Bubble / issue: one
From the beginning! How I came back to my creativity: volcano lover, acid pink, Amsterdam, and much more inspo! (no drugs)
Say hi to Bubble / Issue: one, my brand new zine where I gather all the things that put me in creating mode, my favorite state of being. From a wobbly felted little thing to a beautiful written piece.
a tiny back story
Before becoming the Creative Witch I claim to be, I was a corporate woman running as fast as I could to make money (?). Not sure if it was actually money I was looking for. Maybe status, maybe I was running away from myself, or something else. I didn’t have it clear. And although I love money, I see it just as an important tool that gives us choices and affords comfort and other delicious things. It’s never a destiny.
I know my past self would highly cringe at my whimsical silliness. Creative Witch? C’mon. She unfortunately had to go through hell to understand it. I’ll definitely share about the burning hell I’ve been through. Just not today. It might be cringey, but sometimes a silly label is all you need to let yourself do what you’re craving. It’s a permission slip we shouldn’t need. To me, it helps. In fact, I met the witch that inspired me in Chile: la bruja que dibuja.
I remembered this because, the other day, my sister said, “You became so much more spiritual and creative after that trip to Chile”. She’s right, and that’s a good place to start.
first things first
This story begins in São Paulo, though.
I had tickets to New York with my ex-boyfriend. It was our last attempt to save the relationship, but a month before the trip, I told him I didn’t love him anymore. It happened on a Monday evening, casually, brutally honest, and unplanned. Irrefutably over. Nothing to be saved anymore.
I canceled my NY flights (which I still dream of visiting one day), and looked for a new place on the world map. My first option was Machu Picchu, but the weather wasn’t the best for that trip, so to Chile I went. All by myself, afraid of nothing, making friends on the way, having fun in portunhol.
I was so curious and open that the desert magic couldn’t just pass by me. I let the Salar de Atacama clean my energy, and the starry sky replenished it. In a couple of days, I even fell in love again, and I think of him to this day: Licancabur—my volcano lover.
What a handsome wizard he is! I let him hypnotize me with his power. He slowly simmered a spell within me, and after two years of slow brewing, I felt so much more like myself.
he changed something in me
Everything that inspired me since then eventually led me here: to this issue of Bubble and the new Secret Club.
I noticed it in the old portraits below. It’s like I’m a child again—no idea what’s happening, just being playful, not afraid to look silly.
I was testing new colors, shapes, and materials to figure out what I wanted to feel, what I liked. It was an exploration expedition inside my thoughts and feelings to understand what I wanted to express and who I was.
I was creating to feel, and it made me realize that our creations also create things in us.
I loved this eye jar! I think I should recreate it. The eyeball is made of felt, and I still have many of them!
An eye out of the orbit automatically pulls me out of the box. I enjoy the discomfort it causes me. It’s like a gross thing you can’t stop looking at. Whether the neon colors transport me to a fantastic, glowy world where butterflies gossip, people have colored hair, and you can find blue cherries. I feel at home in there.
Years passed… I had forgotten about my pink acid trip—creatively speaking, you flowerhead. One day, walking by the canals in Amsterdam, I saw this sign saying “ring the bell” by the door of an intriguing messy art studio with neon vulva earrings on display. I rang it immediately, and a blond woman opened the door. I was a bit shy to get into her studio because it was actually where she lived. I was so excited to see what was inside of those narrow Amsterdam houses but also to get to know an artist.
Meeting Denise Rosenboom's studio sparked something in me. It inspired me to get back to the creative path I'd started but never fully explored.
Are you sure? I think you lost momentum.—the voice asked.
I nearly talked myself out of it, but I remembered something:
When I started my Journalism degree after spending a year and a half in art school, I didn't have the same excitement I'd had when I first started university. But I was still eager and much more prepared to do it. I feel the same now—I’m finally able to live my Creative Witch journey in my acid pink world where I write freely, practice tarot, and create just because.
It’s like realigning my timeline to live something I skipped in 2022. Or, maybe timelines are just not linear, and we flow with it anyway. I’m reclaiming the creativity and boldness I had. My Aquarius Sun is desperate for me to become more like myself.
intuition with a bad wifi
My connection with Secret Club (and with myself) was weakening each day, and it scared me to the bones. To recover, I retreated into my bubble until I got the crystal clear vision of how to turn into something I actually love. In case it might sound a bit selfish, have to say it didn’t come from my mouth:
I had saved the image of an eye door handle that sparkled a weirdo kind of fun my soul was looking for. The keyhole linked well with “Secret”. I knew something was coming, although I wasn’t liking it yet.
The large eyelashes eventually became petals.
That’s when I realized she was there all the time.
What about the seashell?
Letting go of the seashell logo was a difficult step. I still love the meaning of gathering because of the ebbs that brought us together, but it’s time for something else. We outgrew that need to gather we had before. We have so many people around us. It’s time to deepen the connections we made.
More inspo
It was such a joy to share the very first issue of Bubble with you. Thank you so much for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
SECRET PROTOCOL
I still have a new editorial session to release, and it’s coming on August 4!
I’m calling it Secret Protocol, and this is my most magical and feminist project until now. Expect a cauldron of tarot insights, journaling prompts, pop culture, memes, and other unexpected stories to help us make sense of not giving up on being ourselves despite patriarchy's ridiculous lies.
Secret Protocol will wash over the guilt deep-rooted in our daily lives and help us to hack this system little by little. After all, if it was created, it can also be destroyed as long as we don’t give up.
Welcome Bubble! Love the logo and the story behind it. 👁