a modern day matriarchy.
First of all, thank you for being here. Whether you're a mutual on Twitter or a woman I met randomly at a bar last night, knowing there's other women out there with similar interests, passions, and dreams for the future has been the #1 thing keeping me going as I have been gathering pieces over the years to make this happen. I've spent the last 10 years of my life finding ways to be in service to women and I consider BalVida to be a culmination of this decade of learning, unlearning, experiencing, plotting.
BalVida is being developed as a women-centric community with a mission of helping us to better connect to ourselves, each other, and our world around us. BalVida won't be a physical reality until late 2025, but in the meantime subscribing is the best way to watch this journey unfold. If you're interested in what creating an intentional community centered around women--what a modern-day matriarchy might look like--welcome.
It's my hope that BalVida will not only serve as a physical community but also a conceptual resource of ideas and inspiration for the kind of communities women are looking for, want to be a part of, want to build. Communities that are safe and allow our nervous systems to thrive. Communities where our physical and emotional needs can be nourished in more sustainable ways, where we can reconnect to the understanding that caretaking the land is just as important as caretaking ourselves and those around us. Communities where women are supported in our individual and collective healing. Communities that aim to find a better balance between the world we currently live in and building the world we want to live in.
As part of this process, I'll be documenting this from the start. The blog will be a collection of the many different things I have been and will be learning as this community is developed. Things I find interesting and want to share. Anything from thoughts on the way my feminism is guiding the intentional creation of this community, or insight into the design/build process, or learning about the different sustainability methods that can be integrated, talking about relevant shows I've watched or books I've read, or musings on the metaphysical implications of women-centered spaces, or why I think it's so important that we rethink what our family structures look like, or how I learned today why the full moon is the perfect time to harvest bamboo. Whether you found your way to my page bc of me talking shit about men and their nonsense, my book recommendations, my infamous ranting about marriage & monogamy, my DIY projects, me sharing my home-building process, bc of the podcast-- you'll def find something of interest in this blog.
I also want the blog to be a space where you can hear from other women on these topics and more. Over time, we'll be building out social media accounts where we can upload pics, videos, and more content on a regular basis. And finally, as BalVida becomes a physical reality in 2025 and beyond, I & others will be talking about the day-to-day life of building and growing this community and how others can get involved, either by visiting or becoming part of BalVida and helping women to imagine how to build their own versions of more balanced communities.
Lastly, let me introduce myself. I'm @ceciATL on twitter. If you're familiar with my ranting & raving on Twitter, you'll find the blog a continuation of those themes and opinions, plus a bunch of new shit I'm learning. If you're not familiar with me, I'm in my 30s, American-born with Jamaican ancestry. I don't really identify with any specific schools of thought but from what I've gathered--I lean pretty far left and I most certainly, at my core, believe in the full liberation of women. I talk a lot about various feminist issues, most often the way our relationships & family structures impact us. I also love reading about how our brains shape our experiences and how our experiences shape us. I also love food, laughing, beaches, beautiful spaces. I’m a Scorpio stellium with heavy Venusian vibes. This first post will be the most grammatically-sound writing you'll see here because while I do want to communicate effectively, I also don't tend to be one for formality. I love feeling. I love art, even the really bad kind. I love motherhood, I love learning,
and I love women.
Keep in mind that this is a community, so if you have any relevant info to share, want me to talk about something specific, have your own writing you'd like to do here, wanna collaborate, have any questions -- you can email info@balvida.online .
On that note, I wanna end this (and every post) with a quote from another woman that has inspired me. Because of the amount I've learned from all the different amazing women I've followed & interacted with on Twitter over the years, I feel like it's only right that the first quote is actually a tweet from a mutual of mine that I've returned to as a concept over and over during the last few years.
im really looking forward to sharing with yall.