Meet Meredith Ochoa | Photographer, Artist & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Meredith Ochoa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Meredith, what are you inspired by?

So almost everyone has heard of “a sketch a day” or “everyday” projects like the crypto art record-breaking sale of Beeple’s Everydays: The first 5000 days, in which Beeple created an image from start to finish every day for thirteen years. Most of the western world looks at completeness in terms of the 24-hour circadian clock— or hormonally speaking, “the man’s clock.” Testosterone is highest in the morning—notice how we begin work around 9:00 a.m.—and then begins to drop off in the evening around 5:00 p.m. Hence, the 9-to-5 workday.

Now, nothing against the male biological clock, but the timing of our world is run in a way that’s pretty one-sided, benefiting testosterone, and they have done a great job at leveraging and optimizing their biology. A short-circuit battery (male) compared to a long-circuit battery (female), neither one being better, but different. Within the less familiar infradian rhythm clock (your monthly cycle) for women, completeness lies within every phase, a 28-day series of 4 phases that cyclically repeats: Follicular, Ovulatory, Luteal, and Menstrual. Similar to the cycles of the seasons and the earth, very few things in nature repeat the same thing every day.

The contrast of these ideas, which I learned about in my quest for answers in healing my debilitating endometriosis pain became the inspiration for my ‘Every Phase‘ series, which I began in April 2021. The series is focused on how I healed myself by living in alignment with my female infradian rhythm 28-day clock in contrast to the masculine, 24-hour clock or “everyday” modern lifestyle. So just like Beeple’s record-breaking NFT project, Everydays: The First 5000 Days—I decided to create a piece of art from start to completion, not every day, but every phase that will continue for the next thirteen years (approximately five-thousand days). I named the series ‘Every Phase’ with the accompanying art of each phase metaphorically illustrating the different brain and body chemistry of what’s occurring during that particular phase.

I have decided to self-publish this series as a series of printed art books with Augmented Reality (AR) interaction, marrying both the physical & digital worlds. My first book (launching this Fall) will capture the first year of the series and I have very appropriately titled it, Face your Shit, Heal Yourself. It depicts my journey of healing by looking at the things no one (including you) really wants to see.

However it really is more than a book, it is a movement.
In addition to the publication, I am also launching a Fall 2022 Podcast (same title- Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself) to help other men & women dealing with chronic pain and hormonal imbalances by introducing some of the experts and practices that helped me achieve what I thought was impossible.

What fueled this inspiration? Well, about 17 years of pain.
Every 28 days, since around fourteen years old, I have had debilitating menstrual pain. I have crossed over to the other side and returned, I have woken up in pools of sweat and blood, and I have gone unconscious due to the shock from the writhing, knife-bending, piercing stabs of the cramps. I usually had to go to the emergency room, when I could afford it. I have had surgery, been on multiple medications, birth controls, consulted with countless doctors who have said it’s all in my head and told me to just have a baby and it will go away—all of the usual medical sales pitches that turned out to be completely false.

I know what hell looks like. I have visited it every 28 days—the prison of endometriosis. Until last year, when I realized that I held the key to that prison, unlocked the door, and healed myself. I healed a chronic condition with my mindset, diet, and lifestyle—what most western doctors deemed “impossible,” I did anyway. I educated myself on how food impacts hormones, revealing what endo truly is, so I could see it clearly and then leverage my biology to transform it from my weakness to my power source. I have had the most generous and caring pelvic floor physical therapist, sex therapist, and powerful health reading material to guide and help me get where I am today. I will be forever grateful for them. However, my own willingness to look at the inconvenient truths is what helped me find the person I really needed to get me through it all: myself.

I am thankful to all of the doctors who called me crazy because of their own lack of knowledge. I am thankful for my sexual abuse and trauma. It isn’t until you actually become grateful for something that you truly have power over it. They really are the compressed coals that have become gems in my crown. If I did have the doctors’ help, I would have been denied the absolute privilege to discover this power on my own. And I wouldn’t be starting this series. In no way am I diminishing the pain of what I have gone through, but rather celebrating the makings of the absolute empowerment I have now because of my willingness to face my pain.

True freedom is not given, it is discovered, and claimed. It is a choice. It’s the kind no one can take away from you because it’s completely yours. It’s only in hindsight that we realize all of those seemingly inconvenient things are actually benefiting us if we let them. I realized that nothing happens that doesn’t benefit me. It’s not a lie you tell yourself, but an available awareness and reality. I kept the desire, and I gave up the struggle. My wish is for this freedom to spread to all women dealing with endo.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I began my visual arts journey at 17 years old after being a ballerina for 14 years, and battling recovery with an eating disorder while failing my way through high school. One day, a small voice told me, “draw, just draw”. I listened, and I could. I really could. I became fascinated with light and shadow in drawing & photography. I loved how you can only see the light because of the dark and vice versa. This contrast showed up not only in my art, but in my life.

I started making my own pinhole cameras and skipping class to experiment in the darkroom. Imagine my surprise when I miraculously got a scholarship to SCAD (then another for my Master’s degree later on). When I got there, because of my darkroom roots, I was pretty upset about the digital ‘takeover’ within the photo world.

I decided to make a ‘mockery’ of digital photography–turning a scanner into a sort of ‘large format’ camera. This became an entire practice & technique within itself and became the scanning process that I am known for today. The subject becomes the “negative” through digital degradation with a portable wand of light. The portable scanner describes the subject through a life-size depiction of the number of pixels the subject amounts to.  The subject becomes the “negative” describing the subject digitally with a flattened focal plane. These images create ‘totems’ of the subject, dialogue, and/or relationship they portray.

This artistic practice and journey served as the foundation of what would lead me to the discovery of my mission–to show others how to face their pain and see themselves for who they really are. I further revealed this mission by facing my own debilitating pain every month dealing with endometriosis for over 17 years. There was one month, the pain was so intense that I passed out and felt like I had died– I was completely powerless and felt complete surrender. After crossing over in this way, I knew that I needed to really face this and could no longer hide or be embarrassed by it if I wanted to truly live. I realized I needed to see myself for who I really was, and face all of the areas in my life where I had been inauthentic.

So after surgery, crossing over to the other side, and dying from the excruciating pain one too many times, I educated myself on hormonal health and I healed myself. I remember the first day I felt freedom was on my wedding anniversary. I looked around the Hilton hotel room and the shackles just literally fell off as I got present to the fact that I had minimal to no pain in my life with my intimacy, sex, and every month with my cycle.

What I learned through my experience is that all healing starts with being authentic, which is why I encourage others to face their pain.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

So Little 5 points is one of my favorite neighborhoods and probably where I feel most at home besides my current home in Decatur. Also, I got married at The Wrecking Bar so it’s gotta be on this list! An absolute must. Their historic event space, The Marianna is truly one of a kind. Another unique & delicious long-time favorite I believe you can never go wrong with is where I got engaged–The Porter.

For all things spiritual, as well as a gorgeous selection of crystals & jewelry, I highly highly recommend Open Mind Center in Roswell, GA.

Close to my home base in Decatur, I love it every time I visit Leon’s. Great energy and thoughtful dishes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

No one achieves anything alone. Even though I was lied to for years by countless doctors promoting big pharma, I was able to find experts who helped me achieve what I thought was impossible. I will introduce some of them on my podcast as well as explore a variety of practices I employed and continue to heal with. True healing really is a journey worth a continued elaboration.

The one person I could not have done any of this without is my other half, my husband, Jason Lettice.  He is a reiki master & clairvoyant, so he was able to really see through my eyes.  He came with me to every appointment, stayed by my side through every disappointment, and has been an incredible support for me throughout my entire journey.  Words really cannot describe my love and appreciation for this man.

If I had to name one book that I think all women would benefit from reading it would be Womancode by Alisa Vitti. The information in this book served as the primary foundation for understanding my body, my hormones, and opened the door to bringing me….back to me. It was a huge inspiration for the series, as well as the second book I read by her, In the FLO, which explores the infradian rhythm deeply and was another vital foundational building block for the series and how I live my life. I want to shout from the rooftops how incredible and impactful her work is!

As mentioned in my inspiration answer, there were also some phenomenal local Georgia professionals that helped me tremendously. Working with them I felt validated and understood for the first time. I actually felt like a person instead of a paycheck because their motive wasn’t to keep seeing me, but to actually have me get well so I wouldn’t have to see them. So in a very large nutshell, I first met with Dr. Heather Quaile, incorporated sex therapy with Tali Boots, pelvic floor physical therapy with Dr. Sara Bolden of Women 1st Rehabilitation, and later on, in my continued journey I have had the privilege of having Dr. Jeffrey Kalins of New Concept Wellness Center as my primary care doctor.

I started to get my life back after working with these extraordinary people and practices, and I am forever grateful for them.

Website: https://www.meredithochoa.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meredithwochoa/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredithochoa/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnEffinArtist

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anotherfingartist

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv2rFL0bzAdhP90XQ3dcUwA

Other:
Pre-order the book, Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself: https://itascabooks.com/products/face-your-shit-heal-yourself-augmented-reality-art-healing-endometriosis-the-path-of-true-freedom

upcoming podcast: https://faceyourshithealyourself.captivate.fm