What do comics, writing, and Pilates have in common? None other than this week's guest, Mel Hilario! In this episode, we talk about all kinds of things from intuition to creative expression to somatic practices and everything in between! Including what it's like to be a daughter of Filipino immigrants who don't understand what we do in our lives. Join us as we continue the celebration of Filipino American History month with this episode!

We embody many different roles and I have likened this existence to that of our ancestral lands: an archipelago. Tune in to hear how we link up all of our multiple passions and identities into who we are being. And how that in and of itself is a form of resistance.

Mel Hilario Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Agent-Cupcake/Mel-Hilario/9781637158760

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520

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Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:

• Tarot/Oracle Card: Queen of Cups

• “The Sorcery”

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Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:

• Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”

• Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

• Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

• Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

• Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

• Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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About the Guest:

Melanie “Mel” Hilario is a writer who empowers readers by helping them understand the world around them, blending genres and transforming traditional character archetypes into fully realized people, with their own quirks, language, and interior lives. Mel received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, has been a recipient of the Elizabeth George Foundation grant and residencies at VONA (Voices of our Nations Arts), Las Dos Brujas Writers Workshop, Writing by Writers, and Hedgebrook. She has developed characters for toy lines, masterminded educational workbooks, and written wrenching essays, most recently for the Kindred Souls anthology, Angry Women.

Along with Lauren Davis and Katie Longua, Mel is part of the Eisner-nominated team, Triple Dream Comics. Together, they created the middle grade graphic novels, "Debian Perl, Digital Detective" and "Agent Cupcake." Their short story, "Traitor, Trickster, Dummy, Doll" appeared in The Nib and was nominated for the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Short Story.

When she isn’t writing fiction, nonfiction, and comic books, Mel is in martial arts or ballet class, teaching Pilates, or attempting to stay off social media and failing miserably. She lives in Oakland with two of the largest cats her friends have ever seen.

Continuing with our celebration of Filipino American History month, I've got a special guest today who is an artist, death doula, and spiritual ceramicist, Marjorie Milloria!

In this episode, we talk about connecting with our spiritual and cultural inheritances, the healing practices we engage with, what it means to remember, and how this can help us towards collective liberation. We also talk about what it's like to go “home” and this continual search for belonging as daughters of the diaspora.

And believe it or not, the fight for liberation starts with the practice of pouring liquor for each other and passing the glass around card tables full of salty snacks. Tune into this lively and nourishing conversation about topics that range from soju & lambanog (coconut “moonshine” ha!) to finding out we went to the same Catholic grammar school! All is not lost, friends. Remembering connection and community care are the keys to getting us through to the other side.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520

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Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:

• Tarot/Oracle Card: Hermit (reversed)

• “The Gardner” by Rabindranath Tagore

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Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:

• Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”

• Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

• Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

• Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

• Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

• Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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About the Guest:

Marjorie Grace Milloria is an artist, death doula, and Craigslist queen who uses creation as prayer, art as activism, and connection as medicine. Her work is informed by her study of native Filipino healing and customs, and guided by the Filipino concept of “kapwa” or “the shared self.”

In addition to performance and grief facilitation, Marjorie (apparently) hand-makes sacred pottery. Through channeling ancestors and Spirit, the pieces she creates are prayers made manifest with carvings inspired by “batok” or “patik,” the ancient practice of Filipino tattooing.

Marjorie’s artistry is devoted to honoring the divinity of all (and not some), and rooted in her passion for deepening collective relationship. Her prayers are that we remember that joy is resistance, and that in all things, we return to love as many times as we can.

This week I have a guest! Yay! As part of Filipino American History month, I am featuring a Filipino guest each week during the month of October. This week, I am talking with Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, poet, writer, and storyteller. Our conversation touches on spiritual inheritance & practices, our relationship with cultural identity & the land upon which we live, and our mutual obsession: K-pop demon hunters. (Because, I mean, how could we not talk about that? It has all the topics that we're curious about!)

Tune in to hear all about it! From cultivating and strengthening your intuition to Rebecca's brag about Kpop Demon Hunters, you'll be entertained while also enticed to dig deeper within. Because that's how we roll - light laughter and deep inquiry.

Blog: https://rebeccamabanglomayor.com/#blog

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NmlshGX4ijHPXmFIgT1Nu

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-grit/id1497436520

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Today’s poems/ Books mentioned:

• Tarot/Oracle Card: Queen of Cups

• “Aswang Paces Outside of Kaiser Permanente Hospital” by Rachelle Cruz

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Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:

• Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”

• Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com

• Instagram: @leslieannhobayan

• Email: leslieann@suryagian.com

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRy

• Kundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundalini

Speak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth

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About Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor

Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor’s non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I-IV, and her poetry and essays have been collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles. She has been performing as a storyteller since 2006 and specializes in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history.

Rebecca, as Rebecca A. Saxton, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, her BA in Humanities from Washington State University in 1998, and her MA degree in English with honors from Western Washington University in 2003.