All Roads Lead to Beauty
ouroboros mode activated
Read time, 3 mins.
Greetings Gorgeous,
This iteration of Venus of the Mind as a weekly publication is complete. Time for a different patterning of creative output.
I initially started this publication as a way to integrate my love of aesthetic philosophy with my twelve year experience as a licensed esthetician and my humanities training as a PhD dropout (i.e. recovering academic) who still relishes the thrill of research. It has since evolved into a body of work that is adjacent to but also beyond all that. Here, the writing converges on matters earthly, cosmic, and queer.
To honor the newsletter’s evolution I’ve slowed down in order to publish with even greater intentionality and precision of curation. I remain grateful for your readership and value the earned space in your inbox. My hope is that every time you open a newsletter from Venus of the Mind it feels like you’re reading a thoughtfully crafted piece that enriches the landscape of your inner world. When guided by Venus, all roads lead to beauty.
As a reminder, subscriptions are now $5 a month or $30 a year. You receive interdisciplinary insights, private podcast episodes, and an invite to the book club.
If you value independent writing that is interdisciplinary in scope and have been considering an upgrade this is the time. Subscribing now means you’ll be unaffected by future increases in subscription pricing.
Readers can continue to explore here: venusofthemind.com. The newsletter is still hosted via substack but the website is HIGHKEY lovelier to read through than the app. If you have only read this newsletter through email or the app and never logged into the website before, your subscriber email is your login. Paid subscribers enjoy complete access to the newsletter archive and Beauty in the World Podcast.
Our book club! We’re meeting online this Thursday, April 30 at 12pm EST to talk about Easy Beauty: a Memoir by Cholé Cooper Jones. The book was a Pulitzer finalist and with good reason, it’s superbly crafted. All paid subscribers have been emailed directly with invitations and a zoom link. In July we’ll meet to explore Alicia Kennedy’s On Eating: The Making and Unmaking of My Appetites. Then, in October, we’ll reconvene one more time this year to chat about Fariha Róisín’s Who is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind.
In the mood to read something where all roads lead to beauty?
Then stay tuned. The adventure continues.
Con amor y cariño,
Ivana Esther Martínez
P.S. Here’s my favorite essay from this completed iteration. 20 minute read, no paywall. For the frictionmaxxers who value sustained attention even while internet-ing. It’s the perfect read for lesbian visibility week; I love that this week falls within Taurus season, the very zodiac ruled by this newsletter’s planetary namesake. ⚢🌈How apt!
All Roads Lead to Beauty
Love what you’re creating here, Ivana!