Today we’d like to introduce you to Paulina Seng.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Veiled Hand is a culmination of the many aspects of myself that I’ve spent my life thus far exploring. In my creative pursuits, I’ve explored product design, fashion design and textile design. I’ve always felt deep fulfillment from creating with my hands, and though I entertained using my creativity in an industry setting, I couldn’t help but be pulled back to creating pieces slowly, one at a time. Creating in this way for me fosters a connection with my ancestors, knowing and feeling that they too made textiles, clothing and jewelry piece by piece with love for the recipient and reverence for the process. There is so much beauty in creating one piece, it becomes a relationship between me and it, reflecting the capacity of the relationships we have as individual humans, one to one. In all of my work, I seek to cultivate this, through my wearable art and my bodywork as a massage therapist. This process of working with one piece at a time, one client at a time, also allows me to slow life down, feel every moment, and be fully present in it all.
My experience in various design industries allowed me to see and feel the impact of fast-paced consumerism driven by capitalism on creatives. The drive to continue to squeeze out new designs sooner and sooner so that the masses have more to consume has created a burnout epidemic in those industries, deteriorating the health of the creative people who we treasure for bringing meaning and joy to our lives through their art. I experienced this burnout as well to the point where I had to take some time off and focus on my health. I was dealing with chronic fatigue, a sleep disorder, and major inflammation throughout my body. I had to learn to slow down and listen to myself and really understand my needs in a holistic way. At first, I sought help from the conventional medical industry which, to put it frankly, gave me no relief at all. Though the chronic fatigue left me debilitated, it allowed me to have much more free time to research and experience other health options, and also explore myself in a way that I wasn’t able to before. What allowed me to turn my health around was herbal medicine and eating a clean, processed food free, plant-based diet. I also turned to bodywork and reiki therapy which was nourishing and healing not just on the physical level, but emotional and spiritual as well. I felt a calling to become a massage therapist myself because I wanted to be a facilitator of rest, relaxation, and self-care in a society that runs so fast that we push ourselves to keep up at our own expense. I feel the need to live my life and pursue my work in a radically contrary way to this modern fast paced standard, a standard which we are all taught to think is the only way to be successful and fulfilled.
All of the facets of my health journey allowed me to deepen my connection with self, and my spirituality, which is so important to me that I want to bring it to all of my work. Even my herbal medicine studies has led me to seeing herbs as more than pacifiers for physical disease. My relationship with herbs is spiritual as well and I bring that into my massage therapy practice by making my own plant-based synthetic-free herbal oils through a low heat, long infusion process that takes four to six months. I also begin each session with guided meditation and breathwork to help create a calm and soothing space of healing for both myself and my client. With my love and appreciation for crystals, I involve them in the sessions as well. I truly believe each session is an energy exchange between myself, my client, and the herbs and crystals used with each session.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When you follow your own path that is radically different from what most people are doing, most people won’t see the vision you have. People that don’t see your vision can’t support you in the way that you support yourself. A struggle for me was developing my ability to recognize that particularly in those closest to me. I’ve learned to not seek support and validation from people who may not fully understand the journey I’ve chosen, even when they mean well, they have love for me and really do care about me. But despite the love, if they don’t understand the path, they will put their doubts and insecurities out there. Receiving those doubts from others was a lesson for me to remain true to myself and strengthened my conviction. My advice is to know yourself and remember your vision. Remember how brilliant you are, and know that as long as you are true to yourself, you’re doing the right thing. Then, when you do meet people who understand and see your vision too, it’s like the sun coming over the horizon in the morning. But you are that sun too, you have that brilliant light, and those with the brilliant light come together to shine even brighter.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Veiled Hand – what should we know?
Through The Veiled Hand, my partner Joshua and I offer wearable art in the form of wire wrapped crystal jewelry, bodily adornments, and crystal specimens. Our offerings are more than beautiful jewelry and minerals for crystal collectors. Each mineral was formed deep within the earth and they are all much, much older than you or I. We appreciate these crystals not just for their beauty but for the energy they hold and conduct. Science has shown us that everything is made of energy, even if we perceive much of our world as physical, mass holding objects. Though our ancestors lived without modern science, they perceived these energies and knew by their own experience that we are swimming in an ocean of energy every day. Everything in the universe is part of this ocean of energy, including our very own physical bodies and the crystal specimens that I love to wire wrap. We offer our crystals as an energy exchange between our clients and ourselves, between the crystals and us, and between the earth which we all come from. We have spent time with each of our offerings, feeling the energy of the crystals, and pass them on knowing that they are vibrantly luminous with energy. Just like our relationship with our jewelry and crystal offerings is much more than a product to sell, our relationship with our clients is more than a monetary exchange. We tend to get to know each of our clients and they often spend at least an hour or more with us at our studio, just chatting and connecting. Our clientele both create and come from a community that we cherish deeply.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Soo was the first book that really awakened my connection to ancestral wisdom, while also informing of the many ways that wisdom became twisted, co-opted and homogenized over time. Its anthropological point of view allowed me to realize a deep sense of spiritual female empowerment through the archetypes of the many goddesses and became the foundation for my conviction in my beliefs. Daughters of Aphrodite by Jalaja Bonheim is another deeply nourishing book filled with women’s wisdom, this time in the form of anecdotal stories of women who have realized their own empowerment through their sexual and creative awakenings. While The Great Cosmic Mother moreso enlightens on our wisdom from the past, Daughters of Aphrodite gives us wisdom from modern women through a wide range of perspectives and experiences in this society.
This connection to ancestral wisdom is what drives me in all aspects of my life. It’s a connection that I choose to nourish, which affirms to me that I’m making the right choices for myself and my path. These books are so important to me because they facilitated my connection to this wisdom, a connection which is the foundation for my choices now, which reflects in not only my business but my personal relationships and my relationship with myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: theveiledhand.com
- Email: theveiledhand@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/theveiledhand
- Facebook: facebook.com/theveiledhand
Image Credit:
Alyssa Andaverde @spiraltrees
Suggest a story: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
