Failure as a Confrontation with Death

Portrait of Mimi Young and the Becoming Podcast logo on a beige background

Did you listen to my fun, rich, and wide-reaching interview Jessie Harrold of The Becoming Podcast? What we chatted about:⁣  Failure as a confrontation with death that ultimately makes us more human and divine⁣  How to suspend your disbelief and follow your intuition in a hyper-rational world⁣  Animism and working with tea as an ally⁣ […]

Nowhere Near It – 隔靴搔癢

Appropriation or appreciation?

Growing up in a traditional Han Taiwanese home, the adults spoke to me in Chinese idioms.  One expression, 隔靴搔癢 (phoneticized as gé xuē sāo yǎng), can be loosely interpreted as: “Failing to get to the heart of the matter” or even “nowhere near it“. Yet the literal translation of the words actually mean: “scratching an […]

12 Affirmations + Truths That Are Not Extractive and Do Not Bypass

Photo of Mimi Young, animist spirit medium

1. While I most likely cannot be whoever I want, I can do something that weaves my interests with my abilities, to the best of my circumstances. 2. My shortcomings are not cuter than others’ or more excusable; I take fierce ownership of myself while also offering tenderness when I stumble. 3. I love myself by […]

Ways We Block Our Creativity (and What We Can Do About It)

blurred image of orange, yellows, reds, and black that evoke the energy of fire

According to ancient Chinese metaphysics, there are two elements associated especially with creativity; they are also associated with the summer season: I wanted to highlight the importance of how this relates to our bodies, emotions, and psyche this time of the year, when you or those around you are going through the Earth energy of […]

Simple Moon Rituals for Powerful Energetic Shifts: In collaboration with goop

Goop logo, a dreamy image of a full moon over the ocean, and the headline Simple Moon Rituals for Powerful Energetic Shifts

I return to goop, and was interviewed about Moon rituals that highlights principles of Yin, Yang, and Daoism (the philosophy that birthed the Five Elements and Chinese Zodiac) in general. The idea is to slow right down, get tactile, and relate differently than you typically would. An excerpt below. “It becomes a very sensorial experience,” […]

Voice is Yin and Breath is Yang

Taiwanese woman pours oolong tea into a cup

“But remember, as humans, the only reason why we could even call ourselves humans. The only reason why we can even call ourselves intelligent and sentient beings conscious beings is because we came from these, we came from consciousness. Our ancestors came from consciousness; plants came from consciousness; rocks came from consciousness; the wind came […]

ENTER THE YIN: A Winter Solstice Online Gathering

winter solstice trees and fern leaves

Tuesday, December 21 from 6PM – 8PM PST Live-stream with replay Release the pressure to constantly perform, to fit in everything, to create, to be productive, to be efficient, to be better, to transcend, to be a ‘better’ version of yourself. Rather, ENTER THE YIN energy that awaits to be met as your companion, and […]

WRITING WITH SPIRIT Winter Retreat

Collage of ocean, a woman of colour writing, and luxury cabins

January 21-24, 20224 days, 3 nights of anchoring, nurturance and lucidity while surrounded by the magickal wintry forest on the ancestral and unceded territory of Nexwlélexwm (Bowen Island, BC Canada) The WRITING WITH SPIRIT RETREAT welcomes an intimate group of 13 attendees to explore the intersection of writing and the supernatural by unwrapping the words […]

Sitting with Tea: Tea As Teacher

Taiwanese Canadian woman in floral dress holds gaiwan and pours oolong into a gongbei

Tea, my Teacher, my Medicine, my Sister. With you, I enter into stillness. ⁣Penetrating clarity.⁣ Acute listening.⁣ Shivers of recognition. ⁣Tender exhales.⁣ Scents of what is to come.⁣ Conduit of flow.⁣Interpreter of ancestors.⁣ Vapours of daemons.⁣ I venerate your companionship.⁣⁣ PS. Sit with me and Tea as we learn make our own divination tool, the […]

Cha Ye Dan (Chinese Tea-Brined Eggs)

Cha Ye Dan also known as Chinese Tea Brined Eggs, show off a beautiful stain glassed effect in the eggs through the tea brining process

Eggs are one of my favourite go-tos when I wish to stay anchored, reconnect with my ancestors (since there are so many egg dishes in my heritage), and warm my body up as the weather begins to cool in September. I’ll be sharing a family recipe for Cha Ye Dan (Chinese Tea-Brined Eggs) in September’s […]