of how wewere brought up.
Many of us are first generationAmericans, so in our homes we're
very much like the island.
While outside our door, we livedin this new reality that we
(19:57):
helped our parents adapt to.
And I feel like as millennialswe have this unique perspective
and strength and ability to dothat because while we are first
generation, we can also.
Pull from our relationship withour grandparents who may
(20:19):
probably still be in the island,and the conversations we have
with our grandparents.
So speaking to him, I spoke tohim about my grandfather who was
Rastafarian and his wife, whowas very much a Christian, and
just the dynamics of theirrelationship and how I felt
(20:39):
that.
In the Caribbean culture, wecommunicate quite often, but not
to be understood, but mostly tobe heard.
And as a child I can see andhear the way messages and
situations where communicatedwith one another and how we can
(21:01):
improve it if we just slow.
Down and pause and listen morethan we talk.
I say that as someone whosometimes also need to listen
more than I talk.
So again, not a therapist, not ascholar, just someone really
dedicated to connecting anduniting people for the purpose
(21:27):
of living well together.
I like to read a lot of booksabout wellness and to be
emotionally and mentallyhealthy, and a lot of those
authors and doctors speak aboutboundaries and isolation and all
these things, these tools andgreat, um, systems that they've
(21:50):
set up in place, many of them,which requires you to have a
great sense of self.
I believe that generations thathave passed, unfortunately never
got the opportunity to gain astrong sense of who they were
due to survival mode and throughsurvival mode.
(22:14):
They raised their children tosurvive and progress.
They also did not have theopportunity or space to identify
who I, who am I?
And here we are as firstgeneration kids, millennials,
who had that opportunity to livein the progress that was made a
(22:40):
few generations prior to us, butalso given the tools and the
language to go, who am I?
And create the space to identifythe answer.
It's a game changer.
Generations of past didn'talways have that opportunity,
(23:01):
and if they had, it was due todifferent economic situations.
So how do we bring everyonealong?
Feel a way is my way.
Identifying common scenariosthat happen in the Caribbean and
asking the audience theirresponse to how they would
(23:24):
react.
Because every single day we allget 1% smarter and we become
more and more aware of therelationships we'd like to
retain in our lives.
And the ones that don'tnecessarily mean that much, but
feel away also has asubconscious task, feel away
(23:47):
also forces you.
To address why you would respondthat way.
And one of the great thingsabout this being an In the
Streets Real Talk series is thatevery respondent talked about
their source of the response.
One woman told us it wasbecause.
It's happened many, many timesbefore.
(24:08):
Friends would disappoint her andnot show up, make a commitment,
so she's sick of it.
So if someone would disappointher again, she had nothing to do
with it.
She was over it.
We had another scenario where ayoung man said that he would
respond more passively to asituation because he knows the
(24:29):
burden his mom is bearing, hewouldn't want to.
Bring her any more hardship orheartache.
So he would bury how he feelsand channel forward.
And I love that we talked aboutthe response and the why to a
response.
Because in the Caribbean oftenwe just respond.
(24:50):
We don't leave any room for whydid you come to that decision?
And the the sauce, the real goalisn't why did you come to that
decision?
And sometimes.
Guilty as charges Myself.
We are so hothead and sodetermined to move to the next
thing that why does not haveroom to grow in the discussion.
(25:16):
It's like I told you, but tell Ido this thing.
I'm gonna want you to do it andjust shut up and move on.
But while the task is complete,you've just planted a seed of
trauma and hurt that will growto build.
Distance in that relationship,resentment in that relationship.
And that's what feel away is.
(25:36):
Where culture meetscommunication.
Emotions meets understanding.
Let's continue to talk about it.
Speaker (25:45):
I Believe curiosity and self-awareness are the gateways
to growth.
We live in a time whereemotional passiveness has become
the norm.
People scroll past theirfeelings.
They ghost instead ofcommunicate.
They deflect instead ofreflecting, and I can sometimes
(26:06):
be guilty of that.
But one thing I'm very gratefulfor is that I'm very self-aware.
I hold myself accountable tointeractions, relationships, but
never the outcomes.
I lead with intention and ensurethat my actions are aligned.
The rest is up to God.
So the outcomes are never myconcern, but feel a Way is a
(26:29):
direct challenge to that.
It's a reminder that curiosityisn't just about learning, it's
about listening.
It's about asking, why did thatmake you feel this way instead
of pretending it didn't.
That's the heartbeat of how doyou divine finding meaning and
emotion and making.
(26:49):
Space for reflection instead ofreaction.
Because when we get curiousabout what we feel, instead of
numbing it and dismissing it, itleaves space for awareness.
We evolve, we divine.
Feel away isn't just a sideproject, it's a living and
(27:09):
breathing expansion to how doyou divine.
And what it stands for.
It stands alone, but it standsin the streets.
So while we started in Brooklyn,New York, we will be in a
country or state near you.
It's the street levelapplication of self-awareness,
(27:30):
real people, real feelings, realdialogue.
And this is how do you divine?
Speaker 6 (27:40):
So next time you feel way, don't scroll past it.
Sit with it.
Ask yourself why.
That's where growth begins.
If this episode made you think,share it with someone who needs
that reminder too, because themore we talk about how we feel,
the more we evolve together andnot isolated.
Speaker (28:05):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of How
Do You Divine?
Feel Away.
See you on the next one.
Two more episodes to go.
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