My mind is a crazy flow of lava
Hot from motion
No way to cool or be cool
Cool is now gone
Heat of Sun warms my touch
The bla bla speech of
Mr. Such and Such
Burns my soul
A drop of liquid fire rolls off my temple
As it hits the floor
No cool breeze to cushion burn
Nowhere to turn
Only heat
Exercise in letting the mind take me where it wants to go….not
sure if I was really ready for that ride! Something that came up in my free
writing exercise was some poetry which has been in my head forever. It is great
to take some time and let out that creative side and express oneself. It does
feel healthy.
Something that is apparent to me from this exercise is that
I am insane….sssshhh don’t tell. I don’t think that I am alone though. My mind,
just like others, is scrambling to make sense of this existence, to process
experiences and emotions and make decisions. What came to my mind in the free
writing exercise and in reflection after is how so many people’s thoughts are
scattered by traumatic experiences, domestic violence, mental health issues and
drug use. I have to constantly remind myself that people can make poor
decisions and it is not for me to judge. It is for me to understand that their
thought processes and decision making can often be in reaction to very difficult
circumstances and situations. My mind is very busy and tangled up and that is
with as many opportunities and comforts that I have been allowed. I can only
image what a jumbled up mess it would be if I had experienced more challenges
in life. The point I am trying to make to myself mostly, is that you can’t go
around thinking, “What were you thinking!” You have to think to yourself, “What
experiences has this person had to make them think this way?” Then maybe there
is more understanding, compassion, patient and a place to begin to help. Am I
making any sense?
WOW Levi! You should tap into that creativity more! I was super moved by your words.
ReplyDeleteI am also internally giggling at your profile picture on here. It is so serious and debonaire- very Stantonesk ;-) Not so much Levi ... But, for a fun, easy going guy, you obviously have a lot of very serious internal thought going on which makes you a pretty amazing individual with a lot to offer the world! Thanks for sharing!
Very poetic Levi you continue to amaze me!
ReplyDeleteYes, as I sat down to free write it reminded me of giving the assignment to clients. Sometimes people are so overwhelmed with emotion and circumstances in life they can not pour it all out in one hour. As I started my free write I was reminded of a client telling me "I couldnt take anymore so me and the kids jumped in the car and drove to San Francisco". I thought this was the coolest thing ever for a coping skill and it got me thinking about how I used to drive all over California and how my life seems so planned out now. I hope to do some exploring in the future there is so much to do and so little time.
Yes I think you should stay with the lava and the free-form. Not that you're asking. I want to hear the rest of that poem. Then I think you should find a slam near by and read it with a throw of your head while someone beat boxes behind you. I am serious now, for once.
ReplyDeleteTotal sense, and great reminder. I was just reading about how we must not judge, it seems essentially to me what you are saying. Although thinking of judging from the revelations you revealed such as who knows what frame of mind they are operating from, are they recovering from trauma, did they have an abusive childhood, are they grieving, are they mentally ill, Great reminders why we should not judge. Thanks as always Levi for your words of wisdom
ReplyDeleteSo interesting that many of you went to poetry in your freewrite exercises... I challenge you Levi to consider the reality of 'insanity'. By who's standards are you insane? Who gets to decide that your confusion or challenges are less or more important than those of others in the world? How can we create a space for all of us to be open and reflective in our confusion, fears, anxiety, anger, frustration and joy? What would that mean to our society if when you were down we held you up so that you could do that for us when we are down? What would a world of honest emotion without judgement could exist? Beautifully inspiring Levi (:
ReplyDelete