WELL SORT OF (LOL)...

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My name is Kenya, but I am not from Kenya.

 

The affinity for my ancestral culture goes back as far as I can remember. It started with learning I was named after a country. As a young girl, that was a big deal - a whole country...in Africa! I would be an adult before coming into the understanding of what I was feeling. It was my first unconscious connection to my own value. That's a story for another time.  It would be decades later that waistbeads would find me on a winding road to awareness, healing and connection to myself.

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My waistbead journey began in 2011. I had been hearing about these waistbead things and wanted to know more. That curiosity resulted in ultimately driving an hour to meet a beader. She was a warm, inviting spirit. Seeing the strand selection, I was like a kid in a toy store...wide eyed and wanting to touch everything. My beader just smiled and took my measurements, while patiently answering all of my questions. I made my selections and then.....everything changed. 

 

When did my head lift? How did my back stretch so straight? Who put that extra sway in my sashay? The impact and response was immediate. I was in my -  connected - and feelin' myself!  I remember standing there, just grinnin', in awe, only to look over to see my beader watching me with a knowing smile. Almost as immediate, was the desire to share the wonderfulness with other women. That experience sent me on a heart first dive into the who, what, where, why, and how of waistbeads.

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This ancient art is a ministry started long, long ago and continues through The Adorned Feminine.

 

I AM honored.