#1 - Sheila Darcey is creating a healing space in the metaverse
A series of unrelated events that I experienced in December 2021 left me longing for a change. The first one was a stubborn cough which had me choking and gasping for breath. After a series of tests, I discovered that I had COVID. I lived alone, so isolating myself wasn’t an impossible task. I needed to treat the physical symptoms as well as the despondent feeling that accompanied a COVID-19 diagnosis. In between feeling sorry for myself — largely because I couldn’t spend Christmas with my family or my boyfriend — and trying to work on AfroDroids, I had a lot of time to think about the NFT and Web 3 space, this time not in hasty terms. I viewed it, not just as a space for quick cash grabs via scams or rug pulls, but also as a space that afforded many of my friends their freedom.
In time, I began to ask myself important questions that would completely transform my thinking and the path I would carve out for myself moving forward.
What can I do to give back to this space?
How can I facilitate a noob’s entry into the space?
What can I do to encourage these newbies to carry on?
The Web3 space, particularly the NFT space, is divided into three groups of people: the creators, the collectors and the community builders. Creators are the artists. The collectors are people who buy art to keep or flip, and the community builders are people who teach about Web3, maybe in Clubhouse or Twitter spaces.
I interviewed Sheila first because she fell into these three categories. Sheila is an artist, mental health advocate and an NFT and crypto enthusiast whose focus in the space is on creating a brand for arts, healing and mental health. She’s recently launched a book with exactly this goal in mind. Sheila’s story answered my question about carrying and pushing through. Albeit a little triggering for those who may have suffered some form of abuse, her story gave me warm hugs and made me feel like I was not alone. In turn, I’m sharing it with others who need it.
Sheila’s story
Right off the bat, we started talking about Sheila’s book, which just launched. It’s called Sketch By Sketch: A simple daily drawing practice for emotional healing and transformation. When Sheila told me, “Esther, the book is divinely guided,” I sat up straighter and asked what she meant. For Sheila, writing a book was never something she desired. Her response, along with the conversation that followed, took me through her journey into sketching, the NFT space, and how she ended up publishing her book.
Sheila grew up in Australia as the daughter of an Australian boxer and a Filipino mother. She had a rough start in life where, from ages 4 to 11, her environment was coloured with domestic violence and abuse. The resulting trauma often roused feelings of anger and deep sadness. She had been raised to find gratitude in every single thing in life, and so she found it hard to express those emotions, thinking them a betrayal of her upbringing.
“I had a lot of rage,” Sheila said. “I was very emotional, but I don’t know if I was ever sad for me [or] if I ever cried for myself until I started sketching again. It’s a different type of sadness when you look at yourself and go, "Wow, you went through a lot." What my sketching did for me was [that] the dialogue started happening internally, and I started to have compassion for myself. I gave myself permission to be angry.
“I was having a crisis of faith. I didn’t believe in anything bigger. I didn’t believe in God, I gave myself all the credit, but I do now. I know that there’s something bigger. You can call it God, you can call it the universe, you can call it whatever you want to call it, but there is something happening in my life that is stirring me, and I’m like take me wherever you want. I am going to be of service to the good; that is what I mean by divine calling.” For her plans for the future, Sheila has surrendered to the universe.
Sheila’s journey to sketching and publishing her book
Six years ago, Sheila was at the height of her career. Having been in the digital technology space for over 2 decades, she had risen to the position of managing director at a startup. However, even as a top executive she was emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, she had to continuously project happiness. She had a good job, a thriving career and a beautiful family. However, it seemed as though her childhood trauma followed her everywhere. Desperately needing to feel better, Sheila finally got the courage to see a therapist.
Her therapist, following her diagnosis, said the anxiety Sheila suffered was caused by her repressed emotions. She needed an outlet, a healthy way to express her emotions. As a child, Sheila used to draw, and her therapist encouraged her to awaken that part of herself. And with each sketch, Sheila began to unravel and rediscover herself, to learn what it feels like to let her emotions flow without judgment and criticism.
Sheila said to me, “My definition of transformation is coming home to whom I have always been. When you have experienced trauma — your own, your ancestors’, your grandmother’s, your great-great-grandmother’s — you get lost in carrying the weight. You start living life to justify all that pain and suffering. The problem with that is, you are living your life for other people. So with sketching, I gave myself permission to be angry. I gave myself permission to not be perfect. I gave myself permission to sit in two emotions at a time, [emotions] that are very polarizing. And that’s the part that I think is really important about my book and what I’m trying to represent. You can feel two conflicting emotions at the same time. I can feel angry at you, and still love you.”
Part of her journey to coming home to herself was joining the NFT space in early 2021, where Sheila had to relearn to give up control. She would hop into different Clubhouse rooms where they were teaching NFTs, so she could understand the concept. In keeping with her preference for healing and mental health, Sheila created this collection on Known Origin called “All The Feels”. She has also gifted this ‘heal coin’ to collectors, and those she believes are creating a healing space in the Metaverse. You can follow her on Twitter and join the conversation.
One sketch at a time
Sketch By Sketch: A simple daily drawing practice for emotional healing and transformation is a sketchbook with over 40 sketching prompts to help us connect with our emotions, practice mindfulness, and negotiate a change in our lives.
Sheila wrote this book in a way to make the reader feel as if Sheila was seated right beside them. It was her way of speaking to us, of breaking things down and helping people. In her own words, Sheila called it “a medicine” and “a tool”. To her, this book is a tool that readers can use to heal. “It becomes medicine when you are ready for it. It is not a drawing book. It’s not a surface level book. It’s going to ask you to go deeper.”
Not everyone is prepared to go deeper into themselves and embark on their journey to healing. Healing is a continuous process that involves a lot of unravelling that can be a painful part of the healing experience. When this happens, one way to get through it is to carry out an exercise that regulates the body. Simply place both hands on your chest and rub gently. While doing this, take deep breaths. It will help you get through those hard times in a more relaxed manner.
Sketch by Sketch will be launched here today.
Sheila’s guide to publishing a book traditionally
It’s one thing to have a story to tell, but executing the idea is a completely different ball game. Sheila has some recommendations, however, if you plan on publishing a book the traditional way. Here’s what she says:
Get an agent first, before you even write the book.
Write a proposal. Show what your book is about and who you are trying to reach with it. Think of it like a more robust elevator pitch.
Have your agent put out your proposal and try to get you interviews with publishers and editors.
Be confident and don’t be overly attached to your book.
As you will no doubt have noticed, this is not a conventional “Introduction to Web3” article, this is because it’s not trying to be. Faces of Web3 aims to tell stories about Web3 using real people in the space. We want to hold your hand as you dip your feet in the pool of knowledge that is Web3. If you’d like to get this directly in your email, consider subscribing. If you have a story you’d like us to share, please email us at esther@facesofweb3.com. Write to us about anything, we’d love to hear from you