In the poetic memoir That Which Awakens Me, Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke shares her journey of self-discovery from a law school graduate to a creative woman who learned to open the door to authentic living.
When Leeke graduated from law school in 1989, she was a twenty-something with a life plan focused on becoming a successful attorney. Using her multiple bar exam failures and two bouts of unemployment as a catalyst for self-discovery and lifestyle reinvention, Leeke followed her own unique path during the past twenty years and made changes in the way she feels, thinks, lives, works, and manages her finances. Through poetic reflection and personal stories, she shares the lessons that taught her to trust her intuition, expand her spiritual practices, heal emotional wounds, tap into her creativity, discover her passions, open her eyes to hidden opportunities, volunteer and serve her local community, travel the world, and heed her calling as a writer, artist, creativity coach, yoga teacher, Reiki Master practitioner, radio host, blogger, social media strategist, and innerpreneur.
That Which Awakens Me provides insight for anyone seeking guidance on how to both handle and benefit from the ups and downs of their own life journey.
Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke is a writer, artist, creativity coach, yoga teacher, Reiki Master practitioner, radio host, blogger, social media strategist, and innerpreneur. Her poetry has been published in Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century and she is the author of Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Yoga + Creativity + Internet Geek = Ananda Leeke. Leeke is a lawyer turned "Jill of many trades": innerpreneur, author, artist, coach, and yoga teacher. She is also the founder of the Digital Sisterhood Network, Digital Sisterhood Radio, #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays on Twitter, and Digital Sisterhood Month, an annual celebration for social media women in December. Her mission is "Empowering U2BU through creativity coaching, Reiki, self-care, social media, volunteerism, and yoga."
She serves as a Blogger Ambassador for the Heart of Haiti Campaign, a partnership between Macy's, Fairwinds Trading, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund that was created to provide sustainable income to Haitian artisans impacted by the 2010 earthquake. In February 2011, she traveled to Haiti as a Heart of Haiti Blogger Ambassador. Black Enterprise named her as one of the Black Women in Tech You Should Follow on Twitter in July 2011.
Leeke has served as a moderator, panelist, speaker, workshop facilitator, and/or yoga teacher for the BlissDom, Blogalicious Weekend Conference and DC Meet Ups, Blogging While Brown, BlogHer, Capital BookFest, DC Digital Capital Week, Feminist Majority, Holy Cross Hospital, Howard University, Ignite DC, Latinos in Social Media, Metropolitan Baptist Church, She's Geeky, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Spelman College, Social Justice Camp II, Society for the Arts and Healthcare, Vision Quest Retreats, Washington Hospital Center, Washington National Cathedral's Sacred Circles Conferences, WOMANIFESTING, Women in Film & Television Atlanta, and YWCA.
She penned That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman's Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (2009) and Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One, a novel (2007). Her poetry appeared in Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century (2002). Her six-word memoir was published in It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (2010). She is currently writing Digital Sisterhood (2013), a memoir.
Since 1995, her mixed media collages, wire sculptures, and paintings have been exhibited in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, New York City, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Her artwork was featured in Heart and Soul Magazine in 2001 and often reflects her passion for issues affecting people of color and women. In 2002, she created and donated Our Womanist Spirit and I am my sista's keeper wire sculpture collections to The Women's Collective, an HIV/AIDS direct services organization. She has worked as an artist-in-residence for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts at Howard University Hospital (2003-2009), and is currently serving wounded warriors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Leeke is a graduate of Morgan State University (B.A. in French, 1986), Howard University School of Law (J.D., 1989), and Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation, 1991). Her memberships include the National League of American Pen Women, Yoga Alliance, Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington's Business Volunteer Program, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., All Souls Unitarian Church, and Insight Meditation Community of Washington's People of Color Sangha. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Even before you get into the core of "That Which Awakens Me," you discover that this is more than a memoir, but a how to of sorts, with the lead guidance of being grateful to all your resources -- ancestral and internal, external and created. This is a book with much song -- with mantras and lyrical poetry: "i come back to words. they marry art and give birth to songs i sing only when i am alone and the angels hear me....when i am long gone, those who discover them will know i walked the earth.....and later made room in the sky for mother moon." And it is the presence of the moon in this book -- with its feminine iconography, its shadow side, its gravitation pull -- which invites the reader to integrate the dark and light in her own life into something powerful enough to create tides of immense force and joy. Leeke the writer allows us full access into her intimate process, and then Leeke the teacher shows us how to weave our own intricate patterns of life to wrap around our shoulders on cloudy days.
"That Which Awakens Me", takes the reader on a very thoughtful, creative and insightful journey into the author's life. She shares experiences that have shaped her life in a way that allows the reader to reflect on their own journey. In addition she links her many beautiful stories with past and current historical and social issues. It is an easy and charming read with moments of light humor and complimented by a selection of photos and art work.
In "That Which Awakens Me," Leeke bravely and fearlessly takes the reader on a journey through time, around the world, and into her heart. Leeke reveals not only milestones and insights along the way, but lends the reader a gentle roadmap of their own. Using powerful images and sometimes difficult truths, Leeke confronts and embraces all aspects of her self with compassion and grace. The author's compassion, playfulness, wit, and insight combined with her love for the language and ear for the lyrical make this a joyful read.
