The space where Art leads the conversations, Healing leads the visions.
As I continue to grow individually and expand Behind Your Shadow, LLC, the way I show up in life also changes.
In every phase of our life journey—especially when it focuses largely on healing—we go through a phase of unlearning the world and being a participant of life, with the goal of becoming a master of our own lives—something many talk about but only a few actually understand. It is a messy, uncertain yet miraculous experience. It often comes with a handful of yesterday, migraines of today, and an unseen vision of what tomorrow is going to look like.
In my own journey I never really knew where it was going to take me yet it had taken me to a lot of beautiful places: meeting a lot of wonderful people, immersing myself in a lot of beautiful things, making a lot of memories. One of those is founding BYS and everything that led up to it, something I didn't really see coming but just makes sense when looking back.
Art isn't just a hobby. To me it is a language I use to communicate with the world, a way of self preservation and reconnection—it is a subconscious process. At the beginning of my conscious awakening, I had to redirect my voice and all of my energy to focus on restoring my health—to really ground who I am and marry myself. One of those shifts essentially led to putting down my camera for myself. While I continued to accept selected professional projects during that time, I had stepped away from the art of self-expression. Initially, I thought I was done with the art of self expression, but deep down I could still feel the faintest glimmer of that creative itch.
Every season, my life unknowingly provides me with a theme. Recently, that creative itch returned and I’ve been using myself as my own subject to reignite that spark, slowly working my way back to a place where I am ready to receive new creative projects. I don't know where this is taking me but so far it has led me to reintegrate my healing space and navigated me to this: where Art leads the conversations, Healing leads the visions.
The aftermath of healing—as in where do I go from here?—No longer as a victim of life, but as the co-authorizer of my life.
This can mean many different things. Any self aware individual knows that our visions and the lens we look at life changes in each phase of our life. How we allow ourselves to explore and live life changes depending on who we are at each stage of life. I may not know exactly where I'm headed or how many different angles of this theme I will get to explore as I'm being guided through this year and maybe the next few years, but I am excited to see what comes out of it.
If you've visited my website, you've probably seen the ‘Mai Ka Creates’ tab—a space for multidisciplinary artist collaborations. I am officially reopening my bookings for selective commissions and professional projects. I am beyond excited to review your proposals and see how we can bring our collective visions to life.
As uncertain as what's to come—for this new theme—whether I continue to create for BYS or explore my own creative path, my intention remains rooted, especially at BYS. From all that I am to all that you are: to help you navigate your shadows to move towards your most authentic life.
Thank you for navigating the unknown with me. I look forward to either collaborating with you, sharing more of my unbounded craft with you, or both.
✨,
Mai Ka (MK)
P.S.
If you’re curious about what I mean by "marrying myself," here is a blog from The Book of Healing at BYS exploring this concept and how to recognize when you’ve finally found your way "home." You can find it here: https://www.everestmk.com/the-book-of-healing/the-internal-architecture
View my Artist Collaboration page here: https://www.everestmk.com/mai-ka-creates
Explore Healing & Navigation at Behind Your Shadow: https://www.everestmk.com/bys
Inquire for Speaking Engagements here: https://www.everestmk.com/mai-ka-speak
Merch Shop for current creation: https://mai-ka.printify.me/
Note: For photography, my process is fluid. I specialize in Mobile Artistry to ensure an intimate, non-intrusive environment that captures the most authentic essence of my subjects—though I may integrate my camera depending on the vision. I am also being extra selective with bookings; I am sensitive to the lingering energies of the spaces and people I capture, and I curate my portfolio with deep intention.
