A Change is Underway
Some lessons take years to learn
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There’s a layer at the center of every tree called heartwood and its sole purpose is to provide structural support. It doesn’t transport water or help with overall plant growth, its only function is to keep things upright. It’s the scaffolding upon which everything branches.
I write this to you from my couch with a cup of tea I’ve rewarmed twice by my feet and piles of laundry by my side. I’m thinking about how the human equivalent of heartwood is the mind and when we look deeper than the branch-offs of actions, behaviors, and patterns, we see what everything hinges on. We can glimpse what we hold at our center.
Out of necessity, I’ve spent a lot of time this week doing just that - thinking about what’s at my center, how something needs to shift after running aground many times over the years. I have to admit when something is not working.
I’ve been sitting with a belief that I thought was barricaded into a small corner of my existence but really took root at my core. And as the saying goes, the way you approach one thing is the way you approach everything.
Audacity has to lead the way.
And for the most part, it has. I’m gearing up for this year’s 13 Weeks of Adventure (3 weeks!), I’m at the selecting-an-illustrator-stage for my first children’s book. I applied for a position that will pay me to spend time discussing and creating literature. Things are sweet, but joy can’t be counted externally.
The mind is a fickle thing and does its job very well. It thinks, and thinks, and thinks. Digging deeper grooves of familiarity unless something steers it in another direction. Unless I steer it in another direction. Giving it something else to use as a framework of satisfaction. Something authentic and sustainable. A change is underway. Slow and full of potential. I’m grateful I get to share the journey with you.
With intention,
R.
THE DAM
Cracks in the foundation
hiss the names moss and cattail
under a sliver of ancient moon.
From the wedge of two boulders
a sapling cranes its ear upstream
enjoying the familiar song.
A language only the restrained
can understand where
the narrower the channel to pass
the greater the desire to break free.
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Thank you for believing in me and my creativity.
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TODAY’S TIDBIT
Naturally, I read every think piece and commentary about Sinners after viewing it last week. This one where Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler discuss the memory of Chadwick Boseman was a treat.
LET ME KNOW
What’s your relationship with audacity?
Any guesses on what city I’m profiling for the 13 weeks?
What’s at your center?
What do you enjoy more, my reflections or poetry?
I literally just tried to write a comment twice and both of them got erased. 🤭
So imma just say I liked your piece and it prompted me to write something on audacity (I’ll tag you if I choose to post it).
Trees are never not amazing to me and I always feel like there is more to learn. I will definitely be thinking of heartwood today. And thanks for the Ryan Coogler link.