As Life Would Have It
A Tribe Blog entry from 10th February 2024
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A naturopath once told me that her favourite saying is “that was the plan”. This week has been an excellent case in point for that idea in all aspects of my life. Today, I'll talk about why that is.
Speaking Volumes
This week saw the release of “Actions Speak Louder Than Words”, a poem examining the contradictions of figures who claim they represent “the people”. I didn't originally intend to publish it until after I had “Born Anew” out to the world, but I reconsidered at the start of this week and it felt right to do so - and might bring a few more eyes to my book right before launch than would have done otherwise.
This poem feels like the true follow-up to “What Do I Want For Christmas?”, given the subject matter and video style. Although it references a few figures in particular, it is by no means an attack on those individuals (see second stanza), and should really be a call to all of us to examine the ways in which we're acting, or the beliefs we prescribe to, that are in conflict (see stanza 3). This is part of the reason why the second portion of the video features me reciting the poem directly to the camera; I'm not here to just hurl divisive comments then hide in anonymity, I'm here to pose genuinely important questions about how it is that we continue as a movement into more sovereign ways of being. And from what I can tell, people are appreciating it.
Journeying Home
This week also saw me take on the first module of David Cordes' “Journey Home” course. David is a friend and mentor for me personally and for Over To The Youth, with great expertise in managing childhood traumas, family and personal relationships and so forth. We'd spoken about aspects of the course many times in the past, but this is the opportunity to bring all of those conversations together and to go further in setting myself up for success.
I was feeling pretty pumped going in to the session, but I wasn’t feeling as upbeat about it by the end of the session. In fact, I felt the opposite - disappointed, discontent and underwhelmed. In that module, I had done an exercise of finding the memory of myself as a child being hurt, and going to meet that version of me as myself now to provide what they needed to hear then, but didn't. It was a useful exercise, and did hell wrap up a painful childhood memory in a way that I hadn't previously been able to, but the entire time I got the sense that this memory was really not the best one for me to be dealing with, and that there was a far more significant one lurking somewhere but refusing to make itself known.
I had gone into this first module with the expectation that I would be able to get directly to my most profound experiences to resolve what lingered there. But, as life would have it, I wasn't. Now I sit with a strange mix of disappointment at my own inabilities, but also a curiosity and intrigue at the idea that this process would be a lot more challenging to get to than I initially anticipated. I look forward to seeing where this journey takes me over the coming weeks.
Declining Options
One of the other disappointing instances in my life this week was having to cancel an opportunity I had lined up to spend a month on the edge of the deserts in Morocco learning about regenerative agriculture. This is an area I feel particularly called to study more, and I envision a future where I can make some time for agricultural and conservation projects, some time for my writing, and some time offering spaces for other people in which to level up their own life game, such as with Over To The Youth.
Alas, life threw a curveball when my laptop finally relieved itself of its duties to me after over 10 years of loyal service. I already knew it was coming to the end of its life, and I was hoping to hold out until later this year before replacing it. That did not happen. To add salt to the wound, the prices for Morocco flights had also tripled since the last time I checked and involved staying at least one night in Paris. This was the sign I needed to say I had other priorities to focus on at the moment, and that Morocco would have to wait.
Am I disappointed. To some degree, yes. In addition to bolstering my skill set, it was a great opportunity for adventure, which I'd been craving for a while. On the flip side, it opens up March to whatever other opportunities life wants to throw at me, and I'm already getting ideas as to what some of those could be. Stay tuned on this.
Strange Encounters
A final interesting moment for this week came in the form of an open-mic poetry night in my local area. The event was billed with the theme of “Radical”. I went along, read a few of my poems, then sat back and observed what others were hoping to bring to the table.
In going along, I expected to find some interesting characters, and I treated the event more so as an opportunity to gauge where the self-appointed activists were at in their approach. It was indeed a strange event, with a mix of self-defining anarchists wearing capes and mismatched outfit choices, Extinction Rebellion types, a few hardcore traditional socialists and others. I can’t say I agreed with the outlook on many issues with some of the attendees, nor of my perspective on what the problems currently facing humanity are, but I do think many of those there genuinely believed that their positions were in support of humanity as a whole. That gives me hope that as humanity continues to progress towards a more sovereign, higher-consciousness state, that it will not be so difficult to be able to unite with those who we might be struggling in maintaining relationships with.
I did get inspired by some of the other poets to do my own take on some of the topics they tackled though, so it was certainly a useful exercise to attend this event as to know where I am at in relation to everyone else.
Where To Next
I plan to have one more poem from “Born Anew” come out next week, kind of like a final promotional single before an album is launched. Then I’ll be looking to take “Born Anew” with me to other poetry events and promote it to audiences who are currently unaware of it.
I’ll have to delay the livestream reading of the book as I simply haven’t been able to make the time to get all the tech together to make this happen. It seems more reasonable now to aim for a one-month anniversary type reading. Stay tuned on that too.
Otherwise, thank you once again for your ongoing support. It really does mean the world to me and I hope to keep sharing more and more poems with you,
Until next time, my friend.