The Origin Story: Maya Keeyana and Live in Love Boutique
It all started when I declared that “I’m going to change the world” as I stood in the doorway of my then bedroom. The year was 2016. I was a jr in high school. I was a loner with select friends and acquaintances. I sat at the lunch table alone, those who fucked with me would stop by, say hey, chop it up for a moment, then go about their day. I walked the halls alone with my headphones in, tuned into my music as I went from class to class where I’d be focused on my work. I was content in my own world with me.
Outside of myself, outside of the walls of Northeast High and beyond the borders of the United States, chaos was raging. The Syrian-Aleppo war took the lives of millions. North Korea conducted missile and nuclear tests that scared US citizens. Last but not least, Donald Trump was elected president on November 8th, 2016. As terrible and terrifying as these events already were, social media amplified the negative effects of each occurrence.
I believe that, naturally, these events influenced my epiphany of my purpose and newfound mission— making the world a better place.
A few months later, in April 2017, I would have my 18-year-old heart broken by my first love. Being cheated on and lied to by someone you loved and trusted can scar you and change you forever if you let it. Especially when you love as hard as I do. I’m still learning how to trust again at the big ol' age of 25.
I have always been a nerd or loved knowledge. This time of grieving led me to educators like Dick Gregory, Young Pharaoh, and Dr. Umar Johnson. They introduced me to the thought schools of star seeds, indigo children, the black woman as God, Gods on earth, the science of melanin, what it means to be pro-black, Afrocentrism, ancestral guidance, and human liberation.
This knowledge resonated in me and fed my soul in a way that no textbook or class ever did. I was naturally connected to this information. I credit these foundational teachings for my current awareness of the melanated woman and man as the original people of the planet and Gods on Earth.
Even more, the melanated woman is a portal that brings forth beings from the metaphysical to the physical realm and thus, her well-being secures the well-being of all else on Earth.
I graduated high school with honors and attended my second choice college, Drexel University, for 1 year. I decided that I’d change the world as a web developer because I could secure a bag that way. As a freshman majoring in computer science, I was assigned more credit hours than any of my peers. I struggled emotionally, still dealing with a broken heart, being on my own for the first time living on campus, and carrying the pressure of remaining an honor roll student, but I finished the semester with flying colors making the Dean's Lists.
I changed my major to Information Systems as I thought this would be a middle ground between technical knowledge and human relations. I started my 6-month co-op working in the IT department. I was making $15/hr working 40+ hours/week, touching the most money I ever had as a 19-year-old. But I was miserable. I rode the El to work each day and cried a little inside (sometimes real tears) as I saw the lifeless looks on the faces of everyone else headed to their 9-5’s. I knew that that was not the life that I wanted, I knew that God did not put us here for such a mundane life and that I would never be happy if I stayed on the path I was on. I struggled with depression and anxiety during this time, which led me to mindfulness practices. I started using the app Insight Timer for meditation and sound healing. I slept to binaural beats. My mentor also introduced me to sensory observation as a means of self-regulation, like observing what you see, hear, and feel to bring you back down to earth.
After completing my coop I transferred to Temple University to major in psychology. Against the better judgment of my family, mentors, and a Black woman entrepreneur in the tech field, I followed my heart to take up a more human-centered major. Though I didn’t believe in the intuition of higher education anymore, I stuck it out for my parents and I determined that if I was going to continue school it would have to be in a major that I am interested in. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about psychology and that’s what allowed me to finish the program. To this day, I am glad that I graduated with my BA and can teach others about the power of the mind.
From a young age, I have been content with myself and very self-aware because of the time I spent alone with myself. This self-awareness empowered me to be self-reliant, confident, and content with my desires and decisions. In other words, because I know myself, I trust myself, and I will always bet on me. I learned or rediscovered my role as a Goddess on earth and accepted my assignment to awaken and empower my kind. To sum things up, I am a self-love advocate encouraging melanated women to practice mindfulness, free expression of their God-given gifts, and awareness of psychology and the power of the mind. My vision is to change the world, one self-lover at a time.
Outside of myself, outside of the walls of Northeast High and beyond the borders of the United States, chaos was raging. The Syrian-Aleppo war took the lives of millions. North Korea conducted missile and nuclear tests that scared US citizens. Last but not least, Donald Trump was elected president on November 8th, 2016. As terrible and terrifying as these events already were, social media amplified the negative effects of each occurrence.
I believe that, naturally, these events influenced my epiphany of my purpose and newfound mission— making the world a better place.
A few months later, in April 2017, I would have my 18-year-old heart broken by my first love. Being cheated on and lied to by someone you loved and trusted can scar you and change you forever if you let it. Especially when you love as hard as I do. I’m still learning how to trust again at the big ol' age of 25.
I have always been a nerd or loved knowledge. This time of grieving led me to educators like Dick Gregory, Young Pharaoh, and Dr. Umar Johnson. They introduced me to the thought schools of star seeds, indigo children, the black woman as God, Gods on earth, the science of melanin, what it means to be pro-black, Afrocentrism, ancestral guidance, and human liberation.
This knowledge resonated in me and fed my soul in a way that no textbook or class ever did. I was naturally connected to this information. I credit these foundational teachings for my current awareness of the melanated woman and man as the original people of the planet and Gods on Earth.
Even more, the melanated woman is a portal that brings forth beings from the metaphysical to the physical realm and thus, her well-being secures the well-being of all else on Earth.
I graduated high school with honors and attended my second choice college, Drexel University, for 1 year. I decided that I’d change the world as a web developer because I could secure a bag that way. As a freshman majoring in computer science, I was assigned more credit hours than any of my peers. I struggled emotionally, still dealing with a broken heart, being on my own for the first time living on campus, and carrying the pressure of remaining an honor roll student, but I finished the semester with flying colors making the Dean's Lists.
I changed my major to Information Systems as I thought this would be a middle ground between technical knowledge and human relations. I started my 6-month co-op working in the IT department. I was making $15/hr working 40+ hours/week, touching the most money I ever had as a 19-year-old. But I was miserable. I rode the El to work each day and cried a little inside (sometimes real tears) as I saw the lifeless looks on the faces of everyone else headed to their 9-5’s. I knew that that was not the life that I wanted, I knew that God did not put us here for such a mundane life and that I would never be happy if I stayed on the path I was on. I struggled with depression and anxiety during this time, which led me to mindfulness practices. I started using the app Insight Timer for meditation and sound healing. I slept to binaural beats. My mentor also introduced me to sensory observation as a means of self-regulation, like observing what you see, hear, and feel to bring you back down to earth.
After completing my coop I transferred to Temple University to major in psychology. Against the better judgment of my family, mentors, and a Black woman entrepreneur in the tech field, I followed my heart to take up a more human-centered major. Though I didn’t believe in the intuition of higher education anymore, I stuck it out for my parents and I determined that if I was going to continue school it would have to be in a major that I am interested in. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about psychology and that’s what allowed me to finish the program. To this day, I am glad that I graduated with my BA and can teach others about the power of the mind.
From a young age, I have been content with myself and very self-aware because of the time I spent alone with myself. This self-awareness empowered me to be self-reliant, confident, and content with my desires and decisions. In other words, because I know myself, I trust myself, and I will always bet on me. I learned or rediscovered my role as a Goddess on earth and accepted my assignment to awaken and empower my kind. To sum things up, I am a self-love advocate encouraging melanated women to practice mindfulness, free expression of their God-given gifts, and awareness of psychology and the power of the mind. My vision is to change the world, one self-lover at a time.