Giselle Buchanan

"I really believe that writing is a spiritual tool, and that you can learn to access higher parts of yourself through the practice of committing to the page each day."

What is your current offering? 
I’m a poet and a creative arts practitioner. I bring the magic and transformative power of creativity and writing to people in the form of workshops. I facilitate them in person as well as online.  

What led you to this work? 
I actually began this work as a student first! I’ve been writing in community since I was a teenager, and when I went to my first writing workshop, it changed my life. Sitting in a room with people who shared a love of words and knew the power of them was so transformative for me. The vulnerability, the catharsis, the metamorphosis you tangibly witness within yourself as you surrender to the creative process. As I moved through the world, I yearned for the spaces of my youth but in a way that wasn’t as competitive as those initial workshops felt. I knew there was a deep need in the collective and within my own heart for that kind of space, so I decided to create them.

Who is this work for? 
I believe that anyone can benefit from this work but you do have to have a bit of patience, an open heart and a willingness to listen to yourself and others. A common thread that I see in the people who find themselves in my workshop space is that they have been on autopilot in their lives, making the right decisions but have left a part of themselves behind and have found themselves at a crossroads. They want to go back for a piece of themselves they really cherished, but forgot along the way. 

Who are your teachers? 
My work follows in the tradition of the Black writers that came before me. As a New Yorker from Uptown, I can’t deny that I was cultivated in the energy and lineage of the Harlem Renaissance. I also consider my work to exist within the continuum of the Black Arts movement. Writers like Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan, Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde, Jayne Cortez, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange, Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker… so many. I have to say their names because so much of what I am is informed by the work of their hands. They were artists who believed in writing as a force that could change the material conditions of people, and who knew the power words held in shaping our world in a real way. Even my writing workshop Written Into Being is inspired by the work June Jordan did in community with Poetry to the People. 

How can people work with you? 
People can work with me in person at various writing workshops and retreats I curate as well as virtually via my writing community Written Into Being which has been going strong for over 2 years.

How can finding your creative voice help people heal?
I really believe that writing is a spiritual tool, and that you can learn to access higher parts of yourself through the practice of committing to the page each day. Even if it’s a semi regular practice that you return to occasionally to check in with yourself to see what’s you’ve learned and the truths you’ve metabolized in your daily living. Those things really impact your life. If you don’t stop to take inventory of those things, you miss them! 

What do you think personal growth has to do with collective change? 
There’s this saying, the personal is political. I believe that our world is a direct reflection of our hearts and the stories we carry. Beliefs are a form of storytelling. This entire Earth is comprised of stories. When we do the work of personal transformation and of purifying our hearts, and the work of telling new stories - stories that humanize us, stories that recognize our interconnectedness, stories that no longer put profit and financial gain over the wellbeing of people - then we can each do our part in furthering the work of love in the world. It’s no small thing. That is world changing. That is world building. 

What role does community play? 
There are moments when we truly believe nothing we can be or do is enough. I believe that’s not our true voice, but one we’ve inherited. Some people say it’s the ego, others say it’s the spell that capitalism implants within us. Whatever you want to call it, I think community helps correct our distortions and reflect the truth back to us. As James Baldwin would put it, “love is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.” At it’s best, community is a source of this love.

What organizations are you passionate about?
I love Girls Write Now and the work they’re doing to nurture young girls writing in New York. Young Chicago Authors, Youth Speaks, Urban Word NYC. I’m passionate about the organizations breathing life into our future writers, our future artists… especially in communities of color where the literacy rates are suffering. 

How do you make your work accessible? 
Accessibility is built into my value system and the way I model my practice. I offer scholarship spots to people who have fallen on hard times, are in school with no support, on disability or fixed incomes. I try not to let money be a barrier to people being able to participate in a practice that I believe changed my life and continues to enhance it for the better.  

What are some of your daily rituals and practices? 
Music is a huge part of my practice. I believe sound is healing and that music is frequency and can shift vibrations, altering the way we think and feel. So I incorporate music and sound into my daily rituals. Whether it's vocally singing or a curated playlist filled with lyrics and a feeling I need to be moved towards. I’m really moved by scents and aromatherapy. I’m always applying oils, spraying myself, lighting candles, burning incense. I also love herbs and teas. I add lots of salt and herbs to baths, create custom tea blends for myself. I think as a Taurus, such fixed Earth, I gravitate to waters of all kinds. They calm and help me feel lighter. And writing is obviously an important part of my practice. 

What do you keep on  your altar?
I think my whole home is the altar honestly. I keep lots of sacred plant incense, photographs of my loved ones and ancestors, lots of blessing waters and sacred texts. Special stones and crystals. 

What do you use on a regular basis to support your wellbeing ? 
I love rosewater. Cortas rosewater from Lebanon has been one that I’ve been enjoying lately. I ADORE Mudwitch mugs. I drink ALOT of tea and they are a colorful handmade part of my daily rituals. Diaspora Co. Chai is one of my favorites especially in the cold months when I need more warming drinks.  Lastly, I love LaLuneria Agua Florida handmade by an amazing Mexican herbalist Damiana.

What are three books you recommend? 

1. *All About Love, by Bell Hooks: a seminal text for me and I always recommend that people read it. 

2. *Eat Mangoes Naked, by SARK: a book all about pleasure, creativity and infusing magic in the mundane parts of life.

3. *The Book of Light, by Lucille Clifton: a book of poems I love by one of my favorite poets.

Photos by Elena Mudd