Hoping to channel some birthweek joy into the wonderful work of @themonafoundation! Have a look at the link in my bio for info and please consider joining me as I raise US$1,111 to invest in a month of school for 101 students through Mona’s worldwide partners! 💓
Thanks for spreading the love!
Video description: I’m sitting, facing camera. I have brown skin, eyes and hair and am wearing a black and white polka dot dress.
I almost drowned as a teen. I was saved by someone (the in many ways incredible Debbie McIntosh) who recognized something was *off*. 🚨 THE SIGNS OF DROWNING ARE ALMOST NEVER WHAT YOU SEE ON TV. 🚨 Even in the most experienced swimmers, drowning is often a silent and still experience. One that’s easily missed even by people very close-by because of something called the Instinctive Drowning Response. Link in my bio for an article about it. Please have a look to learn more about the way MOST drownings happen to help keep you and your loved ones safe this summer and always. Xoxo, P.
Ps. Whoaaaa I just learned yesterday 7/25 was National Drowning Prevention Day! #DrowningPrevention #Swimming #Safety
Video description: Me with my hair in a bun. I have medium brown skin and dark brown eyes and hair. I’m sitting, facing camera, and wearing a white tank top.
Greetings from my back yard! I’ve been excited to share this one for a while. 📚✨ #BreatheDeep: An Illustrated Guide to the Transformative Power of Breathing is the newest book by the fantastic @mishablaise. It’s a fun, beautiful dive into breathing and how beyond keeping us alive, it can be used to improve our lives. We can even improve the world around us!
Misha is someone I love nerding out with on science/health/inner life topics. And I admire the way she’s able to make them accessible to almost anyone. Not to mention she does it from the heart, with artwork that makes me happy.
I felt ✨inspired✨ (did you know inspire is another word for breathe?! 🌬️) to share my favorite breath work technique here. It’s so easy. It’s in the book and also spoken about in depth by one of my other faves, Dr Andrew Huberman. I hope you find it helpful and that it inspiiiiires 🤓 YOU to look at how something so simple can make such a difference. Check out @mishablaise for lots of uplifting, funny, thought-provoking wellness/well-being content. 🌬️
#Health #Wellness #Bookstagram
Video description: Me, to camera. I have medium brown skin and dark brown eyes. My brown hair is twisted. At times I hold the book Breathe Deep: An Illustrated Guide to the Transformative Power of Breathing. It has a blue and green cover with a purple person breathing out multicolored breath while holding a multicolored heart in their arms. It is by Misha Maynerick. At a few points I show illustrated pages from the book. In two silent moments before and after I demonstrate breath work the screen reads “Here we go…” and “We did it. Enjoy some virtual mangoes” (over a photo of mangoes). The video ends with a still of me holding the book with text that says “Thanks for watching my book report!”
Look at the Universe.✨ I did laundry (finally). This shirt was clean (finally). Traveled w/it because it’s a fave. It grabbed me so I threw it on. Walked out the door thinking ‘I ♥️ this shirt’ (I don’t usually like words on my clothes but it’s comfy & the right size & good energy) & then thought ‘Wait. What day is today?’
IT’S 7/10!! #ChronicDiseaseDay!!
@chronicdiseaseday sent me this shirt a yr or so ago, but I didn’t get to post. Still I appreciated it & what it made me think of: How many people I love, including me, have lived w/chronic disease (CD). Examples of these are heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma & many more. Any disease that lasts 3+ mos. Some greatly impact lives, some are more manageable.
CDs are very common — 6 in 10 Americans live or have lived w/at least 1! 30% have multiple! Covid increased that number as per the WHO, 10-20% of Covid infections leads to Long Covid. 😓
Many of these diseases are ‘invisible’ — so a lot of us, our family & loved ones are dealing w/challenges others may have no clue about. These diseases are often neglected by our healthcare system & folks w/some of them are often told for years their symptoms are ‘all in their head.’
Black & brown communities especially face higher incidences of CD. Greater levels of childhood trauma & poverty also predispose us to chronic disease.
Having a CD doesn’t have to be a terrible experience. But what goes a loooong way to making them manageable is addressing systemic, interpersonal, & internalized ableism — things that not only make CDs difficult but create more of them — & cultivating more thoughtful communities.
We can do this by learning more about the experiences of those w/CD, practicing empathy rather than sympathy (feeling WITH rather than FOR), supporting prevention/treatment, respecting accessibility like parking spots & bathroom stalls designed for folks w/disabilities & learning about ableism (it’s stunningly common in our speech, buildings, media & more).
Learning about CDs can enrich individual lives & communities. Let’s do it! #IStayStrong for all! @chronicdiseaseday
Image Description in Alt Text
Thank you to those who’ve been asking how you can support. And thank you @traciethoms for posting this helpful info.
Repost from @traciethoms
•
Posting this here again because it’s a big conversation… Ultimately, do whatever feels right to you! Just be informed of several points of view before you do! #sagaftrastrong
Image description: Text on white background.
In red: “Important SAG Strike info!”
In black: “Lots of people want to support us by cancelling their streaming subscriptions.
Unless the unions come out and call for that though, please don’t. We were told back in 2021 (when we were negotiating) that the AMPT loves to use data to control us.
Cancelling streaming services feeds their assertion that streaming is inherently voliatale and risky, and that is why they should be able to hire fewer of us and pay us less. They maintain that streaming is still untested. We all know that’s the primary way people watch what we make. It’s a lie.”
And in red: “The best way to help us right now is to donate to the Entertainment Community Fund – it supports the people making the film and tv you love and we can apply for grants to help keep our bills paid.”
Grateful. Grateful. Grateful. I hope so many more people will get to experience work like this — not just with @themonafoundation but in all contexts. Making space for the qualities and capacities that our world has (mistakenly) considered less-than allows for so much that hasn’t been seen or known yet to come to the fore. I’m trying to remember this in all that I do. I’m working on not to apologizing if I feel emotions welling up, not saying I’m “getting emotional” as if tears are weird and exotic and we are not constantly feeling emotions. I’m working on pausing to breathe and/or say a little prayer before speaking or creating. I’m working on letting the ancestors in. For way too long we’ve valued the head over the heart and the material over the spiritual — or we’ve pitted them against each other. Incorporating them all is going to help us advance exponentially in all we are trying to do. I’m just so grateful to work with an organization that values and encourages this. Please do share examples here if you’ve been incorporating more of yourself into what you’re up to. I’d love to see what you’re discovering. 🙏🖤
Video description: Me to camera. I have brown skin and dark brown hair and eyes. I’m wearing a black sleeveless top.
Fun fact: ALL of these are false. 🤡💩
I’ve been hearing a lot since the #SAGAFTRA strike began about how we’re millionaires complaining about having too few millions. Truth is, most union actors can’t even afford to have acting as their only job.
But credible-looking websites claim to tell “everything you want to know” about an actor. Our ‘lives’ become clickbait. People (and now computers) make things up about us to grab attention. So me supposedly having hundreds of thousands of dollars, or millions (would be nice! 😅) gets used as a way to attract interest to their sites. *Every click gets them paid* and they know there’s more of an appetite for astronomical numbers than for facts that aren’t usually accessible anyway without hacking someone’s bank accounts.
As actors and writers are striking for justice and to protect our existence, please know that there are MANY ways we are misrepresented. I first read that I was worth $55M back while I was living in a camper trailer to save money. And these articles lie about everything from my birthday to my measurements to my relationship status. They’ve confused my own family members!
I do make great money sometimes. But if I’m between projects, residuals are generally my only income. As my fellow actors have been saying repeatedly, our residuals are shrinking.
We are also artists who don’t or can’t necessarily take every job, for a variety of reasons. We do not get paid leave. If we have to pause working because of illness or injury, to care for a loved one, etc we are SOL. And we are nearly all making a tiny fraction of what the decision makers are.
Please be careful where you’re getting your information. Listen to actors, a community with enormous economic diversity, and trust that we’re not all just out here counting gold bricks. We’re fighting together — the few counting gold bricks and the many pinching pennies — for economic justice and security. That’s something every human deserves. #SagAftraStrike
Image: Screenshots of four clickbait articles which all falsely say my net worth is $600K, $9M, $18M and $55M. A poop emoji sits in their midst.
Feeling SO grateful in the midst of challenges in my industry to have the bright light of @themonafoundation 📚✨ shining in my life. To be able to work with folks supporting the education of over a million young people worldwide while ALSO conversing with respect, humility and candor…. To see up close examples of financial transparency, efficiency and generosity… To see the responsible distribution of wealth and the aim of helping all others build it… 😮💨🙏🥹 I hope the example of the way The Mona Foundation works spreads far and wide. Please have a look at their wonderful projects via the link in my bio. Not just to donate (tho that’s always welcome) but to lift your spirits and/or give you ideas of what can be. Lots of videos on their site show the various schools all over the world. I hope this is just one of the reminders for you of what’s possible, what’s good and growing in the world. Wishing you a beautiful rest of your day. 🤍
#TheMonaFoundation #Education #GirlsEducation #EducationForAll
Video description: Me, leaning against a couch. I have medium brown skin, dark brown hair and eyes. I’m wearing an earth-tone blouse and talking to camera.
Feeling SO grateful in the midst of challenges in my industry to have the bright light of @themonafoundation 📚✨ shining in my life. To be able to work with folks supporting the education of over a million young people worldwide while ALSO conversing with respect, humility and candor…. To see up close examples of financial transparency, efficiency and generosity… To see the responsible distribution of wealth and the aim of helping all others build it… 😮💨🙏🥹 I hope the example of the way The Mona Foundation works spreads far and wide. Please have a look at their wonderful projects via the link in my bio. Not just to donate (tho that’s always welcome) but to lift your spirits and/or give you ideas of what can be. Lots of videos on their site show the various schools all over the world. I hope this is just one of the reminders for you of what’s possible, what’s good and growing in the world. Wishing you a beautiful rest of your day. 🤍
#TheMonaFoundation #Education #GirlsEducation #EducationForAll
Video description: Me, leaning against a couch. I have medium brown skin, dark brown hair and eyes. I’m wearing an earth-tone blouse and talking to camera.
So many thanks for all the wonderful birthday greetings over the last few days! I’m so grateful I got to spend my birthday doing things I love — alone, with IG friends via Live, and with my family. Feeling so blessed. I’m doing my best to read each greeting and respond where I can but if I don’t get to respond directly to you please know I’m feeling grateful and full of the love you’ve shared with me. As much of a downside social media can have, it also offers this magical experience of connection with so many souls. And this week it’s brought me happiness through you. I wish you allll the deepest happiness in return.
In gratitude,
Parisa
Image description: A close up pic of me leaning into my mom. I’m wearing a black halter dress with white polka dots and mustard-colored earrings. My mom is wearing a white top, white sun hat, and glasses. We are smiling.
CO-CREATION BIRTHDAY LIVE!! 🥳🙏💡✨✨✨ Thanks to all who jumped on for a chat, meditation and 90 minute deep work session! You made my day!!
Video description: Me and @thevalidvictorian on an IG Live, smiling at each other via the camera. We are each sitting at a desk with a bit of the rooms we are in behind us.
This is WONDERFUL! LA-area union writers/actors worried about how to make ends meet, this generous effort is for you! See reposted info below for how to go about receiving. 💓
I’m so grateful for the help — including groceries — we got when I was a kid. And proud of humans for making things like this possible.
Hopefully efforts like this one will also help raise awareness of how we can help each other, and receive help, in tough times.
@kimikoglenn thanks for sharing!!
Repost from @mskristinawong
•
“🛒 FREE GROCERIES FOR SAG- AFTRA actors and WGA writers until the end of the strike!🛒
This is a totally real offer to get our union siblings through this historic fight for our livelihoods! Show your SAG-AFTRA or WGA card at World Harvest Food Bank at 3100 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles and Uncle Glen Curado will hook you up with a cart of healthy groceries worth over $300! Call them at (213) 746-2227 for operating hours. They are closed on Sundays.
You’ll receive a cart of fresh produce and all the staples you need to stay healthy on those picket lines!
Don’t forget to tag us with your groceries! @worldharvestfoodbank and @mskristinawong
#WGAstrike #WGAStrong #sagaftrastrong #sagaftrastrike #FoodBankInfluencer
📸@sally.blood”
This is WONDERFUL! LA-area union writers/actors worried about how to make ends meet, this generous effort is for you! See reposted info below for how to go about receiving. 💓
I’m so grateful for the help — including groceries — we got when I was a kid. And proud of humans for making things like this possible.
Hopefully efforts like this one will also help raise awareness of how we can help each other, and receive help, in tough times.
@kimikoglenn thanks for sharing!!
Repost from @mskristinawong
•
“🛒 FREE GROCERIES FOR SAG- AFTRA actors and WGA writers until the end of the strike!🛒
This is a totally real offer to get our union siblings through this historic fight for our livelihoods! Show your SAG-AFTRA or WGA card at World Harvest Food Bank at 3100 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles and Uncle Glen Curado will hook you up with a cart of healthy groceries worth over $300! Call them at (213) 746-2227 for operating hours. They are closed on Sundays.
You’ll receive a cart of fresh produce and all the staples you need to stay healthy on those picket lines!
Don’t forget to tag us with your groceries! @worldharvestfoodbank and @mskristinawong
#WGAstrike #WGAStrong #sagaftrastrong #sagaftrastrike #FoodBankInfluencer
📸@sally.blood”
This is WONDERFUL! LA-area union writers/actors worried about how to make ends meet, this generous effort is for you! See reposted info below for how to go about receiving. 💓
I’m so grateful for the help — including groceries — we got when I was a kid. And proud of humans for making things like this possible.
Hopefully efforts like this one will also help raise awareness of how we can help each other, and receive help, in tough times.
@kimikoglenn thanks for sharing!!
Repost from @mskristinawong
•
“🛒 FREE GROCERIES FOR SAG- AFTRA actors and WGA writers until the end of the strike!🛒
This is a totally real offer to get our union siblings through this historic fight for our livelihoods! Show your SAG-AFTRA or WGA card at World Harvest Food Bank at 3100 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles and Uncle Glen Curado will hook you up with a cart of healthy groceries worth over $300! Call them at (213) 746-2227 for operating hours. They are closed on Sundays.
You’ll receive a cart of fresh produce and all the staples you need to stay healthy on those picket lines!
Don’t forget to tag us with your groceries! @worldharvestfoodbank and @mskristinawong
#WGAstrike #WGAStrong #sagaftrastrong #sagaftrastrike #FoodBankInfluencer
📸@sally.blood”
“Sights and sounds pull me back down another year. I was here. I was here.” —Tori Amos
I ♥️ Brooklyn
Image descriptions:
1. Sun shining through a Smoketree
2. A peach growing on a tree
3. Two fuchsia roses cuddling
4. An open and a not-yet bloomed sunflower
5. A Black-eyed Susan flower
6. Two spiny seeds hanging from a London Plane tree
7. A Black-eyed Susan with double petals
8. A cluster of white Smooth Hydrangeas
9. Close up of a Japanese spindletree
10. A red rose
“Sights and sounds pull me back down another year. I was here. I was here.” —Tori Amos
I ♥️ Brooklyn
Image descriptions:
1. Sun shining through a Smoketree
2. A peach growing on a tree
3. Two fuchsia roses cuddling
4. An open and a not-yet bloomed sunflower
5. A Black-eyed Susan flower
6. Two spiny seeds hanging from a London Plane tree
7. A Black-eyed Susan with double petals
8. A cluster of white Smooth Hydrangeas
9. Close up of a Japanese spindletree
10. A red rose
“Sights and sounds pull me back down another year. I was here. I was here.” —Tori Amos
I ♥️ Brooklyn
Image descriptions:
1. Sun shining through a Smoketree
2. A peach growing on a tree
3. Two fuchsia roses cuddling
4. An open and a not-yet bloomed sunflower
5. A Black-eyed Susan flower
6. Two spiny seeds hanging from a London Plane tree
7. A Black-eyed Susan with double petals
8. A cluster of white Smooth Hydrangeas
9. Close up of a Japanese spindletree
10. A red rose
“Sights and sounds pull me back down another year. I was here. I was here.” —Tori Amos
I ♥️ Brooklyn
Image descriptions:
1. Sun shining through a Smoketree
2. A peach growing on a tree
3. Two fuchsia roses cuddling
4. An open and a not-yet bloomed sunflower
5. A Black-eyed Susan flower
6. Two spiny seeds hanging from a London Plane tree
7. A Black-eyed Susan with double petals
8. A cluster of white Smooth Hydrangeas
9. Close up of a Japanese spindletree
10. A red rose
“Sights and sounds pull me back down another year. I was here. I was here.” —Tori Amos
I ♥️ Brooklyn
Image descriptions:
1. Sun shining through a Smoketree
2. A peach growing on a tree
3. Two fuchsia roses cuddling
4. An open and a not-yet bloomed sunflower
5. A Black-eyed Susan flower
6. Two spiny seeds hanging from a London Plane tree
7. A Black-eyed Susan with double petals
8. A cluster of white Smooth Hydrangeas
9. Close up of a Japanese spindletree
10. A red rose
THIS.
Image description: A pink piece of paper tacked to a wall that reads “IN THIS TIME OF WORLD CRISIS I AM TRYING BY PRAYER AND EFFORT TO PREVENT MY THOUGHTS FROM CRYSTALLIZING
AROUND PARTICULAR
EVENTS, AS I FIND THAT I MUST BE HAPPY IN ORDER TO DO EFFECTIVELY THE WORK TO WHICH I AM DIRECTED”
– LOUIS GREGORY””
I stand with @sagaftra @wgaeast @wgawest. May this unified strike swiftly bring justice to our unions and beyond. #SagAftraStrong #SagAftraStrike
Image description: Sign with a blue background. On it in white, “SAG-AFTRA” “Unity” and two hands clasped on an orange background. In orange lettering “WGA.”
“I receive that.” One of the most important sentences I’ve ever learned. The first time I heard it was from my dear friend, @HeatherMatarazzo, the first time we met. I gave Heather a compliment, and these words were her response. 💫
When I heard them, I felt something I wasn’t used to when praising another person. I felt the energy I gave flow through someone else and come back to me. It was beautiful. It stunned me. I was immediately grateful.
We talked about it, and she shared about making a focussed effort to receive good things.
I think about how often we don’t feel good about ourselves, or our lives. And how many times there may be an opportunity to feel encouraged that we miss because we shut it down.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard women in particular, when complimented, respond with something like “No, I’m not.” Or “No, YOU are.” (as if only one person at a time can be great).
Perhaps this is in the name of humility or modesty, but I don’t think it really leads to either. It seems to lead to a deflated sense of self, which is no more truthful than an inflated one.
Receiving a compliment or loving wishes or kind words benefits the receiver AND the giver. It’s a circuit unbroken, charging them both. But if it’s not received it fizzles.
Heather’s example shifted my perspective and made me want to learn more and more about how to receive all the good things.
In this spirit I want to share how beautiful a birthday experience I had by making an effort to absorb all the love that came my way.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KIND SWEET LOVING WORDS FOR MY BIRTHDAY. I READ ✨AND RECEIVED✨ EVERY ONE I COULD GET TO AND WILL KEEP GOING. I’M SO GRATEFUL. MY HEART IS FULL. I HOPE YOU FEEL THE LOVE. 🙏💓🙏✨✨✨
Image description: A black background with a sparkling gold circle at the center. Inside the circle, in white, are the words “I receive that.”
Love this tag team right here. We have to be aware that we are pitted against each other from every angle, looking down on each other for the lack of, or multiplicity of, the numbers on our checks. The system we live under keeps us doing that rather than critiquing the system itself and the thought processes that support it — many of which we are feeding into by considering each other less worthy of care, less human, for making a little money, or a lot. We don’t beat this just by changing contracts. We have to use this as another opportunity to work on changing our minds and hearts. We have to dismantle the idea — at the root of every -ism we have — that any human is inherently more worthy than another, so that when we are in positions of power we don’t perpetuate this. And we are in positions of power a lot more than we realize. Even from behind our phones, in the comments, we have the power to hurt another soul. That’s huge. If we are in a place like the US, even if we are struggling financially we are doing vastly better materially than literally billions of others in the world. And we are shaping their lives with our choices constantly. That’s power too. We have to zoom out, even while we fight our specific battles, and increase our perspective. When we don’t realize that we can both be oppressed and at the same time oppress others we can do a lot of damage and add greater strength to the system that benefits from our division and the wounds we inflict on each other. I’m grateful to all these folks for highlighting the importance of being conscious of the entirety of what’s happening and our place in it. Solidarity is key.
REPOST @consciousleespeaks:
“Let’s talk Class Consciousness…
Video Credit: @lesdogggg & @crutches_and_spice”
It’s my birthday today and I’m doing things that bring me JOY! 🤩☀️🙏 I’ve seen MAGIC happen from virtual co-writing. And it’s not just me. Everyone I’ve talked with about it has said that it’s hard to explain the feeling, the energy, that’s present — even though you might be physically a continent away from those you’re ‘with’.
In thinking of what I might do today to celebrate being alive this was one of the things that came to mind and kept blinking. ✨💡✨ What do I love? What brings me joy? Creating in tandem with others! Soooo, if you wish to step into this stream with me, please do!
I’ll chat a bit at the top and at the end but there will be a 90 minute period in the middle that’s just me sitting at my desk writing (and maybe stretching and probably taking a pee break — off camera 🥸).
When I do this with others on zoom I usually turn my self-view off and enjoy having their face or faces on screen just to the side of what I’m working on. So I’m providing my face. ☺️
This practice has helped me move through feelings of stuckness in my writing (I don’t like the term writers block, we are always in process whether we sense movement or not). And epiphanies have come through over and over. Plus it’s such a great reminder of the power of what’s not visible, but so valuable, between us. Thank you, Pandemic? 🥴✨
Thank you @adriennerosewhite and @loriltharps AKA @readwriteandcre8 for your incredible writing inspiration (y’all follow these ladies!) and @thevalidvictorian & @peteroconnorpoc for helping me prove this works!
Video description: Screen capture of a Notes app note that reads (with some typed while playing) —
“WRITE WITH ME
☀️LIVE ☀️
TODAY ON IG!!!
(Or paint or journal or nap or…)
1-3pm Eastern / 10am – noon Pacific
— Starting with a short check-in
— 5 minute focus meditation
— 90 minute deep work session
— Short debrief
Co-writing virtually has done wonders for my creative projects — and my happiness! I’m so happy to share the experience. 😄
Hope to ‘see’ you soon!”
