Claiming my Name

For the ancestors, for awareness, for representation

Chetna Mehta is pronounced as cheth·nah meh·thah

The T’s in both my first and last name are soft, like the T in thank you.

Historically, I’ve blown past my name in hasty introductions, letting my tongue hold a hard D the way Americans do with the T in water; teaching people a superficial lesson in greeting me in my assimilation. I’d only answer to Tina or Naomi at Jamba Juice as a teenager picking up my Mango Madness smoothie because Chetna was such an auntie name (in the worse way).

Dear reader, I wonder if you could relate to this in some way…

Have you “whitened” or Americanized your name to make it easier for the masses [“Sure, Sarah is fine (when the pronunciation is Zah-rah)”]? Have you changed your name to assimilate… Saumya to Sam, Adebiyi to Addy, etc.? Have you lost touch with how you even enjoy or want your name to be pronounced?

We’re talking about our names, here. Not tomato or potato. This shit matters!

It’s taken some education, reclamation and decolonization (and growing into an auntie myself) to finally appreciate my given name. And now in my mid 30’s, I’m not only appreciating it but am listening to a loving calling to let it be heard, spoken and represented.

So recently, I’ve been slowing down with my introductions and my re-introductions, to let my name be understood and spoken (by me and others) in a way that I and my ancestors feel held, heard and seen. Even inviting people who have known me for awhile to reacquaint themselves with my name, Cheth-nah, as I’m choosing it.

I’ve appreciated Hasan Minhaj as someone who has publicly embodied the lesson that it’s never too late to take the time (when we want to) to say our names and correct how it’s spoken even if it’s been spoken publicly at mass a certain way for years. This also reminds me of claiming our pronouns, our queerness, our new preferences, and our evolutions as dynamic humans!

I’ll share more in the future about what I’m learning about my last name, Mehta, especially as it relates to caste; a deep and diverse topic tied to privilege, oppression, colonization, reckoning, and collective freedom.

But for now, it’s a pleasure to meet you, to meet you anew, and to be seen by you 🙏🏽

1. What does this have to do with YOU, dear reader?

You’re on this mailing list because at one point, you subscribed and/or were involved with MOSAICEYE as a friend, collaborator, art collector and/or fellow seeker.

Thank you!

MOSAICEYE is slowly growing into an artist-owned collective/cooperative, where I will no longer be the owner but one of a few owners, facilitators and artists working around the world for our mission of stewarding peace, love and freedom on earth through healing arts and reflective circles. I’m so excited to share with you more as it unfolds with my beloved partners, in divine timing.

In the meantime…I am coming to you with this newsletter, Chetna Unfolding ✨

2. Why “Chetna Unfolding”?

My first name is Indian and borrowed from Sanskrit चेतना (cetanā), meaning “awareness” or “consciousness”. #forevergoals #divineassignment

This space is a place for me to write, share art and unfold honestly, personally and devotionally on themes that spark my heart, that give us permission and that inspire awareness. My letters to you here will center alchemizing pain and suffering into purposeful gold through embodiment, creativity, peace activism, wealth and freedom consciousness.

3. What’s here FOR YOU?

Art, reflections, affirmations, celebrations, stories and love are all here for you.

I will pour into this newsletter the creative energy that I’ve historically offered to instagram, which I’m diverging from more and more (I’ll share some reflections on this at some point soon, as it strongly relates to honoring my flow and actively choosing from an embodied place the spaces where I share my gifts with discernment and purposefulness).

Also, shoutout to our first paid subscriber, Andrea, for her patronage and for her intentionality in challenging her/our/an entitlement to free content. It’s inspiring and as an artist and a consumer, I am FOR this movement 💚

As a free subscriber, you’ll receive:

• Insights, stories, visual art from the heart, affirmations and invitations to join relevant spaces for co-creating alchemy

• My “best” writing is free and accessible

As a paid subscriber, you’ll receive:

• Occasional personal posts that I’m too shy with or protective of to share with all

• Community connection in “Alchemy Circle”, a monthly communal space for paid subscribers and clients to alchemize and transform a limiting belief related to a theme. We do this in collective contemplation, discussion and embodied release.

Thank you for being here with me, and/or for honoring your truth if you don’t want to be :)

Stay subscribed for the continued unfolding. And thank you so much for participating in the circulation of this abundance by sharing love through your precious attention, your thoughtful comments, and/or your paid subscribership 💚

Upcoming gathering spaces:

• There are a 2 more days to apply for the 3-Month CREATIVE SOMATIC ALCHEMY program and the 12-week SOUTH ASIAN FEMME DISRUPTORS REFLECTION GROUP before we start in the 2nd week of September

• The 4-month BOUNDARIES FOR PEACE SMALL SUPPORT GROUP starts in October and applications are open

While this publication is free, here are some lovely ways to continue receiving and giving to the sustainability of this work: get a poster, get a book on abundance mentality and/or playful devotion, share this with people you care about, comment here with your thoughts or feelings about what resonates, become a paid subscriber. Thank you 💚

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