Chinoiserie is an artistic style that emerged in the 1700s and 1800s as a Western art style that was inspired and influenced by Asian art. In Chinoiserie, we can see the complex interplay and the fine line between admiration and exoticization. We can see a deep-seated human desire to explore and seek out what is different to us in order to integrate it back into ourselves. Cultural purists are quick to point out that Chinoiserie art is definitely not Asian and emphasize the Western influences as what makes Chinoiserie inauthentic and not Asian.

I have frequently heard these statements, not to judge art, but to judge the value of Asian Americans. It’s often from our immigrant Asian parents, who have lost much of their world by moving to the United States, who project their feelings of insecurity onto their children. Asian Americans, as bicultural individuals, are criticized for not being “real Asians” and are spoken of as being deficient due to growing up with a Western influence.

Like the Chinoiserie art style, Asian Americans haven’t really spoken up about their identity and have allowed both Asian and Western observers to critique, define, and valuate their worth, identity and belonging. Asian Americans often feel torn to meet both Asian and Western expectations for how to be considered “worthy” in society. This “tearing up” sensation is the ripping of one’s sovereignty.

I believe art does not die when it defies other people’s rules, just as the spirit of Asian Americans does not extinguish just because society cannot see past the binary of “East and West”. We Asian Americans are here, despite others’ feelings of discomfort; and we are here to be creative, be expressive, and contribute to the world in a powerful way.

It is my wish that my work and energy to resonate and reach more than just Asian Americans. I believe many people can relate to the experiences of being different and of being made to feel that they shouldn’t exist. The starting point of this practice, however is from the Asian American experience as it is my own experience. I believe in order to see others, we need to first see ourselves. In order to celebrate others, we must first celebrate ourselves. We cannot go anywhere purposefully if we do not know from where we start. And I thank all others for dipping into our frequency and embracing the divinity of life as we feel it and live it.

Ascension is the term for each individual shedding the illusion of separation and truly recognizing our unity with Source/Spirit/Universe/God. Ascension also refers to the collective goal for the human species on Earth to know, remember, and embody a higher state of consciousness that is more resonant with other entities in the cosmos.

In this practice, every bit of healing I do with clients is grounded in the end goal of remembering and returning to Oneness. The roadblocks we hit are in essence of Duality and Separation. This results in the human experiences of hate, enmity, envy, inadequacy, discrimination, etc. It exists in the systems we live in today: patriarchy, racism, capitalism, the gender binary, etc.

Marginalized peoples of all times have a difficult journey to walk in this material realm. The first step is identifying and verbalizing that the feeling of otherness or unworthiness is real, and that it is not fair for a person to hold. The second step is to cease self-imposed gaslighting and call out that no, you are probably not inflicting suffering on yourself in an unending loop that originated from you. There are systemic factors at play and they need to addressed, identified, and called out. The third step (and this is where most people get stuck), is when people begin to allow themselves to feel their feelings of rage and pain at the oppressor who has created a systemic situation that creates the experience of unworthiness.

When marginalized peoples identify themselves as being oppressed, this is the awakening and it is the stagnancy at the same time. We must witness, recognize, and feel through injustices. However, holding an identity of suffering or unworthiness only keeps a person suffering, by their own volition. Common statements of this sound like “This is just what it’s like to be [insert marginalized identity], we always get the short end of the stick.”

A common example for Asian Americans is that they might dream of feeling happier and doing things in their life that are more in alignment with their Higher Self or authentic self. However, they do not let themselves feel worthy of pursuing their dream because “my parents wouldn’t approve” or “it’s not something we do in my culture”. Their belief is in essence that, because they hold the identity of being Asian American, they are fundamentally blocked from pursuing their own individual calling because their identity dictates that they put their family or their cultural group first. That they are unworthy of being first. This is a powerful example of how there is no oppressive Other, but the self-oppression lives with the idea that holding our identity of difference means we are not capable of ascension in the way that others are given freedom to.

Many people believe that they are honoring their culture/race/group by denying their Oneness and choosing to distinguish themselves as marginalized through their challenges and suffering. Many also do not want to forget that they are different than the “evil Other”. This also fuels the illusion of separation.

This is precisely the unique lesson that Spirit has set us on when we are born into an identity of difference. Spirit does not want you to cast aside your differences or your identity, but recognize that Oneness holds the space for the multitude of identities, experiences, truth to all be real at the simultaneously. There is tremendous pain accompanied with choosing to take on this spiritual lesson, but without experiencing the deep bitterness, we are not able to perceive and taste the sweetness of Oneness that is belonginess, that is acceptance, that is our soul’s rightful orientation.