August 16, 2026 | The SYC Culture Lab | Lockport, NY

Ice Cube said it best: “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Now, was he talking about yoga, sound baths, drinking your water and sitting in a wood-fired sauna in Lockport, NY? Probably not. But we're going to use it anyway because the message still applies.

Sometimes you really do have to check yourself. How am I feeling? Am I exhausted? When was the last time I actually took a break? Have I eaten something besides whatever I grabbed while running out the door? Have I drank some water today? Why am I irritated with everybody? And when was the last time I did something simply because it made me feel good?

That was really the thinking behind SYC Creative Self-Care Sunday. On Sunday, August 16, we turned The SYC Culture Lab at 400 West Ave. in Lockport into a space for wellness, creativity, local businesses and community. The whole day was really built around one simple reminder: you have to make sure you take care of yourself.

My Mother Taught Me That Years Ago

My mother used to always tell me, “You have to make sure you take care of yourself.” Like a lot of things your mother tells you, you don't always fully understand what she means when she says it. As I've gotten older, those words have stayed with me, and I understand them differently now.

I used to think self-care meant going somewhere, buying something or taking a vacation. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good staycation. Give me a hotel room, some good food, a sauna, my SterlingBLVCK body wash and body oil, maybe a little shopping and nowhere I have to be for a few hours. I'm good.

But I've also learned that self-care doesn't always have to be that complicated. Sometimes it's taking a walk, sitting your ass down, turning the phone off, creating something, talking to somebody, getting outside or moving your body. Sometimes it's drinking some water and realizing half the reason you were in a bad mood was because you've been running around all day with nothing but caffeine and ambition in your system. That counts too.

So I Built My Version of a Self-Care Day

I didn't want Creative Self-Care Sunday to feel like some super-serious wellness retreat where everybody had to already know how to meditate, own seventeen crystals and be able to pronounce every yoga pose. That's not me. I wanted people to be able to come exactly as they were and find something that worked for them.

You could do yoga, take the wellness walk, get into the wood-fired sauna, try the cold plunge — and yes, some of y'all are much braver than me — experience sound healing or meditation, create something, shop with local vendors, talk to somebody new or literally just sit down and enjoy yourself. Self-care doesn't have to look the same for everybody. That was the whole point.

I also wanted the community side to be accessible. You didn't have to purchase the full wellness experience just to come be part of the day. People could stop by, check out the marketplace, support local businesses, connect with people and experience the atmosphere. Wellness doesn't have to feel exclusive, expensive or like you need to already be part of some club before you're allowed in.

Watching the Idea Actually Come to Life

There is always this weird moment when I create an event where it goes from being a bunch of ideas in my head, texts, emails, graphics, tables, extension cords and me asking, “Where the hell are we putting this?” to suddenly looking around and realizing, oh...we actually did it.

Walking around Sunday and seeing the tents up, the sauna going, people doing yoga, vendors talking with guests and people creating, relaxing and connecting was that moment for me. We had wellness practitioners, small businesses and community partners bringing completely different experiences together in one space. WNY Heat Retreat brought the wood-fired sauna and cold plunge experience. Bloom n' Breathe Mental Health brought mental wellness and compassionate yoga into the day. Breathe Free Prosperity helped create space around breathwork, sound and wellness, while Buffalo LeatherCare and our other participating vendors and creatives added to the marketplace and community side of the experience.

Nobody had to experience the day exactly the same way, and honestly, that made it better. Some people wanted movement. Some wanted relaxation. Some wanted to shop. Some wanted to talk. Some wanted to try something they had never done before. The point wasn't to tell people what self-care was supposed to look like. The point was to give them room to figure out what it looked like for them.

Creativity Is Self-Care Too

One thing I've been thinking about more is the connection between creativity and wellness. SYC has always been built around Music, Art, Fashion and Design, but creativity has always done something else for me too: it clears my head. Music can completely change my mood. Creating something can pull my attention away from whatever I've been stressing about. Walking gives me room to think. Making products, designing something or even reorganizing a space can sometimes give my brain the reset it needed.

We talk a lot about creativity as something you produce, like a painting, a song, a product or a design, but sometimes creativity doesn't need to produce anything. Sometimes creating is simply how you process life. You don't have to sell it. You don't have to post it. You don't have to turn it into content. You can make something simply because making it made you feel better.

That's self-care too.

That connection between creativity and wellness is something I want to continue exploring through The SYC Culture Lab because the Culture Lab was never supposed to just be another place where you walk in, buy something and leave. I want people to experience things here.

And No, Everything Didn't Have to Be Perfect

Anybody who has ever produced an event knows the Instagram version and the actual event-production version are two completely different movies. Things change, schedules move, somebody needs something, something isn't where you thought you put it and you're answering one question while carrying a table while somebody else is asking you another question. That's events.

I've learned that I can't judge an experience only by whether every little thing happened exactly according to the spreadsheet. I'm looking at something bigger. Did people connect? Did somebody try something they wouldn't normally try? Did somebody meet a local business they didn't know existed? Did somebody leave feeling a little better than when they came? Did we learn something that will make the next experience stronger?

For me, the answer was yes. And that matters.

I also believe in actually trying ideas instead of talking about them forever. Sometimes you have to build the thing, put it in front of people, see what happens and then make it better. Creative Self-Care Sunday gave me the opportunity to do exactly that.

This Was Bigger Than One Sunday

Creative Self-Care Sunday showed me another direction SYC can grow, not away from creativity, but deeper into it. I can see smaller creative wellness workshops, more collaborations with local practitioners, music and meditation, journaling and storytelling, movement, art, sauna experiences and programs that give people permission to unplug from everything else for a couple of hours and reconnect with themselves.

Because ultimately, The SYC Culture Lab isn't supposed to just be a store. I want it to be a place where we can try things, where somebody can discover something, where businesses can collaborate, creatives can experiment, kids and adults can make something and somebody can walk through the door not completely knowing what SYC is and leave saying, “Okay...that was actually dope.”

That's the goal.

Thank You to Everybody Who Showed Up

Thank you to everybody who came out Sunday and to every wellness practitioner, vendor, collaborator, friend and person who helped move something, set something up, promote something, teach something, sell something or simply showed up. Building community doesn't happen because you put the word COMMUNITY on a flyer. It happens when people actually show up for each other, and Sunday, people showed up.

That's something I don't take lightly. Every event teaches me something about what SYC can become, what the community responds to and what we should build next. This one reminded me that creativity and self-care belong in the same conversation.

So maybe Ice Cube really did give us some self-care advice back in 1993: “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

Take the walk. Drink the water. Make something. Turn the phone off. Get in the sauna. Call somebody. Take yourself somewhere nice. Sit your ass down for a minute. Whatever taking care of yourself looks like for you, make some room for it.

Those words my mother used to tell me still stick with me: you have to make sure you take care of yourself.

I'm starting to understand them more and more.

THIS IS SYC.