Photography: Christian Cervantes

What is growth for you?

The interplay of highs and lows in your own life and how you react to it. Growth to me is not this smooth exponential constant, at least I don‘t think of it that way. It is as fluctuant as a heartbeat that keeps us alive. A vibrant process that only is visible if you pause for a bit to look back. You can only grasp your own growth when you give gratitude to the process, from where you were coming from, how you overcome things and how you carry yourself to keep on going.

Over the past 2 years I feel like I’ve grown so much, but it can hardly be measured in the world we live in as my inner growth is not related to money, likes, image, reach or other things. However, I‘ve lived introspectively and I‘ve learned to know and love myself. Lately I got some helpful advice from The Happiness Institute. I now work in teams with the voices in my head towards my growth and to leave self-destructive thoughts behind. Whaaat?! 

What keeps you grounded?

My daughter RuRu. My sister Cherrie O. and my nephew David. 

How do you connect with nature?

By actually being surrounded by it. Every now and then I have these weird and intense callings that I have to be close to the ocean. Everytime I go there, I feel completely in tune with the tide. I always come back home with answers to questions I haven’t consciously asked myself, which is wild. It‘s like a mindblowing shower thought you didn‘t ask for – but more intense, cause it‘s an immense  body of water, innit?

What is a book that has inspired you?

Let Me Be Christl Clear. My dear friend wrote a heart-wrenching and eye-opening bestseller. That alone is inspiring!

What is your favorite plant?

Rubie‘s fig tree in our lil garden. My best friend Nnamdi who is a gardener raised and planted it as a gift for her birth. And it carries so many fruits already. It‘s beautiful watching it grow, just like a human being. But a tree. Amazing.