i am a writer, photographer, independent scholar, and guide based in mexico city.

i also run a secondhand clothing store out of my living room.

for commissions, to talk photo prints, and any other inquiries: carissaferrigno@gmail.com

a brief personal history & the places that shaped me

i was born in 1990. i grew up in san pedro, california, a coastal town in los angeles county.

i’m from a large greek and italian family and am the eldest of four.

i studied political science and business economics at UC Santa Barbara. i graduated in 2012.

in 2013, i moved to new york to go to NYU for law school. after graduating, i worked as a corporate lawyer, first in a law firm and then in-house at a startup.

i lived in new york for 7 years, from 23 to 30. in a way, new york also raised me.

in 2022, i moved to mexico city.

later that year, i left my full-time job to focus on learning spanish, writing, and creating a career rooted in my creativity.

my ethos ~ philosophies ~ guiding beliefs ~

my ethos ~ philosophies ~ guiding beliefs ~

  • identifying & living in alignment with your personal values is key to living a fulfilling life

  • i hold deep respect & reverence for the natural world & its cycles, & what nature has to teach us

  • i believe all humans are innately creative, but creativity is a muscle we must utilize to strengthen

  • intention as a guiding principle behind all consumption: what is eaten, read, listened to, watched, purchased

  • everyone is a teacher, all of life is a lesson

  • we are constantly creating ourselves, and at the same time, we are who we’ve always been (and that two seemingly conflicting things can be true at once), living out archetypal patterns

  • appreciating the beauty in aging: in collecting life experiences and wisdom

  • life’s more fun when we take things less seriously

  • humans are interconnected and interdependent (we do nothing alone); we’re all just walking each other home

my personal canon

  • the four agreements
    don miguel ruiz

  • signs: the secret language of the universe laura lynne jackson

  • writing down the bones
    natalie goldberg

  • wabi sabi for artists, designers, poets and philosophers
    leonard koren

  • the animal spirit guidebook
    kim kranz

  • the tarot

  • my intuition

  • astrology

  • numerology

  • mexican spanish

  • buddhism

  • psychology

current topics of study

personal values

  • i feel a deep need to explore and discover things for myself. i’m deeply curious and committed to a lifetime of expansion that comes from exploring what i’m curious about.

  • to be authentic to myself and my lived experience. to recognize and appreciate that no one has my unique combination of traits and experiences, and while i may be influenced and inspired by much and many, i ultimately must be original and do things according to my own internal code.

  • i’ve always found myself seeking to encourage and support those around me (astrology would attribute this to my virgo rising). filling this role in the lives of those around me and sustains me. it is important to me. it is valuable to me.

  • it’s important to me to live in a state of gratitude for all that surrounds me, and to be present with all that surrounds me.

  • it’s always fun to have more fun.

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