What do you hold sacred?
Editorial Reflection on co-curating Issue 3 of the Wellspringwords® Literary Anthology | The Sensualist…
As artists, we are provided with a loving antidote to all of life's worries. We are the healers, the ones who remember all the pain, joy, and love. Letting the sensations make waves in our hearts and wombs, then pour onto these sacred pages as stories, visions, or healing verses. And I can say, after journeying through this issue, I found so many parts of myself confronted by the medicine offered on these pages.
I found my inner (and outer) sensualist, not just the erotic, someone I’m well acquainted with, but the soul, the living, breathing parts of me. The parts that grind slowly when no one's watching. The parts that sing softly in a crowded room. The Sensualist who feels it all. Sees it all. Receives it all.
Each piece in this issue held me in a different way. And as you explore it, I think you’ll feel it too.
What pulses at the center—what beats in the heart of The Sensualist—is the desire to co-create with the universe. To not only be a receiver, but a defender of our own sensations. To manifest our deepest truths by submitting to our shadows, our unconscious desires, and letting them roam free. Every need we have is sacred. We must honour it like we love Spirit. And celebrate it like a baby taking their first steps.
Everyone who answered the call of The Sensualist in this issue showed me this. Each piece reads like a prayer; a personal altar. A place to let myself soften and listen more deeply. Where the writing whispered, the art glowed. Together, they form a portal—each piece reminding us that The Sensualist doesn’t belong to one medium, but moves through all of them.
Even now, as I write these words, I hear Spirit whisper to me:
sensuality may be the antidote, but surrendering is the healer.
And while submerging in these beautiful interpretations of Her beauty, I find myself asking—if the Sensualist receives and combines energy, what do I let in? What do I stand for? What brings me home to myself when everything else is on fire? What helps me rise from the ashes?
I don’t have the answer. But I think maybe that’s the point. We may never know exactly what we’ll let in. That’s for Spirit to decide. Every connection, every lesson, every ache is an invitation. A chance to lead with The Sensualist. A chance to lead with your heart. And let your soul take the steps for you—so you can rise, rise, and rise again.
