Have you ever had a moment?
A moment where you close your eyes
And all things come to fruition
When that blink becomes eternal
And everything can come true
Someone in this dream says, “Stop dreaming”
Open your eyes and make it happen
I find myself being more and more as a person of extremes… Sitting in one emotion at a time… Really feeling the wholeness of each pole.
I know that in my music choices, I’ve really sat with music as a whole, listening to very immersive experiences. I’ve been called out that my shit isn’t uppity and happy – true facts.
Super dark, super emotional, super experiential, super complex, super dense… synonyms of the like… super duper.
I’ve repeatedly come back to listening to Clams Casino as his beats and production takes me to the deepest depths of who I am – reflecting on losses and successes, joy and pain. It helps me to rip myself to the finest ribbons and reconstruct internally to being a stronger more aware person.
I played the single off his latest album, Moon Trip Radio, nonstop when one of my closest aunties passed away (listen below, I suggest listening to it while finishing this article). I moved away from Ontario last November and to be away ate me alive. I constantly questioned, “Is this the right thing? I can’t even be there for my family and friends… what about when they need me the most?”
It was through this experience I became more self-aware; I couldn’t stop life from happening, for myself or others. I learnt that I must continually build and grow, even pivoting away from everything I once knew. If I stayed home, I would have been there for the family but being away, resulted in living fuller and building new relationships necessary for a stronger present/future.
I routinely cry to music – something I don’t admit to a lot. I think it’s good to release; let go and feel “alllll da feeeeeelz”. A spirit can be trampled and broken many times over but if given the chance to repair and reform into a new, truer form – true to who you are now – the pain will subside and a new path will appear from the bushes.
Follow your heart above all else; give it your 100%. No one wants to be given partial effort – no one deserves that, even yourself. If you’re showing up, SHOW UP. When you only show up for obligation and not for the love of it, innately it’s just an act; a ruse.
Authenticity is one of the most beautiful things in this world and I find, more and more, it becoming a rare thing. There’s a lot of trauma behind much of our partialness, but if we don’t have a serious introspective conversation, we are cheating ourselves and the ones we love the most.
Find focus in centring yourself everyday; whether that be meditation, prayer, going to the gym, poetry, music, etc. Take 5 minutes or 2 hours but it’s time to make authenticity a habit.
Take a deep breath and reach into your pocket. You had the map all along.
Finding peace is one of the many facets of humanity that is necessary but can feel allusive at times. What is peace and why is it so important? Why should I care since life is zooming past me at a 1,000,000 miles per minute? Peace is something that happens even within the wakes of life; it never stops though it may feel diluted at times.
It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it.
And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
– Eleanor Roosevelt –
No one said the process would be easy but it is a process necessary to foster growth amongst your peers, your community, and, ultimately, yourself. Peace is knowing there is always something bigger than you and smaller than you; that your hands are but a tool to lift and carry.
Peace is knowing that wherever you are is perfect for where you need to go. Enjoy the moment, a minute is only 60 seconds.
Having practiced Muay Thai for the last 6 years – the martial art known as “the Art of 8 Limbs” – I’ve learnt a lot about myself and the world around me.When we train, we teach and learn at the same time. Whether we know it or not, we are absorbing information. We hold pads and spar to practice what we have learnt and to hone in on our skills.
Life is a lot like pad holding or sparring. When we hold pads, we are practicing the routines needed to execute in a real fight situation; making each motion fluid and sharp, almost second nature. When sparring, we are applying the routines learned through pad holding but to a partner that responds, really seeing how ingrained our practice really is. In each case, it is up to us to adapt.
Even in situations that seem controlled, we must have confidence in our partners to hit on target and to control themselves. If they were to miss their target, your development is showcased in your reaction; either you react to avoid injury or resist the urge to explode, which could result in injury.
Learn the ebb and flow of everyday life much like the waves of a typhoon; to have the ability to destroy but also flow around objects that are unmovable. If we chose to attack all the time, we would run ourselves ragged and may destroy more than build. If we chose to defend all the time, we would not advance forward and stand still waiting to block the next hit. It is the perfect balance and unison of the two that create the beauty of life.
Once we apply this to our everyday practice, nothing will ever stop us.
As the great martial artist, Bruce Lee, once said, “Be water, my friend”.
