I have said since the beginning, that poetry is my first language. We are not alone. And your story is as important as mine. Each story is as important as each other story. And when we bring our stories together and we tell them and we share our narratives and we share ourselves, we… exist.
Ari Felix at Saltwater Stars: https://www.saltwaterstars.com/
Transcript
They say I can't tell you what to do. That if I
Leela Sinha:want you to change, I have to somehow work my way around the
Leela Sinha:edges of your mind, weaving into it the seeds of possibility that
Leela Sinha:then have to sprout and grow on their own. They say that I have
Leela Sinha:to let you come to your own conclusions, that there is no
Leela Sinha:way that my vision of what would be good and right and strong and
Leela Sinha:true and powerful and beautiful, is something that I can just
Leela Sinha:give you, that somehow your brain will not be open to
Leela Sinha:possibilities, unless it finds them scrabbling in the dirt on
Leela Sinha:its knees. They say that. They say that, but the thing that has
Leela Sinha:most often given me inspiration is a window into somebody else's
Leela Sinha:life, into somebody else's brain, into somebody else's
Leela Sinha:transformation of frustration into possibility. And so here I
Leela Sinha:am sitting in front of a microphone. Ari over at
Leela Sinha:Saltwater Stars wrote this beautiful piece, and sent it out
Leela Sinha:today; they talked about the way they've created success by
Leela Sinha:moving from desire over and over again, and now, at the ripe old
Leela Sinha:age of 28, and with their Saturn Return coming tomorrow, it's
Leela Sinha:time for them to move from what that has created, what that
Leela Sinha:moving from desire has created, which is for them freedom, which
Leela Sinha:is for them, not breaking their back in service of a system that
Leela Sinha:they actively do not wish to engage. And so I say to you,
Leela Sinha:take this as your text, share your stories, do not be ashamed
Leela Sinha:to share your stories. I don't know where we got the idea that
Leela Sinha:sharing a story was rude. Somewhere along the way, someone
Leela Sinha:decided that if they had gotten up the courage to share their
Leela Sinha:story, that that meant that you should not share yours, that I
Leela Sinha:should not share mine, that there had to be only one story
Leela Sinha:in the room at a time because we couldn't form a collage, we
Leela Sinha:couldn't overlap, we couldn't intersect in any kind of way
Leela Sinha:that would be safe and strong and protective. That their story
Leela Sinha:had to stand alone. That we had to stand alone and you know
Leela Sinha:what? Trees that stand alone fall over. Redwoods are forests
Leela Sinha:together. Nothing, absolutely nothing in this world is alone.
Leela Sinha:And humans need humans. Even if we don't want to, even if we are
Leela Sinha:frustrated and disgusted and up against, a wall humans need
Leela Sinha:humans need humans all the time. We need each other. We need each
Leela Sinha:other because we are not any of us perfect or complete. We are
Leela Sinha:like the trees, we are a forest together. We also need the
Leela Sinha:ground under our feet, the sky over our heads. The small and
Leela Sinha:the large. The animals and the insects. The birds that fly,
Leela Sinha:that remind us, that harken back to the times of dinosaurs and
Leela Sinha:giant ferns. And before and before and before some of us,
Leela Sinha:and our iPhones, closer to Tyrannosaurus Rex than
Leela Sinha:Tyrannosaurus Rex was to other dinosaurs. That's how long they
Leela Sinha:were here. That's how long they were here. This planet goes on
Leela Sinha:and on and on and each layer overlaps the next layer.
Leela Sinha:Somehow. Somehow. Each piece overlaps the next piece. Each
Leela Sinha:story overlaps the last story and the next story, but also all
Leela Sinha:the stories that are here at the same time. We are here at the
Leela Sinha:same time. We are not alone. We are not alone. I have said since
Leela Sinha:the beginning, that poetry is my first language. And that every
Leela Sinha:other attempt to communicate is a forcing of the poem into a
Leela Sinha:structure that someone else might comprehend.
Leela Sinha:But I am tired of seeking other people's approval. I am tired of
Leela Sinha:needing other people's approval. That was my first thought this
morning. And then Ari:I moved from desire, I moved from
morning. And then Ari:desire. We all have a desire to be known by someone in some way.
morning. And then Ari:Even if it is only by the Earth itself. We all have a desire to
morning. And then Ari:have a place, even if it is only enough space to breathe and eat
morning. And then Ari:and sleep. But we all have a desire. We all have a desire and
morning. And then Ari:that desire is connected to another desire or another being
morning. And then Ari:or another, another something, a bigger something, a smaller
morning. And then Ari:something, a sideways something, we are connected; we are not
morning. And then Ari:alone. Which is not to say that we are not individual. It is not
morning. And then Ari:absurd to have the "I." But we are not alone. Our stories
morning. And then Ari:overlap. And the worlds we are creating are not solely our own.
morning. And then Ari:Our worlds overlap. Intersect. We Venn-diagram our ways into
morning. And then Ari:community, supporting and co-supporting and decomposing
morning. And then Ari:and breaking down together. Constantly together.
morning. And then Ari:We are not alone. And your story is as important as mine. Each
morning. And then Ari:story is as important as each other story. And when we bring
morning. And then Ari:our stories together and we tell them and we share our narratives
morning. And then Ari:and we share ourselves, we... we exist. For the first time
morning. And then Ari:perhaps, we exist, when we are together. Which is all the time,