We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ximena Ospina a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ximena, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
The intention of how I show up varies with the season – my capacity at that moment and the state of the world. However, a consistent grounding that has allowed me to hone my purpose is generational dreaming (Ospina-Salcedo & Co-Creators, 2024). While the term generational dreaming surfaced recently through the work that the co-creators of my dissertation and I poured our corazones [hearts] into, this notion has vibrated throughout my life.
For many of the co-creators and me, the United States has become home, either recently in our lifetime, or the lifetime of their parents or abuelos [grandparents]. This means that there are other soils on earth that still call us their children, and for me, that is a reminder that crossing borders is a privilege.
As an asylee to the United States, I have felt part of two worlds, two different realities. There is great privilege in that, and in that privilege also exists sentiments of pride, sadness, and anger. While the United States has become a sense of home, cultural melancholia (adapted from Eng & Han’s, 2018 work on racial melancholia), the feeling of mourning and missing a cultural part of you, is a constant companion.
I share the vibrations of cultural melancholia and generational dreaming because they deepen my roots and stretch my branches. My roots are fueled by the soil of my homeland, reminding me of where I come from, and my branches expand in the new spaces that I call home. I find my purpose in the dreams of the generations before me and the pulsing energy of the generations after me. My purpose is collective dreaming, dreaming of a world where we can heal, create, care for one another, and deepen our joy together.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
To learn more about me, you are welcome to listen to my live stories and take a glimpse at my dissertation.
Live Story | Siempre Waiting: https://youtu.be/7pumkHAcKNY?si=SPxHbXNxO16SA55Q
Live Story | Marking Your New Territory: https://youtu.be/VgSqgFqZSoc?si=qZm9wWwLKdac6chB
Dissertation | The Latinx/e student cuentos of rupture to nurture: Understanding the study abroad reentry experience through generational dreaming: https://scholars.csus.edu/esploro/outputs/doctoral/The-Latinxe-student-cuentos-of-rupture/99258156963801671
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge: Being curious, using anger for action, and realizing that learning is a love language.
Advice: Find your community(ies) that feels safe, and step outside that space of comfort when capacity allows to observe, listen, and ask questions. Find time to reflect and assess what worldviews have expanded for you and how you have changed. Ask yourself the following questions: how do I view the world, and how does the world view me? Where can I be a bridge?
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
While this might be intuitive for some, it is a practice and thought I have to remind myself of when the weight of life feels suffocating: Breathe deeply and exhale fully. Remember that nothing is forever.
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Image Credits
Credits: Capital Storytelling (https://capitalstorytelling.com/)
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