My name is Miki. I’m deeply invested in creating beautiful, ethereal moments that challenge the visual sameness draining the life out of us in North American hyper-capitalist drear-realism.

Since I conceived the idea of Happenings — a term borrowed from 1960s performance artists, though here used specifically to describe the creation of ethereal scenes for basking — I’ve discovered that life can actually feel as delightful and rare as a vacation to somewhere yet untravelled, or a night of drinking absinthe at a mysterious bar with strangers. Though since becoming sober I've wanted to have these peak moments without substances; I used to doubt such peak moments were possible sober yet since practicing Building and Basking in ethereal moments, my life has been suffused with a shimmer that surpasses the temporary wildness and eclectic beauty of the alternative.

As a child, when I first heard this line from the Mark Twain poem:

“Run away, oh human child,
To the water and the wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For this world’s more full of weeping
Than you can understand,”

It was seared into my memory, but I didn’t fully grasp its relevance until adulthood, until experiencing first hand the kind of disjointedness that those of us that yearn for ethereal beauty suffer when they have to enter the mainstream world and try to earn money and do all the "normal things" to exist in this world. Where then is our gateway into that mysterious beauty, which is an imperative part of life, though it remains unprioritized and largely undiscussed by society?

Today, I run a nonprofit dedicated to harnessing the power of beautiful atmospheres in service of underprivileged groups. We combine these uplifting and even surreally beautiful installations with basic resources for street-entrenched communities, counteracting the mental health toll of accessing necessities in sterile, clinical drop-in centres. We also advocate for broader access to beauty and art because mental health nourishment shouldn’t be reserved only for the wealthy.

Most people haven’t yet had the lightbulb moment that realities as extraordinary or beautiful as we desire can be intentionally built and designed — at least in specific, peak moments that we’ll create together in this course. Since embracing this idea, I’ve applied it across all aspects of my life, and I’m thrilled to share my secrets for crafting transportive worlds that feel almost like stepping into a dream.

What sets this practice apart from say, film set design, (apart from the DIY scale and ease) is that we’re not just creating things that look beautiful — we’re crafting experiences that feel energetically and emotionally charged. This is achieved through using methods tailored specifically to entering the mental state needed to fully embody these moments.

Once you’re initiated into this process, I’m confident you’ll be inspired to invent countless aesthetic and design elements for your ethereal Happenings — transforming the world around you, or at least the worlds of your friends and yourself. This training will cover everything you need to know to build your dreamscapes and embody these magical states. I’m thrilled to be your sherpa into this process.

Miki is a fine artist and writer. In her personal life, she creates ethereal experiences. Follow her on Instagram to see her artwork and creative world: @mikiaurora