Dearest Arianna,
So much has passed in such little time. Transforming time.
Something inside me started to change a while ago and made me take that plane to New York City in October 2018. You might not know this, but what I received from you was the opportunity and strength I so desperately needed.
I went to New York to the Mindfulness in America Congress, your name among others (like Anderson Cooper, whom I love) were on that list as moderators and speakers which for me was enough to trust the organization and the content. With not much expertise in the area of mindfulness (I don’t even do yoga), I found myself immersed in deep meditations with strangers from different places and different backgrounds but with one common goal: the need for human connection and more specifically, the need for inner connection with ourselves.
At that point in my life I’d already made big changes. I closed a successful wedding design company and started to work more on social causes, I was spending more time with my family and my mind was open to new knowledge. I was already shifting directions for a more mindfulness-inspired lifestyle, but, that was not enough, apparently.
The night of the closing, you mentioned how important it was to be able to share our stories, you made me think about my path in a different way, not because I needed to take action to save myself, which I indeed already had, but maybe I could inspire others to feel something and even improve their lives. You gave me a platform and you gave me the validation I needed to believe that I was able to write, you gave me a reason to believe in the power of stories and the magic that can be done for others and ultimately, for us, from those lines.
You gave us, all of us, your personal email address. I was astonished.
You took a chance on us and I immediately took it. That night I started to write and Thrive published me.
Two months later I was writing every day, I write what I call “almost poetry”.
I write in Spanish, my native language, in an attempt for this to be an x-ray of of my soul. I decided to open a secret Instagram account so that maybe a few strangers could benefit from my feelings, relate to them and maybe heal, without revealing my identity so I don’t lose my freedom. I chose an alias and started this adventure without knowing the need for raw and honest content, no re-touch, no photoshop, not anything, only words in black and white, written with no prejudice.
It’s been almost three months and at the time of me writing this letter I am about to reach 30K followers, most of them complete strangers that are writing back to me to express how my words are allowing them to heal, to identify their feelings of pain and happiness.
My main audience is composed of Latin women ranging in ages 15 to 35 that are or have been suffering a broken heart, abused or are just burned out from everyday life. I write about life and love, from a feminist yet still feminine point of view. I firmly believe in humanity, in goodness and to “never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” – Margaret Mead.
I wanted to send a big thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping me find my purpose in life. One that I enjoy deeply.
Warm regards,
Fortuna Ludmir