The Breakdown: May
A new resource letter I'll be sending to my lovers of God, language, and this here human bawdy
I spent a couple of years sending out newsletters from my first online community, Enigmatic Soul. Every month I gathered a list of articles, books, exercises, videos, music, etc that moved me and sent them out to the folks I love.
After I closed down the community and the site, I slowly but surely stopped this gathering and sharing effort. But unlike popular Instagram “sages,” I believe in picking up old habits every now and ‘gin.
The Breakdown
This is what you can expect from these sorts of letters. First, the current name is “The Breakdown.” If creativity finally hits me in the night, don’t be surprised if the name is updated. Second, I’ll be sharing resources broken into these three categories and a possible miscellaneous.
Faith
Multilingualism
Health (this is how I still use my Masters of Science in Physiology lol)
The aforementioned miscellaneous category
Connecting folks to solid resources is genuinely a favorite pastime of mine. And I’m a bit tired of texting twenty folks the same things repeatedly. With all that said, let’s get into our first issue.
Faith
1 - The Unspoken Documentary x Lisa Fields
An in-depth look into the Christian heritage of Africa and people of African descent, intended to dispel the notion of Christianity being an exclusively white man’s religion.
2 - How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity x Thomas C. Oden
Africa has played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture from its infancy. Some of the most decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood in Africa before they were in Europe. If this is so, why is Christianity so often perceived in Africa as a Western colonial import? How can Christians in Northern and sub-Saharan Africa, indeed how can Christians throughout the world, rediscover and learn from this ancient heritage? Theologian Thomas C. Oden offers a portrait that challenges prevailing notions of the intellectual development of Christianity from its early roots to its modern expressions.
3 - Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys: A Native American Expression of the Jesus Way x Richard Twiss
The history of North America is marred by atrocities committed against Native peoples. Indigenous cultures were erased in the name of Christianity. As a result, to this day few Native Americans are followers of Jesus. However, despite the far-reaching effects of colonialism, some Natives have forged culturally authentic ways to follow the way of Jesus.
Multilingualism
My current focus is español at the moment, so these resources will focus on it.
1 - Pimsleur, a conversational language learning app
Give us 30 minutes a day and we’ll have you speaking your new language in no time. That’s all it takes for you to confidently inquire about prices, order dinner, ask for (or offer) directions – in your new language – with a near-native accent. Over 50 languages are available.
2 - Bilingüe Blogs, YouTube Channel
Content creator with the mission of helping and inspiring others to break the language barrier. I'm 100% American, but my heart is Latin. The countries that have influenced me the most are Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the USA, but the Dominican Republic is the one that has stolen my heart. This channel is for all of those who want to become fluent in a language; English and Spanish in particular.
3 - Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach x Margarita Madrigal
Learn the basics of the Spanish language with this easy-to-use guide featuring original illustrations by Andy Warhol—from one of America's most prominent language teachers.
Health
1 - Thick.Amb.Fit, IG
Amber is an Occupational Therapist using hybrid training to help shift the field.
2 - Mirna Valerio, IG
Mirna is an ultrarunning ath.lete., okay!
3 - Alex Murphy, YouTube Channel
Stretching is great, but mobility training is that girrrrllll. Alex has a follow-along YouTube channel for mobility work.
Misc.
1 - By The Water x Sondae
A deeply poetic worship album made for our millennial ears (no CRM).
That’s the end of our first Breakdown! Share any of your favorite faith, language, and health resources below that we should all check out.