Transformation and Life with Posa Journals founder Indira White
Table of Contents
Indira’s story
Pre-2023
Flashback time…
Once upon a time, Indira and I crossed paths living in Ithaca in upstate New York. The first time I met Indi was more than 10 years ago. She then went by her maiden name, Indira Dominguez, and was the modern dance teacher at the Community School of Music and Arts on E. MLK / State Street. I was CSMA’s administrative assistant.
To this day, Indira is still a captivating dancer—bachata, flamenco, modern, you name it. We danced together in our past lives, and I imagine we’ll go on dancing in our future lives as well.
I know this is a web design portfolio case study… But I find it helpful to give a little bit of context and insight into the full humanity behind the story. Yes, we’d met IRL. First and foremost.
Indira has always been someone so giving. Giving of her time, her energy, her positivity, and her friendship. Her skills.
As a seamstress in a family of tailors, she gives her hands to threads and homemade pieces for friends. Once she even created for me the perfect dance pants that were just my size. They were my favorite and I wrote them threadbare, until I woefully had to retire them.
She also generously volunteered when we danced together for “Dancing For A Cause,” to raise funds for the local nonprofit Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County.
For years Indira and her husband raised her niece, Claudia, during Clau’s formative years, before Clau’s return to the Dominican Republic.
I tell the backstory because everything Indira gave to the world through her hands, her heart, and her spirit has been a blessing. It’s been life giving.
2023 And on
A lot shifted for Indira in 2023, after I had moved away from the area.
In June 2023, she had a difficult diagnosis of breast cancer. At the same time, she had the very wonderful news that she and her husband were due to give birth to a baby boy that coming January.
In the Posa Journals website, Indi writes about her experience in a blog called Silver Linings: a story of pregnancy and breast cancer.
Silver Linings: a story of pregnancy and breast cancer
In Indira’s blog, she writes:
I don’t want time to pass and forget about the details. Some people may want just the opposite, to forget and move forward. But my breast cancer journey was also a pregnancy journey. It was complicated and intertwined. That’s why I want to hold these memories close, because even though it was so rough, it was also a very precious and beautiful time in my life.
I recently sat and re-read her thread of essays detailing her experience. And I encourage everyone to do the same. Even in an incredible tale of what would have been “a death sentence” ten years earlier, according to her oncologist, Indira gives us something immeasurably valuable. Perspective.
You can check out some of her posts here to read along Indira’s beautiful and honest writing:
- processing
- the dimple
- what lies ahead
- mastectomy news
- gift of time
- introducing posa
- life update
- survivorship
- orifice challenges
Here are a few excerpts for a flavor of the blog.
Being pregnant helped me keep a positive attitude and perspective. I had a very important role: to grow a healthy baby. And that was my sole focus. To do that, I needed to take care of myself better than I had ever before.
Indira White, Silver Linings blog
| The year is 2024. I was a sleep-deprived new mami, flooded with appointments; weekly chemo infusions for four months, an unexpected bone marrow biopsy, a double mastectomy, immunotherapy, and twenty rounds of radiation. And if that wasn’t enough, I also found myself needing to care for six different body parts that were either dry, cracked, bleeding, swooshing, or mysteriously malfunctioning. I remember thinking, Is this my life now? Is this what mid-30’s looks like? Why didn’t anyone warn me! Read post here > |
Website Editing
The Launch of Silver Linings
When Indira started publishing her blog “Silver Linings” as a meaningful outlet for healing, I did what any friend would do upon reading the Instagram caption above.
I reached out.
The request looked simple enough: “If you know how to make it mobile-friendly, please feel free to DM me.”
I had just launched my web design business, and I figured I could perhaps help my friend and deepen my practice.
It turned out that Indira’s website was on WordPress.com, so I had some confidence that I could make any necessary adjustments, albeit given constraints.
At first I could see that the issue had to do with edits to a template instead of edits to her posts. I sorted that out and recorded quick video tutorials with steps for Indi to update the blog and post on her own.
The Launch of Posa Journals
Eventually Indira decided to hire me for editing her site and make some sweeping changes.
The most dramatic change was renaming the site Posa Journals: the line of her mindfully designed bullet journals that Indira had begun handcrafting during her ongoing cancer treatment and recovery.
Indira, always a skilled artisan, began not only building these journals for family as gifts; she also began preparing to print and distribute 2026 journals for the wider community.
We began to prepare for her Posa Journals storefront.
Here’s what I updated:
- Switching the home page (Posa Journals, no longer Silver Linings)
- Creating an About (Silver Linings) page
- Creating the Silver Linings blog page
- Various changes to the navigation, header and footer
- Created a 404 page, Contact page, and privacy policy page
- Created a newsletter template and an archive, linking to it throughout site
- Linked to the Posa Journals Instagram account
- Created distinct categories for future posts: Posa Newsletters and Silver Linings
- Plus some. Again, given certain WordPress.com constraints.
Posa Journals
The Transformation Continues
Indira details the significance of the Posa name:
Posa, short for Mariposa (Spanish for “butterfly”), carries deep meaning for me. I love butterflies and have raised monarchs for years now. Their transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to flight, and their migration, are just awe-inspiring. My journal has been that for me: a space of growth, reflection, and transformation.
It has been truly awe-inspiring to watch Indira set Posa Journals into the world…
For the launch, 220+ journal owners purchased a 2026 journal to hold in their hands.
Indi shares on her blog, in her newsletter, and on Instagram about the influx of the collaborations, connections, and opportunities that have resulted.
I love that Indira has partnered with many local vendors to bring people together for purchases and gatherings at brick-and-mortar shops.
Indira has led in-person bullet journaling workshops in stores, libraries, and even at Stewart Park on the southern end of Lake Cayuga.
She has also collaborated with independent artists to develop two beautiful stationery sets and a women’s cycle health focused journal.
At the time of this writing, the 2027 journal has been sent to the printers, and Indira is doing the final translation for the Spanish version (that I should be sure to order here)!
Coming up next
While life hasn’t been the same since the last time I saw Indira in person…
I am so grateful that through it all, Indira continues to give so much light to this world.
How she shows up for herself, for her family, and for community, advocacy, and education as she continues in mental and emotional healing, is nothing short of inspirational to say the least.
Thank you, Indira, for friendship, survivorship, and the transformation that you lead others to see.
Posa Journals-wise, there is an idea of creating a Substack for the blog. And be sure to follow the website for your 2027 Posa Journal! Subscribe to the newsletter for community.
Indi’s Testimonial for Website Editing
Indira was so kind as to write the following testimonial about working together on her website editing project for Posa. Thank you!