Decolonizing Playtime and Exploring Different Perspectives At Home.

As a  mother of a 5 year old daughter I have been made aware of the overwhelming amount of "Princess" merchandise that is out in the market targeting young girls. Though I understand that the "princess" themed merchandise appeals to the inner nobility and queen-like nature of our little girls, I do believe that it is a limiting concept and misrepresentation of all the wonderful things that our children are. For those who are of Native American/Indigenous backgrounds, the effects of these mainstream images and concepts are even more complex. Aware of these issues, I have decided that I want my child to enjoy her youth but to also learn how to exercise her mind, spark her curiosity  and to seek possibilities of progress and creation while honoring our culture. 

Here is a small home project we did together to expand the possibilities of a toy she was gifted at her preschool's christmas event last year, We hope you enjoy this and that it gives you ideas for personalizing your toys at home. :)

We stated with this Disney Princesses tracing light table with moving vinyl strips made to mix and match princesses and dresses. 

We found the center of the vinyl strips and cut along the middle to remove them from the light table. 

We picked an old magazine and found our modge podge and brush...

... and selected a few images from an article and ads.

Using the modge podge and brush, we glued the cut outs on the frame of the light table. (I only used a few since I did not want her to feel like her space had been invaded or make it unfamiliar to her).

Then we picked a cutout of some artwork we printed from the internet.

We used tape to secure the image on the light table. For tracing, we thought it would be fun to try Japanese calligraphy paper and use ink stone and brush for tracing.

Here's a close up of a Japanese calligraphy brush and the calligraphy paper secured with tape on the tracing table. 

This is the ink stone. 

She started by tracing the head and the nose of the buffalo...

Then she thought her drawing would look nicer if she used color paint instead...

She called it " The Rainbow Tatanka".

My daughter's creativity never ceases to amaze me. The focus and attention she pays to her art just makes me smile and warms my heart to see such dedication from such a little human. Her soul sets an example for me to follow of how to put my all into what I do and set the best intentions...

We kept the vinyl cut outs, so that she has the choice to trace princesses and dresses if she wants to, but it is great to know that she is learning she can create amazing things when she is given a safe space to create and explore different perspectives...

Love and blessings to all the families of Earth!!

"perspectives" blog series 2015.

Blessing Count...

In this commonly known "Concrete Jungle"

life can seem so fast,

 at times it seems it's passing us by...

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge some things

that I am thankful for.

The things that help me push through adversity

in all realms of my life

and remind me that

there's a purpose behind the struggle.

All praise be to Creation.

Ometeol

Tlazokamatli Ometeol

for creating within the human being

the pure essence of the cosmos.

I am grateful

for the ability to reason,

to use Intelligence in problem solving,

for Creativity in Motion,

being able to feel pure emotions through music.

I am humbled by spirituality

and it's intimate connection to the mind.

I am amazed at the power of

Genetic Memory and Energy,

the voices within the spirit that

gives us life.

I am thankful for

SCIENCE

and the answers it provides

as Truth beyond doubt.

Critical Thought

is humankind's greatest attribute.

Through it we find

the paths to

Health, Happiness, Knowledge, Freedom 

and the wisdom they reveal.

I am amazed at the realization that 
I have been blessed with 
a beautiful family
and an honorable lineage.

There is nothing more I could ask for.
My UniVerse 
is everlasting and never void. 
Ever-expanding. 
Ever-loving.

Within my ancestry I have found 
great examples of purity.

Hope is no longer an illusion.

Sporadik Internal Mental Questions - BrainStorm Freestyle 1

We all go through a transition into maturity. 

The question in my mind is: 

How do I hang on to my ideals maintaining the purity of my intentions as a child of Tonantzin, yet weeding out all the least favorable choices of action based on actuality?

How do I maintain my spirit pure enough to be in sync with the forces of Earth, the Cosomos and Humanity?

I MUST REACH ENLIGHTENMENT IN ORDER TO PLACE THE HIGHEST TRUST UPON MY INNER VOICE. 

The hidden Spirit of Creator that lives in me.

Stone Womban

Savage blood now awakens my state in the depth of the solar plex-US MOST HIGH- energetic charge;

As I watched from the shore the filth of evil wash up and stick under my toes making me run slow as I reach for my arrows, 

The pact was resealed, give sound to the voiceless, enough to crack the spine from the root to the heart chakra. 

Life is acknowledged in a scientific realm.

Physical law and effect. Results vary but the pain in the same.

In time of war there's always someone to protect.

If you're alive, let me see you take a step where all games come to an end and the sacrifice is great...

But reward is even greater. Knowledge you'll discover that is both CORRECT and SACRED.

In time you'll be consumed by the work that's at hand and you just might fall in sadness, but remember to immerse yourself in flowers and repeat:

"There's not GOD but the one, of intelligent design manifested in my genes and the path that I walk... Sacrifice for life in this way become stone. Activate new realms in this way become..."

-Stone Wombman. Frozen in time. Winters and Springs recorded in my heart. Eternal life is the gift of concoiusness. Agreements with the time keeper. Life I protect.

I'm firm like a commandment and I fight like a savage!

fight like a SAVAGE! FIGHT LIKE A SAVAGE! FIGHT LIKE A SAVAGE, A SAVAGE, A SAVAGE!!

Among the doves and the crows I explode with my vizion to deform sacrilegious puppet masters, I'm here to dispose of with ease;

Watch and observe as I do Gung Fu, Buddah breathing techniques, reconnect with my -G- and remember:

Life for me ain't a kiss or nice touches. 

I be the justice seeker. Genetically coded. Specifically chosen to loosen up the clutches...

Fill up the space everyone refused to take. 

It's not about the name but the life you create for those who remain after you return to the Earth.

Activate new realms in this way become:

-Stone Wombman. Frozen in time. Winters and Springs recorded in my heart. Eternal life is the gift of concoiusness. Agreements with the time keeper. Life I protect.

"A Place of No Shadows" -[freestyle poem 1]

I'm like a ghost,

perception of time passing does not exist to me. 

Only the ever-present...The constant knowledge of existing.

No herb or drug alters my mind.

Like a spirit, subject to the frequencies of conscious acknowledgements. 

My sorrow is that some people die without ever knowing a passion for life like mine. 

The flow of a song may seem sporadik, but it is not so in reality...

It's all a premeditated arrangement of a creator. Ordered scientifically to create an emotion in the heart. 

Miscellaneous thoughts of love created by the mind and dreams egos create.

Tears emerge as I acknowledge the power of life.

The beauty of the clarity of the heart.

To know who I am. Who I truly am. 

Without any shadows of doubt. 

Smoke and BrainStorms Intro. [Reason and Expectation] (Bilingue)

I am Zipaktli XLahun. 

I am Maya Mexika/Nahua Nican Tlaca, a mother, sister, daughter, Los Angeles neighbor, friend, hip hop lyricist, poet and artesana. 

This is my blog. Here I will express some of my ideas, poetry and brain storms and hopefully I can connect with like minded people and we can connect on a positive base. 

Let the forces of Nature and the Cosmos work. 

---*---*---

Yo soy Zipaktli XLahun.

Soy Maya Mexika/Nahua Nican Tlaca, madre, hermana, hija, vecina en Los Angeles, amiga, liricista de hip hop, poeta y artesana.

Este es mi blog. Aqui expresare algunas de mis ideas, poesia y tormentas metales con la esperanza de poder hacer coneccion con gente con ideales similares a las mias y poder progresar sobre una base positiva.

Que trabajen las fuerzas de la Naturaleza y el Cosmos.

-ZXL