Who am I?

As we begin our journey through the year, I thought you might want to know a bit about the person behind the words. My name is Anastasia, like the Russian princess, not because I'm Russian or Greek (the original language of the name), but because my mother was a ballerina. A great start to living as a mythical creature, right?

We'll get more into my origin story later. For now, I'll start with my day job. Less than a year after getting my Bachelor's in Linguistics and German from UC Berkeley, I somehow managed to land my dream job as the linguist for saawanooki (Shawnee Tribe), playing a vital role in the revitalization of saawanwaatoweewe (Shawnee language). I do everything from manage an online language dictionary to curriculum creation to language teaching to grammar research. I love my job because I know I am making a difference while also getting to dive deep into the language and culture of my ancestors.

While I enjoy my day job, there are a few passions that it doesn't fulfill. Mainly, the creative outlets that my soul yearns for. Hence why you find me here, seeking to free my creative spirit to recharge my batteries for my important work. Like any other human, I have many interests, but here I'll focus on fashion, mythology, and language.

As a multilingual linguist, the expressiveness of language fascinates me, and language is always connected to culture, hence the mythology portion. I myself practice paganism, so nature, ancestry, and mythology are essential to my spiritual practices. I believe all cultures have a right to exist and be preserved, since the weaving threads of diverse cultures are what make humanity special. Another added perk of my day job aligning with my beliefs!

Now you may be wondering, where does fashion come into the picture? I've always been interested in unique styles and figuring out what fits my personality. I find that fashion can set the tone for my day, but it also allows me to explore historic clothing styles. It is almost like time traveling from one day to the next. And what could be more fun than traveling through time by just changing your clothes? Well stepping into a fantasy realm of course. And so we take the first steps of our journey.