The word ‘yawe’ means ‘to be’ in the language of the Potawatomi Indigenous People from North America. The use of the word differs with how a lot of Western languages use the verb ‘to be’. The word yawe can be used to describe the state of the ocean, a coastline or a powerful storm — all our surroundings are living and breathing, and therefore, the verb ‘to be’ can be used in a much broader sense offering a different lens of perception.

Sourced from the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, YAWE represents reminding oneself to think multidimensionally and outside the box. With roots in bicultural empowerment, I am on a mission to open up conversations on mental health from a source of lived experience.

The colour purple on the website and in the logo is used to represent creativity, emotionality, and deep thought.

Mental health is a concept that is increasingly growing out of confined spaces like therapy and classrooms. There is a growing demand among younger generations to include mental health as a way of self-expression to build community and awareness about life’s challenges.

In my own journey as a former client in mental health care, I noticed how difficult it can be to properly express or explain personal experiences to others with less or no lived experience in mental health. This thought fueled my motivation to facilitate projects and organisations to help them creatively articulate their message.

With academic expertise in sociology and Japanese studies, I put diversity and inclusion at the forefront of my work. Having formal and informal experience in content creation and narrative designing, YAWE is on a mission to carry and support mental health projects with creativity to increase accessibility to broader audiences.

Click on →Services to see what I specifically offer.