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Expect to Heal

8/27/2018

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Nurture is your Nature

A personal entry on my connection with Henna

Written by Saira Hussain



​To my dearest self, 
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Why are you so dependent on exterior sources of motivation when you yourself are an awakened state.
Your talents keep others quiet and then when you wish to speak about your most cherished moments they respond only to disappoint? 

Why is it that to your closest choose to crouch in vein when you reveal reality? A bitter truth about their present situation, an opinionated realization of their mistakes or negative habits which are further propelling them to their darker stages in life. Why do people disagree to agree after realms of conversations change tone but the answer is still the same? We, as humans are the most complex breed here on earth but we are not alone. We are given forms of recovery with the abundance of earth's very own; EARTH.
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Nature has a presence unlike no other creature. It grows in the coldest and hottest of climates, sheltering us in the storms but also guiding us with fuel and prosperity to look forward to a newer and brighter day. I never knew of my motive to adorn until I sat in reflection after two back to back brides (Gold and Platinum) in June 2018. I have been practicing with henna in the Arts as well as in the wedding industry but never within therapy. But wait, I did practice henna through therapy; my thesis at OCAD University in 2007-2013. Yes it took me a few extra years to graduate but that is because I was financially unable to sustain my education and my mental health. Henna was that medium that brought me back to my senses to overcome my anxiety but also provide me a sense of home and guidance. 
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“I believe in love.
I believe in hard times and love winning.
I believe marriage is hard.
I believe people make mistakes.
I believe people can want two things at once.
I believe people are selfish and generous at the same time.
I believe very few people want to hurt others.
I believe that you can be surprised by life.
I believe in happy endings.” 

― Isabel Gillies, Happens Every Day: An All Too True Story


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Mixed media (self printed raw silk, handmade cotton paper, henna dye, newsprint, muslin). 2013


​The very thought of believing in something, someone, some place, a moment, a time, a feeling, ANYTHING can take greater shape in the future than we can imagine. Knowing that I came from somewhere; two beautiful humans who came from a side of the world that I have never swallowed on my own, is difficult to believe. My roots are Pakistani but I was born on Canadian grounds. Civilized adults act respectfully but I had a hard time coping with who I was and had an even harder time respecting and appreciating my living standards. My time was short during academic hours; I could feel an expectation calling my name miles before it even sunk into my brain and bursted onto the one-hundred pound paper through my micron ink pens and led. I couldn't draw what the class expected me to do, I did what I felt was needed. I passed with flying colours and numbers began to sink as my financial situation was sinking deeper and deeper. I was low on fuel and so I began disappearing from classes as I didn't have enough to sustain my mind; my creativity.
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"Kabul-Khan". Henna, gouache and birch veneer. 2012

My professors loved and supported my innovation but when it came to judgement day, they wouldn't see me till hours after. This lead to my depression and anxiety overload. I could no longer outline contrast nor shade; all my work looked the same because I resorted to what I was taught to believe in; my religion. This was not the route I was expected to take but a journey I had to pass as 'expected' was not simply a phase but a challenge in every part of my life.

My culture changed my life; my perspective on life of all that I absorbed and reflected time and time again. I finally understood the meaning of my time and vastly, my purpose. I was here as a medium; an abundance of light and prosperity for others and I wanted to create a continuous path, an infinite path of existence to help heal those around me. When I had completed 'O' I sighed in relief as I lay my last henna cone on the ground. My fingers were bruised and they were numb. I could not feel my neck for days as I prepared my stretchers and costs for the final viewing for OCAD University's Annual Grad Exhibition. I was so happy to have completed it all. 
​


Below: Self portrait. At OCAD University GRADEX. 2013
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​​I realized I had composed a verse from a void that filled most of our souls.



A void of unsurprised guilt and self doubt. 
An emptiness that each of us suppress due to its uncertainty and disappointed expectations.


My one medium emitted more than it's history but a healing from the earth unknown to anyone until it was revealed in its true state; a liberation of the arts. The repeated patterns danced as I watched the wheel of opportunity extend it's patterned movement towards the light and shadow. It represented change and reflection. It became my mantra and an existence that I now share today with you.

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BRIDAL CULTURE

5/10/2018

1 Comment

 
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Rejuvenation

A recipe for Bridal Health and wellness

​Photographer: Meraya Studios
​
Directed & Styled: Breath of Henna & The Sai Lens

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“As she sits in her room alone, she wishes she could sleep another night in the ocean of fabrics flooding her room from floor to armour. Her mehndi would get ruined so she puts on her robe to get ready. As she pauses for a moment, she reads a letter; unopened and marked with her name. The sun begins to set and she pulls out her grandmother's haar (necklace); an heirloom. A relic binding three generations and souls…”
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BRIDAL DIARY: I was brought in to adorn Mashiat for her third Bridal Henna experience (well first diary) but third mehndi application. Her husband Tadmir had booked their honeymoon trip to Greece and she wanted to feel like a Bride again. This touched my heart and I was overjoyed that she had asked for a platinum diary for her vacation. We had consulted over face time and her details were highlighted by her enthusiasm on screen.

A henna diary versed her years of true love, Bengali quotes, a dulhan, enchanted florals, MT monogram, his name and a lace composition on her exterior hands and feet. Seen below is her digital diary which was first hand rendered to include all her details. No bride should ever be forced to have mehndi on her hands especially of those lines that are not her own. A henna diary is the journey of the bride, which includes her reflection through family, desires and love story.
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I believe that a Bride’s henna moments should not only reflect the cultural associations of henna but who she is as a woman.
These stills were captured to express the importance of time and transitional periods. After adorning many brides and hearing their stories, the application of Mehndi is a much needed period of cleanse;  so often forgotten or packed away with wardrobe of ones youth and history during wedding season.

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Adorned the beautiful Mashiat who recently got married in Bengladesh. This diary was a PLATINUM B Diary which was rendered beautifully with her love story and personal details. She is wearing a printed tulip saree from Chandan Fashion, denim of her own and a vintage blouse from Chosen Vintage.

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REAL BRIDES



One Bride had mentioned that she was financing her wedding as her father had long passed and her mother was her sole supporter. She did not want to burden her mother as she had no savings and had worked a half day before we had met. As my fingers wrapped around arm, the warmth of my fingers transferred into my other non-dominant hand and she felt a sense of comfort. I have been told to possess powers of healing or comfort but this was something we both shared. This was a moment she needed and I was glad to be there. You need to be healthy and happy but not everyone has a support system or can ask for one. Every bride walks a different journey and for that reason, her diary should be her own.
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​
​ADVICE




​I believe that this moment of clarity is needed and having a bridal stylist for your special day provides our communities with a deeper understanding of marriage. Our families need to understand that a bride is a whole of her own kind; her view on the world is one of multiple lenses and so sees culture through colour first and not with meaning.  As the time of marriage is within hours, the process in planning a blissful marriage can be slow and steady. This style shoot is for the working woman, the woman providing for her family, the woman who begins her day with free spirit, the woman who may be a mother, the woman who has a second chance in marriage, a woman who is accepting of change and diversity within marriage.

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My advice to the bride of today, take some time to meditate with the ones you love, a few fingers in counting.  As you near your special day, turmeric blended with oils and yoghurt will be used to exfoliate your skin, enjoy it. As you bathe in milk or a luminous mixture of oils and water, allow it rejuvenate your skin for a new path; a journey involving another whole world. As you have prepared your look through pins and screenshots for your sangeet or mehndi, allow others to adorn you whom you trusted or hired. Family and friends will rejoice alongside the bellies of drums and dancing glasses filled with lassi and refreshing cocktails, take part.

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Team Credits:

Meraya Studios
Mashiat
Breath of Henna
The Sai Lens
Chandan Fashion
Chosen Vintage



For Bridal Styling and personal stories, please email: sailensbooking@gmail.com


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    Saira Hussain

    Canadian-Pakistani
    Self-Worth Advocate
    She/Her


    HHP, BFA, NLP

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  • HOME
    • COMING SOON
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