After scrolling through Diego Perez’s Instagram account (@yung_pueblo) I’m struck by how seemingly simple yet profound his words are.  Each swipe past black-and-white content square surprisingly soothed my mind and drew me deeper into my own peace and patience. His story reflects one of activism, self actualization and a fierce commitment to his own path.  This impressive display of wisdom was by no means without trials and tribulations and is a testament of his honesty, courage, and path to healing.

Insights inspired by Yung Pueblo’s words

“Sometimes people are simply meant to teach you how to not act in the future” – yung pueblo

When Perez leaped into the unknown to begin his writing career many people thought he was crazy.  He wasn’t making money, was being supported by his partner, and feeling very insecure about his decision at times.  With very little results, he watched others gain success but kept focused on his meditation practice and writing. He knew he had to write about his discoveries as a meditator and saw how powerful his healing was as an active member of society.  He believes that “you’re a much less harmful person to those around you” when you’re continuously turning inwards.

People may not understand your intentions at first and they may think you’ve lost your mind, but like Yung Pueblo, it is an act of courage to keep going despite all odds.  When you meet others that are doing the unthinkable or seemingly impossible, lift them up, cheer them on, and see the magic in what is being provided by their journey. In this case, Perez’s dedication to his inner knowing evolved into an immensely successful pursuit.  

“a hero is one who heals their own wounds and then shows others how to do the same” – yung pueblo

Born in Ecuador but primarily growing up in Boston, MA, Perez was an avid activist in his community. Over the course of his younger years, he joined groups of young people that were given serious power to design campaigns and learn how to organize and take action around the things that mattered to them.  This supporting of one another’s vision seemingly wove itself into the fiber of Perez’s life and continued into his adult life when he began to meditate at the age of 24. He’d seen how powerful each individual was during these days of activism, but he’d also still felt the misery.  To Perez meditation is a cultivation of internal happiness, which in turn betters society with a positive ripple effect. He began to realize how impactful his meditation practice was and chose writing as a medium to share with others what’s possible.

With so many different avenues to explore that bring release and relaxation today, it can be challenging to know which techniques to try.  When Perez refers to being a hero, he sees supporting and encouraging one another to be happy, and ultimately more powerful, as a courageous feat.  By finding your own way to healing and sharing with others, you are doing the work that’s so desperately needed in this day and age. In his commitment to sharing this wisdom, I’d say Yung Pueblo truly is a hero himself.  

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator, writer, and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She has facilitated Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in a 9-month training named T3 (Train the Trainer), in workshops with companies such as Authentic World, Authentic Revolution, and Authentic Relating Training International, around the world in communities such as Unconventional Life and Momentom Collective, and in the past year has facilitated monthly events at Archipelago Clubs in Denver, CO. 

Amelia’s writing has been featured on mindbodygreen, in Conscious Lifestyle Magazine, Boulder Lifestyle Magazine, and The C3 Method.  An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia consistently contributes her writing.

Healing the Divide, Every Step Counts…Here’s How Global Sisterhood is Changing the Narrative:

In just the past few years, we’ve started to hear the vivid stories of injustice that were once silenced or ignored, the “Me Too” movement has spread like wildfire, and surfacing traumas have initiated women worldwide to speak up and share their painful experiences.  With bottled up emotions and shame finally getting overdue air time, the magnitude of variant orientations has been manifested and expressed at times with immense charge or trigger. And while these terrible acts occurred for many, many years before receiving rightfully deserved attention, the awareness is finally asking the world to take a serious look at how we’ve oriented towards masculinity and femininity, not necessarily just gender, but an overhaul of what we deem as acceptable ways to treat one another as a global society.  

According to Walsh, it’s not one man or woman’s fault but the fault of many years ago.  A disproportionate valuing of the masculine orientation towards life over a more feminine or balanced perspective that in turn created structures and systems that favor a certain way of living life.  This certain way of living tends to position women in feeling not enough, wrong, or undervalued for who they are and what they can tangibly “bring to the table”. Whether silently resenting, angry, abused, shamed, or any flavor of damage in this global wound between women and men, there is much work to be done however you view the story or situation.

In Walsh’s case, her pain presented itself in many different ways.  From abusive relationships to a lack of supportive women in her life, she shares,  “I think the hardest part of what I went through wasn’t necessarily the trauma from men or boys which was significant, it was the fact that I didn’t feel like I had women or girls that had my back and that would stand by me or just  knew how to stand by me”. As a young girl, she felt a lot of shame about who she was, didn’t believe in herself, and felt very much alone a lot of the time. She would learn to heal from this downward spiral and change the way she thought about life and her power.  Her path was by no means immediately focused on creating a worldwide movement of women coming together in a circle. In reclaiming her own femininity, she began to see how vital her purpose in changing the narrative was for women. Instead of comparing, judging, and competing with women, she would choose to expose the actions she wasn’t proud of to a hundred woman at the Texas State Capitol when she was invited to speak a peace prayer.  Sharing the shadow of being a woman inspired a man to ask her to continue leading woman, healing their traumas and empowering them into their purpose. Walsh’s vulnerability inspired others to claim their own shadow and choose new actions. She is a shining example of an empowered woman living her mission to help others do the same together.

With humility and grace, Walsh wants women to know that they are not wrong for the way they feel. By coming together and supporting women globally, Global Sisterhood is a platform to inspire women to lift each other up and be advocates of a more compassionate, understanding world.  

No act of love is too small.  Whether it’s noticing the negative thoughts you’re having about another woman and shifting your commentary or acknowledging your pain in such a way as to not damage or diminish, but create awareness for new choice and change, there are infinite ways to heal the divide.  There is not necessarily a right or wrong way, but an opportunity to learn how we can better be with our feelings, our emotions, our experiences, and our perspectives. In all honesty, there has never really been a “How to Effectively Be a Human” manual, let alone how to be feminine or masculine.  Sure, there are morals and values that our respective societies tend to celebrate and share, but there is not a one-size-fits-all model that everyone knows how to follow or respond to. To have compassion and be authentically honest with ourselves, is a step in the right direction. We are all in this learning process together.  

There is something beautiful, something to celebrate, something to shift your perspective in each and every person on this planet.  First, come together, choose compassion, choose to listen, choose love, and choose to learn from the past to make different choices for the future.  

Join thousands of women on March 8th for International Women’s Day!  

To learn more go to https://www.globalsisterhood.org/

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Amelia Broughton is a relational facilitator, writer, and purveyor of connection, pioneering a more connected, communication-savvy, and emotionally intelligent planet. She facilitates Authentic Relating and Relational Leadership in various settings and communities. Her expertise is in team dynamics and interpersonal relations. With over 10 years of experience on teams and in communities, Amelia’s vision for the world is one of beautiful interconnection, a place where we put down the distractions and to-do lists to bask in the miracles that surround us. The type of connection that nourishes us internally, externally and has every one of us feel seen, heard and loved with a true sense of belonging.  An active Unconventional Life member, Amelia consistently contributes her writing.