We recently had the chance to connect with Amanda May and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
i believe i’m walking a path, but i often feel as though i wander through it. exploring liminal space in my life brings me constant lessons of trust and what it means to begin again. i lean into many truths existing at once – i can know the life i desire, feel disarmed by the chaos of reaching towards it and still, in surrender, craft the very way i become. i don’t feel aimless, as wandering could suggest. i feel enriched, realizing my momentum has melted the quiet instruments of my own suppression. my heart is growing beyond.
slowly, but surely.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
i’m amanda may – a multi-disciplinary toronto-bred artist, now based in la, specializing in dance performance, choreographic storytelling, movement direction and education. using movement as a vehicle, i build works in various entertainment spaces like tv, film and music, but my heart is in development. whether with artists, actors or students and muses of mine, i enjoy slowly building with people in organic ways – finding the movement language that feels most honest for them, so they can feel empowered as they sort through the tender and vulnerable process of nurturing their purest expression.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
perhaps it’s more fitting to use the word, “version”. i must release the versions of me that had to survive.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
something i often tell myself when i’m reflecting on my past is “you did what you had to”
i’ve grappled with a ton of shame and self-resentment throughout my journey because of the belief that i’ve lost time. i’ve nursed many wounds in isolation because i felt that was the only way through – i was the only person i believed i could trust. i often imagine that if i didn’t have to endure so much, i might’ve created more, found my voice earlier, felt comfortable failing, reached for community, encountered a “success” i felt i could sustain, but what does any of that mean anyway? in hindsight, i can see that everything happens the way it’s meant to. the love that i feel in myself is so much larger than what i could’ve ever dreamt of. and it was only found in the ways that i’ve unraveled and weaved myself back together.
through grief, i’ve gotten to know my heart so deeply. i’m grateful that all the selves that came before have room to rest in me now. i might lose my mind a few more times, have to birth myself again and again, but i wouldn’t have it any other way. my younger self will always be my power, my renewal, my grace, my teacher.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
that people will do the best they can with the tools they have been given.
we all have our own arsenal of skills, beliefs and values that inform who we are and how we experience the world. i like to think that people are doing the best they can, but naturally, with varied perspectives, our “best” doesn’t look the same. sometimes the awareness of having “tools” at all, is what is a person is or isn’t granted. the systems that be, access to resources, instability or friction in one’s upbringing are all examples of factors that can affect how we tend to ourselves and each other.
i just think it’s important to be kind, give grace and offer up compassion when we are learning how to exist together – in love and in conflict. we aren’t all afforded that often enough and i do think it can help ease us into stronger community building and deeper care for one another. this is how we begin a culture of true repair.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What pain do you resist facing directly?
in the past i’ve resisted the pain of being fully known, seen and loved. even in knowing this pain was rooted in a fear of abandonment and wasn’t reflective of what intimacy would feel like, i was convinced that openness was the culprit to so much of my heartache. it was a story i had witnessed all too often.
thankfully these days that resistance is melting away. an open heart’s been my greatest remedy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @amvndamay
- Youtube: @amvndamay
Image Credits
Personal: Valencia Free
Additional: Patrick A Duong
