The Energy of Tulum with Cynthia James
This in-person interview was recorded on November 10, 2023, on land that was originally inhabited by and stolen from the Chumash people.
Today I’m in Santa Barbara, CA in the garden of Cynthia James. Cynthia is a visual artist who works with oil paint to portray nature in a magical realist style. She spent 20 years living in Tulum, Mexico when it was still a remote jungle village.
As I walk into Cynthia’s lush garden, laden with old growth aloe, dreamy orchids, and a Bengal cat making his way towards me, it feels like a place straight out of a jungle paradise. The scene is a bit surreal, just like her artwork.
A warm fall day, with the leftover scent of roses and almost spent honeysuckle, the neighborhood noises hum into the background as we shift our focus onto the majesty of Nature. We talk about Tulum before it was developed, the disappearing bees, and our hopes for the regeneration of the planet.
When asked of her: “What do you know to be true?” She states her belief in our collective energy, and empowered vision of renewal. We explore the idea of how a deeper awareness of, and care for, the Earth, will lead to a thriving evolution.
