All About Me

Hi! My name is Samantha, but online I’m most commonly known as Saknika! Many of my online friends struggled to remember the proper spelling of this name however, so they shortened it to Sakki, and thus a nickname of a nickname was born (and coincidentally, it makes a cute blog name)!

I often get asked about the name Saknika, so before I tell you more about myself, let me tell you about the name. Saknika comes from no known language, at least not as far as I’m aware. This is a name that I, quite literally, dreamt up. I have very vivid dreams sometimes, and when I was about 12 or 13 years old (8th grade), I had a dream about what I can only describe as my alter-ego. The name Saknika was extremely prominent during this dream, and it just kind of stuck. So, here I am years later still going by this name.

As a person, many people describe me as multi-fascinated. This is because I do so many different things!

My mundane life (aka my day job) is presently spent as the head of the art department at an architectural signage manufacturer, doing project management and sign design, along with making sure that everything is running smoothly for my fellow artists. What is architectural signage you ask? Good question! I make signs with Braille on them. So I get to draw out all those pretty signs you see for bathrooms, hotel room designations, ect. Then my company takes my technical drawings and makes them. And I get to deal with customers, which has its good days and its bad days. It’s actually a really cool job though, and I love my coworkers. Certainly beats retail! And food service… may I never have to do that again. o_o;

Surprise! I quit the day job Thanksgiving of 2016 in order to pursue an education in Massage Therapy. So presently, I am a student at the Center for Natural Wellness School of Massage Therapy, enrolled in the Full Time Spring 2017 program! Once I graduate and am licensed, I plan on opening my own practice (though I may have to work for others as well to get started).

Upon graduating from the Center for Natural Wellness School of Massage Therapy, I went on to pass the boards to become an LMT (licensed massage therapist) in the state of NY. So now I have my own practice, and am working on building my client base. ♥

When I’m not at the day job school though, that’s when the magic happens!

Now that I have a career I love and am passionate about, every day is magic! Life is more than just work though, and I’m always doing something.

First and foremost, I am an artist. My main focus is photography, and as such it should be no surprise when I say that photography is what I went to school for. On top of that, I sew, do beadwork, zentangle, dye silk, dabble in graphic design, and so much more! I definitely do not limit myself to just one art form, and I often find myself trying new ones out all the time. So if it’s artsy-fartsy, I’ve probably at least tried it.

Where art is concerned, I have two businesses. The first is freelancing my photography, and the second is a small craft business I run with a close friend of mine. We sell all the pretty stuff we make, and you can find us here: www.dancers-dream.com

Aside from being crafty, I’m also a belly dancer! That’s right, I’m a cute little tiny dancer, and I really enjoy it. It’s a great workout, and it allows me to channel my feminine energy in ways that are really empowering. I do perform on stage, but I know that’s not for everyone. So if you’re curious about belly dance, I highly recommend at least trying it!

On top of this, I have taken some martial arts as well. While this isn’t a current pursuit, it is still something I enjoy and I feel at least capable of defending myself should someone try to get fresh with me. Self defense was my main focus as I went through some rough bullying as a kid.

Indulging in my passion for history, I’ve gotten into Viking era reenactment courtesy of my fiancee. He’s been doing this for years, and now I have joined him. We dress in garb and educate the public when we have events, and in the meantime we study the history and the culture as we have time. New and interesting discoveries for this era are being made all the time, and a lot of it is experimental archaeology (meaning we try to relive it to better understand it because so much is unknown) which is tons of fun.

Spiritually, I would have to say my views line up best with Wicca, and as such I do classify myself as a witch. I don’t let this dictate my life though. What I mean by this is that I will not force my views on others, and I certainly don’t sweat out potions or anything. My spiritualism is something that’s personal to me, means something to me, and is not for anyone else to decide nor is it meant to be put on parade. However, I do enjoy talking about it with those who are interested, and so you may see musings surrounding this from time-to-time on here.

I come from a caring family as the oldest of three children. Somehow I managed to have non-divorced parents (a luxury these days, sadly), and both sides of my family are pretty close-knit. So you can say I’m definitely a family person, and they’re very important to me (even if they are annoying sometimes). We live in what I describe as “the middle of absolutely nowhere”, in a town that no one has ever even heard of… even if they only live 30min away. So I’m anything but a city girl, and tend to prefer to keep it that way. Cities are fun to visit, but I like the quiet living style.

Instead of continuing to ramble, that should be enough to get you started! Go forth, and find out more among the vastness of the blog! And enjoy!