We were lucky to catch up with Vanessa Ferlaino recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

The feeling of being misunderstood, to me, is the feeling of “unheardness”. Unheardness can be very deep-rooted, and for me, comes from fears of abandonment. The unhealed parts of me will always tell me this story of unheardness, that I don’t belong, and that no one understands me or hears me the same way I hear others. Thankfully, the healed parts of me know this is untrue. The healed parts of me know that this is a story that fear has told me, as some twisted from of comfort, and that this is really quite shame-based. For me, this shame-based (inner) dialogue comes from both intergenerational trauma and societal dynamics. The ability to express and even access some of these feelings are very hard; when we experience these feelings of abandonment, unheardness, and all of their tenderness, it is hard to hear or see anything else outside of that. Engaging in practices of art offers us the opportunity to access these feelings that we can’t really put into words and express it in ways that don’t need to be “defined”, in ways that are safe, and in ways that allow us to release these feelings out of the body to create that space for healing. These are of course very personal experiences, very intimate experiences, so what we create or express through art, will be just as such. Therefore, in a way, much of what we create will always be “misunderstood” or “mischaracterized” by others — as it should. If we are seeking heardness from others, in the form of acceptance of our creations, then there are unhealed parts of us that are asking to be healed. But if we hear and understand that art actually invites sharing, reflecting, and resonating, then we know this is an act of honouring art and truth in its subjective forms (reminding us we all have our own perspectives), and that we have found balance between the healed and unhealed parts of us. It then becomes a simple act of committing to holding space with ourselves when the balance sways, as it inevitably will, as this is simply part of the human experience.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Yes, of course, grateful to hold this space. First and foremost, I am a human-itarian. I am honoured to be the award-winning author, of “Human”, a 100-page read offering my own true account and experiences that support the power of healing to shape all of humanity. In fact, last Jan 2023 it was actually featured in Times Square which was really very exciting… The connection between healing and humanity is also explored in many of my projects that really spun out of my book. One of the core premises of “Human” is this idea of how being human to ourselves allows us to be more human to each other, and then to our world. And my show, The Human Challenge, which was recently featured as a 2023 Amazon Music x ACAST “Indie Podcast Amplifier”, really offers listeners this opportunity to challenge what we know of being human so we can heal for the greater good. I’ve spoken to astronauts, olympians, singers — from athletes to the moon, we hear it all on the show! And it’s a great opportunity to hear how others find ways to commit to co-creating humanity. I also founded The Being Human Foundation with a similiar mission; how can we extend or offer healing in our communities, using minfulness, arts & culture, and social activism? Through the foundation, I’m really honoured to partner with 8 Billion Voices, where I serve as Chief Executive Officer, dedicated to arts-based collective healing. Mindfulness continues to be a core part of my being; mindfulness ultimately comes down to intentionality. I have been practicing meditation for almost 6-7 years now; I obtained my 200-hr mindfulness meditation certification from The Lab of Meditation, almost 5 years after practicing on my own. I went into more depth of traditional Buddhist practices, realizing that we tend to be typically exposed to “secular” or “modern” mindfulness, which sometimes does not dive into the cultural roots of Buddhism. When we ignore the traditions and origins of the Buddhist practice, then we forget to honour its truth, and the truth of Buddhism is actually social justice. Much of social justice is very honourable, gentle, and based on the openness of love. Please be invited to meditate with me on the Insight Timer app. A few years later, I went on to complete Staci Haines’ Politics of Trauma course, which complimented my mindfulness toolkit with somatics work. This social justice rounds out my human-itarian-ness; harness our humanity individually and collectively.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The link between society and a “creative ecosystem” is very strong; they are one. Society itself is something that we have created; creativity goes beyond just painting on a canvas, words on a page, music notes and sculptured clay. Ultimately, it is about creating tangible things from a sometimes intangible vision. It is the use of resources to build things of meaning to sustain life and its many aspects (again, tangible being livelihood, and maybe less tangible being love, and sometimes even life itself).

This comes from open-mindedness and open-heartedness; from curiosity; from celebration of the beauty of all things and beings, for what they are. Open-mindedness to the stories being shared, to the culture being preserved, is important, but also integrating these learnings and stories into your own life, your way of thinking, your own way of being. This open-mindedness feeds into all aspects of our lives, and so together, we can co-create a thriving creative ecosystem.

And of course we can apply this to the creation of society, embodying all of this to build something that can sustain all forms of life. Society now in its current structure, is rigid. Discrimination, bias, hypocrisy, patriarchy is so embedded within we can hardly tell that we move through it; we need the creators and creatives telling the stories, sharing, and creating to remind people of humanity that exists; to remind us all to connect to ourselves, to connect to each other, and connect with our world.

Even with the rigidity that exists now, the wonderful thing is that we can create, or rather, co-create, something different for all to thrive.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I would like to portray resilience in softness. We often see resilience in a “harder’ form, where we have to be “pushing against something” in order to be resilient.

But for me, there is a softness to resilience, we just sometimes forget it amidst the rigidity of society that we have to navigate on a daily basis.

In this rigid society, we are made to believe that in fact, we have to be pushing against things all of the time, and so this hardness would fit that narrative. However, I do believe there is a peace to resilience.

Sometimes, it is that simple act of existence than can be resilient. That simple act of holding space, of acknowledging that this is the World we live, and making the choice to move through it differently, that can also be resilience.

In this rigid society, it means that being yourself, and being committed to the truth of your essence, is resilience.

And so for me specifically, my story of resilience is actually my entire life story of staying committed to that. Of always honouring my boundaries and staying truthful to what resonates with me.

It is challenging, but there are many old conditioned thoughts, stories, habits, etc. that are shed in those challenges. There are also many people that are shed out of your life, and it can be hard, but we hold space and stay committed to the shedding process in of itself — which is also a form of resilience.

I invite everyone to explore that for themselves, to explore that commitment and stand tall in that openness toward your innate resilient nature, by being you in your truest form.

Contact Info:

• Website: vanessaferlaino.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/vanessaferlaino
• Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.com/in/vanessaferlaino
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vanessaferlaino/streams
• Other: insighttimer.com/vanessaferlainovanessaferlaino.com/thehumanchallengevanessaferlaino.com/thebeinghumanfoundation8bv.org

Image Credits
Photography credits: Khrystyna Ria Photography (khrystynariaphotography.com or @khrystyna.photo_)