🎨 Hello!
How do we hold onto hope…in our creativity, in our relationships with others, in our relationship with ourself?
I think I was born with eternal optimism imbedded in my heart. I can’t tell you how many times in my life up to this point that all seemed lost, but I held out hope. And I mean standing in quick-mud in a tidal river with the water coming up…type of lost. Or walking along an abandoned jungle road as the sun starts to dip down below the horizon…type of lost. Or my big creative dream only 26% funded with just 3 days left to go…type of lost.
Or watching the news and weeping…perhaps we are all this type of lost at the moment. How my heart breaks. 💔 May peace be with us.
As I go into this weekend with so much emotion…lots going on in my small personal life and also in the larger world around me, I think of this Mary Oliver quote:
“Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.”
I plan to hold hope close in my one wild and precious life.
Poetry gives me hope. Art gives me hope. My children give me hope. The strangers I meet on the regular here in Türkiye who help me even though I am from such a different background than they are…they give me hope. The friends and family who support me…you give me hope. The leaves changing color in accordance with the seasons. To me, hope lives even inside the transforming leaves.
Wherever you are in your relationship with hope…if you believe it is eternal or if you see it as the thing with feathers that perches in the soul like Emily Dickinson or you have decided it is time for you to give a bit of it away for awhile - I’m sending love to you.
Good journey,
~Emily Lupita
🌸 Autism Brothers Books
Update: 3 days to go!
One of the biggest creative dreams I have is to launch an inclusive book series featuring my two Autistic sons, Charlie & Archie, as the main characters. As a mother to two boys on the Autism Spectrum, I’ve been on the look-out for books featuring Autistic kids. There aren’t nearly as many inclusive children’s books out there as we need. Representation matters.
These are the final days of KICKSTARTER project to try and fund the first book in my new series, called Autism Brothers Books. This is the video about the project.
Visit the KICKSTARTER page here to pledge your support for our project. Because Kickstarter is an “all or nothing” platform, we need to reach the funding goal by Monday, October 23rd or we lose all pledges and receive nothing.
🌈 Our Story
Charlie and Archie are real-life Turkish-Mexican-American brothers. They are both diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, although they are on very different places on the Spectrum. I’m the Brothers’ mom. I’m an American Latina author & illustrator from Iowa, USA. Here we are together…complete with our colorful crowns.
🦋 My Mission
I am creating the Autism Brothers Book Series because I want my sons to see themselves in the books we read. I’ll say it again…representation matters. I want Charlie & Archie to see themselves going around the world on travel adventures…if not in real life due to their specific exceptional needs, then in these stories and paintings made with love by their mom.
I want this for others, too…for all the Autistic individuals and their families out there who deserve representation in children’s books (and everywhere else, too).
💙 Thank you!
Thank you for your encouragement and support of this very special project. It’s so close to my heart. Please consider sharing with your family & friends & local Autism awareness organization.
I have a goal to post my new portraits and videos up on my Instagram account as they flow out. I hope to connect with you there as well. @EmilyLupitaSeries
🙏🏼 A Prayer
❤️🔥