Experience the intersection of creativity and wellness with The Akua Projects, a Substack by Rakia Ari featuring original short stories, weekly comic adaptations, and a candid Mental Health Check-In blog. <br/><br/><a href="https://rakiaari.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">rakiaari.substack.com</a>
The Akua Projects' Podcast Magazine
Claim This Podcastby "The audio companion to The Akua Projects: Where storytelling meets self-reflection."
66 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Experience the intersection of creativity and wellness with The Akua Projects, a Substack by Rakia Ari featuring original short stories, weekly comic adaptations, and a candid Mental Health Check-In blog. <br/><br/><a href="https://rakiaari.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">rakiaari.substack.com</a>
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🇺🇲
Publishing Since
11/9/2025
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Recent Episodes
May 23, 2026
Twisted Grain
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://rakiaari.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">rakiaari.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>Peace and blessings, family. Welcome to Soundtracks of Wisdom: The Akua Projects’ Podcast Magazine. I’m your host, Rakia Ari, broadcasting straight from the studio where the rhythms are heavy, the vibe is analog, and the lessons are eternal.</p><p>Every single culture across this beautiful planet carries a map hidden within its words—proverbs passed down from ancestors meant to guide us through our modern storms. </p><p></p>
May 22, 2026
The Rings of the Msasa
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://rakiaari.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">rakiaari.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>Hey there, family. Welcome back. Pull your chair a little closer to the circle, slide your feet a bit nearer to the hearth, and just let the busy, demanding noise of the outside world fade away into the background for a little while.</p><p>We’ve had a fast-paced week, haven’t we? So much pulling at our attention, so many roles to play, so many expectations to meet. But right here, in this circle, none of that matters. You don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to perform. You just get to rest in the warmth of this space.</p><p>Today, we are doing something very special, and very sacred. We are stepping out of our usual analytical conversations and wrapping ourselves in the ancient medicine of a story.</p><p>It’s a story born from the rich, red clay hills of Masvingo, shaped by the massive, protective branches of a great Msasa tree, and deeply rooted in a piece of ancestral Shona and Malagasy wisdom you’ve heard us sit with quite a bit this week:</p><p>“The axe forgets, but the tree remembers.”</p><p>I want you to think about those words as we prepare to listen.</p><p>If you’ve ever carried an invisible, heavy wound that the world carelessly told you to “just let go of” or “forgive and forget”... if you’ve ever had to do the silent, exhausting, somatic work of growing around a deep scar while the person who hurt you moved on entirely untouched, with a clean conscience... this story is a mirror for your survival. It is a quiet validation of your stubborn, beautiful resilience.</p><p>And at the very same time, if you’ve ever had to face the uncomfortable, quiet mirror of your own history—realizing that you, too, are capable of holding the axe, and that you have sometimes walked away from the damage you caused because it was simply easier for you to forget... this story is a gentle, brave invitation. It’s an invitation to step out of defense, step into the grove, and embrace a deeper, more courageous kind of accountability.</p><p>So, before the dust of the road rises, let’s take one deep, grounding, collective breath together.</p><p>Inhale the cool, clean air... let it fill your chest, widening your ribs... and exhale fully, letting your shoulders drop away from your ears. Let the earth support your weight.</p><p>Now, if it is safe to do so, close your eyes. Let’s travel together across the miles and across the years, to a land of golden dust, dry grass, and whispering red leaves.</p><p>This is “The Rings of the Msasa.”</p><p></p>
May 20, 2026
Let’s Talk About the Scars We Carry
<p>Hey there, family. Pull up a heavy oak chair, slide closer to the hearth, grab your favorite warm mug, and let yourself settle in.</p><p>Welcome back to <strong>Wednesday’s Chat Room</strong>—our weekly, mid-week sanctuary where we gather to take the quiet, solitary reflections from Sunday’s Mental Health Check-In and bring them into a warm, shared circle.</p><p>If you look closely at our chat room graphic above, you can feel the exact atmosphere we are trying to cultivate today. We’ve gathered in our favorite cozy, gothic study—a safe, timeless space surrounded by towering bookshelves of ancient wisdom, gentle stone gargoyles keeping watch over the doorways, the soft, flickering glow of candlelight, and a grand clock ticking softly in the background to remind us that we are allowed to operate outside of the world’s frantic pace.</p><p>Look at the table we’ve set for you. Whether you are holding a hot, steaming coffee like our wise elder statesman on the left, prepared to speak truth into the vintage microphone, typing out your thoughts on your laptop, or simply gazing into our glowing “chat” crystal ball to read the beautiful, vulnerable words of the community—<strong>you have a dedicated, permanent seat at this table.</strong> You do not need to earn your place here, and you do not need to wear a mask.</p><p></p><p>This week, we are opening the floor to talk about a concept that struck a deeply resonant chord with so many of you this past Sunday:</p><p>“The axe forgets, but the tree remembers.”</p><p>Why We’re Gathering Today: From Solitude to the Grove</p><p>On Sunday, we explored the painful, unequal asymmetry of relational trauma—how the “axes” in our lives can carelessly strike us, wipe themselves clean, and easily move on to the next task, completely forgetting the damage they left behind. Meanwhile, we, as the “trees,” are left to absorb the shockwave, biologically and emotionally altering our entire structure to compartmentalize the gash and continue growing around it.</p><p>We discussed the science of tree healing, the somatic reality of carrying scars, and the toxic, societal pressure to “forgive and forget” before our nervous systems have even registered actual physical or emotional safety.</p><p>Sunday’s check-in was designed for quiet, deeply personal introspection. It was a space to look inward, recognize your own growth rings, and hold tender space for your private wounds.</p><p><strong>But Wednesday? Wednesday is for the grove.</strong></p><p>In nature, a tree that stands entirely alone on a barren hill is highly vulnerable. When the heavy storm winds howl, a lone tree must bear the entire force of the gale on its own trunk; if its roots aren’t incredibly deep, or if its wood is weakened by an old axe scar, it risks being snapped in half.</p><p>But in a dense forest, trees stand in a supportive grove. Their branches interlock to break the wind. Beneath the soil, their roots wrap around one another in a tight, unbreakable embrace. And most beautifully, they are connected by a massive, underground mycelial network—a living system of fungal threads that allows them to share nutrients, send warning signals, and literally pump life support to the trees in the forest that are wounded, weak, or struggling.</p><p>That is what this Chat Room is. It is our underground mycelial network activating mid-week. When the emotional winds of life get too loud, we gather here to share the weight of our trunks, lean on one another’s deep roots, and remind ourselves that we do not have to stand tall all by ourselves. Sharing our stories isn’t about wallowing; it is about witnessing. When we witness each other’s scars, we take away the shame of the wound.</p><p>💬 Today’s Live Chat Prompts</p><p>The Substack Chat Room is officially open, the candles are lit, and our digital crystal ball is glowing with anticipation! We want to hear your voice, your story, and your perspective.</p><p>When you jump into the thread today, don’t worry about sounding perfectly polished. Just speak from the heart. Feel free to answer one, two, or all of these prompts:</p><p>1. The Anatomy of Your Scar 🪵</p><p>In Sunday’s newsletter, we talked about how trees “compartmentalize” their wounds—walling off the decay so they can keep growing around it.</p><p>* If your current emotional or relational healing journey had a physical shape, what would it look like right now? * Are you in the active, tender stage of trying to wall off a fresh blow? Or are you looking back at an old, gnarled scar, realizing with quiet pride just how many beautiful, strong rings of new wood you’ve managed to grow around it?</p><p>2. Challenging the “Forgive and Forget” Narrative 🚫</p><p>We’ve all experienced the frustration of being rushed to heal. Whether it’s a family member wanting to “sweep things under the rug” at Sunday dinner, a friend telling you to “just move on,” or your own inner critic demanding that you stop being so sensitive.</p><p>* How have you protected your boundaries when others have tried to rush your healing timeline? * What does it look like for you to honor your nervous system’s need for time, space, and safety before you offer reconciliation?</p><p>3. Activating Your Mycelial Network 🌲</p><p>No tree survives the winter alone. We need our grove.</p><p>* Who or what makes up your underground support network? Is it a therapist, a trusted friend, a creative outlet, a pet, or a community space like this one? * How do you practice giving and receiving mutual support when the storm winds of life start blowing a little too hard?</p><p>🛡️ Creating a Safe Forest: A Note on Vulnerability</p><p>If you are reading this and feeling a little bit of anxiety about sharing your story, please take a deep breath and know that <strong>you are not alone in that feeling.</strong> Sharing our wounds is terrifying. We often worry that our struggles aren’t “bad enough” to talk about, or that we will burden others with our pain.</p><p>But we want to remind you of a simple truth: every ring of growth matters. Your story might be the exact lifeline another member of our community needs to read today to realize they aren’t crazy, they aren’t oversensitive, and they aren’t alone.</p><p>Our chat room is a strictly “no-axe” zone. We protect this space fiercely. There is no judgment here, no unsolicited advice-giving, and no minimization of your lived experience. We are here simply to bear witness, to say “I see you,” and to stand together in the quiet sanctuary of the grove.</p><p>🚀 How to Step into the Room</p><p>Joining the conversation is incredibly simple. Let’s make this mid-week check-in a restorative, life-giving habit for your mental health:</p><p>* <strong>Open the Substack App</strong> on your phone (or log in on your desktop at substack.com).</p><p>* Tap the <strong>Chat icon</strong> in the bottom navigation bar (it looks like two overlapping speech bubbles).</p><p>* Find and select the <strong>Akua Projects’ Podcast Magazine</strong> channel.</p><p>* Jump directly into the <strong>Wednesday’s Chat Room</strong> thread, drop a friendly hello, and share whatever is on your heart today.</p><p>The table is set, the elder has poured the coffee, the laptops are open, and the candles are burning bright. We have saved a seat just for you, and we cannot wait to sit with you.</p><p>See you in the chat!</p><p><strong>With love, deep roots, and mycelial magic,</strong> The Akua Projects Team 🤍</p><p><p>The Akua Projects' Podcast Magazine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p><p>Thanks for reading The Akua Projects' Podcast Magazine! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://rakiaari.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">rakiaari.substack.com/subscribe</a>
66 total episodes available
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This podcast updates daily.
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