Connecting with Tia Henricks

August 8, 2023

Who is Tia?

I’ve rejected parts of myself for years. Put them in a flower press and shoved it under my bed.

Who am I? I am a woman who enjoys the depths. But the question who am I leaning into is better for where I’m at.

I am leaning into my soothing intensity and courageously showing that on my river surface. I am leaning into my inner steadiness I looked aimlessly for in others. I am leaning into my pools of creativity, sharing my inner secrets with the world. I am leaning into my strong intuitive abilities and I now use that as my personal compass. I am leaning into my connectivity, to the signs that surround. I am leaning into freedom of expression in all my interactions.

I am becoming the culmination of things I’ve ever felt inside of me.

I am growing into the woman I always knew I had the capability to be.

What do you wish you could have told your teenage self?

Your life will be filled with movement, music, madness and magic—so learn to be still. Your emotions are large and full of great, powerful levy. Channel them. Sit with them, with your intuition in tow. They will become your guide. Embrace the unseen.

What is next?

Purposeful, intentional, connectional. These are my buzzwords for the next few years. I’m really hoping to build some real secure self-foundations—it feels like I’m in the beginning stages of some sort of preparation. Whatever it is, it feels deeply life-changing. So I’m leaning into that and following the nudges, teaching myself some odd skills: emotional regulation, the art of rest, reading, slowly ridding myself of bad habits, cultivating a clearer mind, figuring out where my groundwork lies.

I’ve got some cool career stuff I want to chase too, within the film, arts and music industry. My passions lay deeply in that space, especially the music sector. I’m also feeling a deep pull to explore a new facet of myself and others—to open up my world culturally and really explore breaking through personal boundaries I find so familiar and comfortable. I’d like to explore more of this Country we are lucky enough to inhabit and eventually experience a different kind of life experience altogether. The east coast pool only holds so much for me—my time nearly feels up. I’m yearning for more depth and breadth in all aspects of my life.

Who do you pull inspiration from?

Through connections. Whether that be people, music, esoterics—I love connecting with others. It always seems to be most profound when it does happen; it's always enlightening and synchronistic in all its capacity.

I am almost always reflecting, always digging, reading between the lines (my sun and mercury sit in the 8th house). My entire facets of self—the archetypal Libra (the social grace)—sift through hidden cues, unseen forces, and seek transformative experiences (8th house energy, Scorpio rules the 8th!). Constantly through my day-to-day interactions, I am looking for depth and I am looking to transform. It sometimes feels like I get my most needed messages and growth through interactions with others.

What was your childhood like?

Like an archetypal Gemini—mercurial chaos. Filled with books, papers, yelling, conversations, loud music, long periods of silence, more loudness, strangers, new places, old places, dad’s fishing boat, friends’ boats, friends’ houses. North and the South. Familiar faces, beds that weren’t always mine, beds that were. Movement.

And in true honesty—at times really, really difficult. But without that foundation I wouldn’t have the deep character I have today. I’d have no walls or wit. I’ve shared meals and stories with many. I’ve already experienced so much in 23 years. I’ve shared many homes. Family is always found in friends—and for that I am extremely grateful. I am now in a beautiful, vast space where I can freely choose the life I so desperately yearn for.

Shit times which shaped you?

Doing people wrong in my teenage years, learning to not take people for granted. Treating people badly because I was unable to manage my own projected emotions. Learning to communicate. Dangerous situations that I placed myself in and had to fish my own way out of. Scary.

Rituals you live by?

Getting outside. Getting sweaty. Emotions get stuck when your body isn’t moving frequently.

What does your perfect day look like?

Out in nature, in whatever capacity that looks like. Spending time with really good friends. Enlivening conversations. Shared meals. Music. Sometimes just a good cup of coffee in the sun does the trick. Days that roll on into the next.

Who do you admire?

Any what you see is what you get kind of person. Those people who just grapple life by the head. By all means, do I love a bit of mystery, but honest, upfront, quick-witted people always do it for me. I’m grateful to actually have so many quick responders around me—it never fails to make me laugh. A good sense of humour too is admirable. If you can’t laugh about the shit bits, what’s the point?

People who are honest with themselves, and honest with others. Those who reign true to their inner quirks, who own their emotions and aren't afraid of what's inside of themselves—and ultimately embrace those parts.

What environmental or conscious traits do you practice?

I’ve been actively shopping with Black and Indigenous-owned businesses. Ikuntji Artists screenprint fantastic shirts out in an artist centre in Haast Bluff, all made on-site at the centre using the artists’ work! It was actually the first Indigenous women’s art centre opened by women! Liandra Swim is another favourite for swimwear. Yarn Marketplace is a really great starting point for proper credibility to help find some really incredible businesses to shop with.

Journal Prompts inspired by this chat: