Hey everyone, I’m glad you’re here 🙂

If you read my last post on curriculum, I decided on my topics of inquiry but have yet to formalize my starting point. If you’re in this boat too, welcome! I hope that my example can help you but please remember that I am just doing what feels good and right to me (and that doesn’t necessarily mean it will feel good and right to you).

In case you missed my last curriculum post, you can find it here.

Here are my topics of inquiry, along with what social media platform I’ll be recording my findings:

• PubLish: Art, Music
• ILA: Multilingualism, Ways of Knowing
• Belasprii: Plants, Astrology, Hula
• Grounded Spirits: Weed, Dreams

These are the seven ways that I am attracting knowledge naturally.

1. IG/TikTok

I started following different social media accounts that post about these topics—people who share ideas, insights, or content that keeps me inspired and learning. It’s a simple way to stay surrounded by what I’m interested in, and over time, it naturally shapes what I notice, think about, and create.

2. Books/Magazines

I’ve been reading these books that found me in various forms. I am reading them because they are interesting; I am not forcing myself to read them.

• It’s All Magic: 365 Reflections on Astrology, Tarot, and Manifestation by Aliza Kelly
  • Last year’s Christmas gift that I’ve been working through all year
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
  • I found this book today at the Sierra Madre Library’s Free Book Section. I was either supposed to read this in school but didn’t or did read it and don’t remember it. I read the first line, “Our Land is Alive” and knew this was the book for me. Not to mention that it takes place in Aguas Calientes where my grandfather is from.
• Sound Healing: How to Use Sound to Beat Stress & Anxiety by Farzana Ali
  • I found this book at Five Below.
• Juegos Tradicionales Mexicanos: Divertidas Actividades para Preservar Nuestras Costumbres by Gretel Garcia & Eduardo Torrijos
  • I found this book at the Echo Park Branch Library’s Free Book Section.
• Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr. Qing Li
  • I first checked this book out from Sierra Madre. I really liked it so I bought it off amazon.
• From This Day Forward by Toni Sciarra Poynter
  • Talk about being in the right place at the right time, I was going to a dream class and the instructor was giving out free books. I took several home. This was one of them.
• Know Yourself: A Book of Questions by Irene Smit & Astrid Van Der Hulst
  • Another Five Below Find!
• Leo by Chantale Montpetit
  • A birthday gift
• Cultured by Sarah G. Harrelson
  • Found at Echo Park Branch Library Free Book Section even though it’s a magazine
• The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell
  • Dream class instructor’s free books
• The Dictionary of Dreams and their meanings: Interpretation and insights into the therapeutic nature of our dreams by Richard Craze
  • Originally checked it out from Arcadia Public Library, then bought it on Amazon
• hiii for people who partake by Rob Hill & Pam Patterson
  • Found for free at my weed shop
• Writers & their Work: Francis Bacon by Brian Vickers
  • Found for free at ELAC’s library
• Auras by Edgar Cayce
  • Found for free at Monterey Park’s Library
• The Little Book of Self-Care for Leo: Simple Ways to Refresh and Restore — According to the Stars by Constance Stellas
  • Birthday gift
• Aesop’s Fables: A Classic Collection of Children’s Fables
  • I think from Dollar Tree
• The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
  • Part of dream class instructor’s selection

3. YouTube Videos/Podcasts

Just like I “trained” my other social media platforms, I have trained YouTube to show me specific kinds of videos at specific times. So now I just go on to see what YouTube has set up for me. Top quality videos and accounts come through all the time.

To do this: watch certain kind of video at certain times. Over time, the algorithm will pick up on it.

• example:
  • i watch podcasts in the early morning,
  • i watch language videos (day in my life type videos in various languages)
  • i watch travel videos around lunch time, etc….

4. Museums

I used to go to a new museum every day, then every week, now it’s every other week.

I love being in close contact with artifacts from centuries past. It almost feels like time traveling. I get to connect with the energy of the past.

Although I do still check out new museums from time to time, I have fallen deep in love with one museum in particular.

I frequent this museum so often that I know the pieces personally. Yet, I am still finding new ones and seeing old ones in new ways.

All this to say, that yes, knowledge can come from any museum, but when one is visited frequently, a whole new dimension of knowledge is experienced.

5. Parks

Parks are just living museums. The trees take the place of the sculptures, while the flowers are the portraits.

I love staring at their branches or petals and finding a whole mini-universe. I also love connecting their life to mine. I love learning all they have to teach me.

I feel like nature is the radio station and I’m the receiver ready to play its beautiful music.

6. Life

Even if you think you aren’t smart or don’t like to learn because you have a “learning disability” (it’s in quotes because there are no such things as learning disabilities, we all learn in DIFFERENT ways, no way is better, all ways of knowing are valid!!!), knowledge is always stalking you. It is at every corner, in every moment, of every second of every day.

You are a sponge for information. Now it’s time to acknowledge, organize, and analyze all the information you’ve gathered.

I’d recommend starting with a digital garden or use the Ornelian Framework to sort all that you learn each day.

I’ll start an example documenting my own learning soon.

7. Conferences & Classes

I attend a mix of online and in-person conferences to keep learning and stay connected with new ideas. These events expose me to different perspectives and help me see how others in the field are thinking and creating. I’m also part of several communities—like USC, PRS, and The Huntington, among others—that give me spaces to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and grow alongside people with similar interests.

Now for how I’ve been LEARNING about them individually:

PubLish:

Art

1. PAINTING
   • I learn a lot about how to paint by staring at the paint strokes at museums. I also envision the techniques that the artist may have used.
   • I’ve tried watching YouTube tutorials and they always go too fast so I’ve mostly learned through intuition and trial/error.
2. SEWING/FASHION
   • A couple of summers ago, my grandma (who was a seamstress for half a century) taught me how to sew. Since then, I’ve made several pieces (including my hula skirts). Each piece has taught me so much from the construction of the garment to the techniques needed to sew together.
   • I just finished the new season of Project Runway. I played along and designed pieces in my head. It has taught me a lot about my personal style, what I value in fashion, and how to push fashion boundaries.
   • This morning I watched the new Victoria Secret Fashion Show. It was incredible! Each look had a wow factor. It has inspired me.

Music

1. CLASSICAL MUSIC
   • I first started getting interested in classical music when I read the book The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner. One of the cities of genius that Weiner covers is Vienna, which of course, delves into Mozart’s life as well as his work.
     • People would get so hyped at his concerts. This made me want to listen to his music.
     • I first tried on the Apple Music App: Classical. There were too many options. Everything I tried to listen to was trash.
   • In LA, the country station is 105.1 but there are 4 station on this channel. The second station is K-Mozart. Once I discovered it, I listened every once in a while when I wanted to clear my head. Now I listen daily. I’ve even downloaded the app to listen on the go.
     • I listen to it in the car, in the shower, while I’m working, while I’m meditating, while I’m high, just all the time. I love it.
     • I love the selection of music. They play a large range while never getting boring. They play new and centuries old music (the oldest I’ve ever heard was from the 14th century). They play everything classical!
     • The best part of all is that the hosts/DJs share tidbits of information about the composer of the piece, the time period that it is situation in, and any influences of the piece. I’ve been learning so much!
   • Actually my real entry into (classical) music was in elementary school when we started playing recorders. By 4th grade, I was a first chair flute player. By 8th grade, I was in advanced band. I picked up the flute 20 years later (a couple of months ago).
     • I was surprised how much I remembered but equally how much was completely gone. I’m starting over. I’m learning one note at a time.
     • On Duolingo, they have a music section, where you learn one note at a time on the piano. I’m learning the equivalent note on the flute.
2. TOP 40
   • One thing that I would critique of past generations is that once they turned 25, they stopped keeping up with current music. When’s the last time your parents listened to a new album?
     • Here are the artists that I listen to regularly and know all their music:
       • Cuco
       • Clairo
       • Steve Lacy
       • The Marias
       • Kali Uchis
       • Lana del Rey
       • Taylor Swift
       • Charli xcx
       • Nx Worries
       • Kacey Musgraves
       • Coco & ClairClair
       • Chappell Roan
       • Morgan Wallen
       • Ella Langley
       • Tate McRae
     • Every time anyone on this list drops a new album, you better believe I’m listening to it Thursday at 9pm (midnight on the east coast).
     • I also regularly hit the “my station” option where they play these people along with similar people so I’ve found a lot of artists that way.
       • More often though I will just hit shuffle songs and then I’ll delete any songs that I’m not in love with. Constantly trimming music helps develop a personal music style. It helps me narrow in on what I actually like.

ILA Institute:

Multilingualism

1. My first language was Spanish. When I started kindergarten, I switched fully to English. From ages 5-15, I refused to speak it. Mainly because my dad would shame us for not speaking paisa spanish (how they speak in Mexico), we would speak Americanized spanish, he hated it.
   • When I was 15, we took a trip to my dad’s hometown in Mexico. This was the first time I realized the value in speaking Spanish.
   • Luckily, I was already learning French in school. Spanish and French are very similar so I ended up perfecting my Spanish through my French.
2. I took French for 8 years; all through high school and college. My sophomore year of college was spent studying abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland. By the end of the year, I was fluent in French. I even became a translator for Medair.
3. During my master’s program, I went to Japan and learned a little Japanese.
4. When I was in high school, I took IB Film for two years. Mr. Davis instilled the love of foreign films in me (also, the older the better). I still continue to watch Italian films. I learned when I visited Italy that Italian is a mixture of French and Spanish (I realize it’s far more nuanced than that but this is what I thought at the time as I was able to communicate and understand the Italian people). Now I practice on Duolingo.

Ways of Knowing

1. I didn’t even know that this was the term/idea I was looking for when I started this work. I first wanted to know the true purpose of education (not the “to get a better job” nonsense). Turns out, it’s just to connect. You learn to better connect to people, places, things, ideas, environments, land, everything, etc..
   • To find the purpose of education, I had to start at the beginning: Ancient Rome, where they had the trivium (logic, rhetoric, grammar) and quadrivium (astrology/astronomy, geometry, music, arithmetic).
   • The fact that astrology was listed was so meaningful to me because I had just undergone my spiritual awakening. I was presented with a wealth of information that lacked any concrete evidence to validate its accuracy. Determined to uncover the truth, I embarked on a journey of research, starting with astrology. As I delved deeper into the subject, I discovered that astrology possessed a remarkable degree of accuracy.
   • When I came back to school, I was convinced it was my duty to re-introduce astrology into the academic canon. Now I know the best way to do this is to do it not talk about it or try to persuade others. Leading by example is the best practice.
   • During this time (Fall 2023), Braiding Sweetgrass was recommended to me by one of my favorite professors. Although this book shaped my worldview, the books by Carlos Castañeda completely demolished it (my worldview). Honorable mention: Voltaire’s Bastards by John Ralston Saul, as well as Hindu and Buddhist religious texts.
   • In the Spring of 2024, I took a course on Gabrielle Suchon (which I now have a book about), a French female philosopher that lived in 18th century. After one of classes, I very rudimentary outlined the beginnings of the Ornelian Framework.
     • At the time, I was really focused on how to separate (identify individually) and integrate the soul, mind, body, and spirit (SMBS).
   • I’ve been working on the chart daily since then. It is now October 2025 and now the Ornelian Framework (OF) encompasses every system related to the SMBS and academia. I think it was over this last summer that “Ways of Knowing” came into view. It was mostly because I needed some way to talk about my OF findings on ILA Radio.
   • Now my dissertation research question is:
     To what extent do epistemic orientations shape polymathic and specialized scholars?
     • epistemic orientations = ways of knowing
       • nuanced: epistemic orientations are the perspectives that scholars take when discerning knowledge or approaches to discover knowledge
2. Any interaction (fiction, non-fiction, personal, collective, etc..) is organized and analyzed based on a way of knowing and its corresponding characteristics to ensure full validity of the Ornelian Framework. It is a never ending work. I am continuing to learn more and add more data to the chart.

Belasprii Productions:

Plants

The same grandma who taught me to sew also gave me my first plant. I instantly fell in love. Since then, I’ve grown carrots, potatoes, lettuce, onions, calla lilies, roses, and more! I connect so deeply with plants. I feel like they understand me more than other humans so now it’s my turn to learn more about them. The main way is by communing with them. They are ready to teach when we’re ready to listen.

I’ve also read books about plants and have talked about it on Grounded Spirits. Reading Castañeda also helped me see plants in a new way.

I recently joined a plant community! It’s Tigrilla Gardenia’s Naturally Conscious Community. It has been incredible. I have learned so much!

Astrology

I’ve read the books, I’ve watched the videos, I’ve downloaded the apps (TimePassages is the only one worth keeping imo) and now I’m ready to learn from people’s experiences with their chart.

In this new way, I’ve been learning astrology in a more intuitive, social and exploratory way. Through my questions, I have been learning more about the role each placement has on our lives.

It’s a living study, grounded in real lives instead of abstract charts. I share each conversation on ILA Radio.

Hula

I’ve shared my hula origin story here. I’ve been taking classes since 2022. In addition to my weekly class, I am doing separate research to better understand the origins of the ‘oli (chants). Learning the language and the myths behind each chant helps me honor the depth of the tradition and not just the movement.

Although hula is placed under Belasprii, it actually belongs to them all.

• ILA Institute: Multilingualism- Learning the Hawaiian language is needed to recite the chants
• PubLish: I need to know what is a good performance (what to look out for, how to take up space, how to get comfortable)
• Grounded Spirits: it was always my dream to become a professional dancer and now I am! I am now learning how to take that to the next level.

Grounded Spirits:

Weed

This may be weird to admit but even as a kid, I knew I was going to smoke weed as an adult. My first opportunity presented itself at age 18. It was an awful experience. I started shaking. It was actually kind of scary. But did it deter me from saying yes the next time I was asked? Absolutely not.

For a long time, I only smoked when it was offered to me, usually from a guy. It wasn’t until I started dating my current husband that I even needed to buy my own supplies (he doesn’t smoke and wishes that I wouldn’t either). Making the decision to actively seek her (the spirit of the plant) changed everything.

This happened at the same time as the genesis of my spiritual awakening and so it became a mode to channel large sums of knowledge. I explored and learned so much under her influence.

I’ve been proving the validity of the knowledge acquired during this time since. So if this knowledge is true, how can we allow all stoners to access this knowledge? *Note how I said stoners (people who already partake), I am NOT advocating anyone to start a relationship with her. She has to find you.*

Carlos Castañeda outlines how to connect to the spirit of other plants such as peyote. I desire to find the equivalent for her and if I cannot then I’d like to be guided to be able to write it myself.

I’ve read numerous cannabis books but none really get to the spirit aspect. If you have any leads, please let me know!

I do still use her as a primary source in this study.

Hearing people’s experiences with her on social media has also been helpful.

Dreams

I used to be a dream expert. I could lucid dream. I could fly in my dreams on command. I could shoot fire out of the palms of my hands. I wrote a guided journal helping people making the shifts to be able to lucid dream too.

Lately, my dreams have been chaotic. They have been full of symbols, shifting emotions, and so many people. I’ve also been dreaming of places around LA even though I’ve never been there before. In other words, as I drive around, I’ve been noticing these nooks and crannies around the city that have appeared in my dreams, so I’ve been there already without ever setting foot there previously.

I’ve had to learn how to let go of control (lucid dreaming) so that I can be a student and learn where the dreams are guiding me in the waking world.

I try to sit with my dreams by paying attention to what repeats or lingers after waking. I also study books on dreaming to understand their layers, but ultimately, my dreams themselves are my greatest teachers.

I am aiming to create a universal system so that everyone can interpret their dreams so that they have a clear direction in life. Perhaps I can even incorporate it into OF’s structure.

2. Dreams also relate to aspirations. As a new business owner, I am always learning more about how to run a successful business and how to keep dreaming (setting new goals).

All of these practices have become interconnected ways of learning. Each one teaches me something different about care, rhythm, intuition, and connection. Together, they remind me that learning doesn’t just happen in classrooms or through study—it happens in conversation, in movement, in stillness, and in everyday rituals.

Follow along to see where these explorations lead next.
What topics are you learning?
How are you learning about them?

Thanks for being here.
Until next time. 🌿

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