Message to a Young Poet Friend

This morning, I read this poem by my young friend, Rowdy, who I encountered and befriended while living at Arcosanti in 2016. I am publishing my responses to his poem because it is the beginning of an articulation of my philosophy of life.

Rowdy Man

3 hrs · 

Waking up already spent
Not groggy, jus depressed
Everything is heavy
It isnt making sense
Birds singing for the deaf
Some days I cant understand
Another step torwards emptyness
More weight on the back
Head doesnt even want to lift
Open these eyes crusted with shit
B.c not everything is perfect
Not everything is worth it
The cards we play, moves we make
Chess pieces in the game ov strategy
Some days the sun is shining
Only to laugh at me...
Oh the tragedy, woe to be
See the black clouds comming
Blow a kiss to the grimacing sun
To be swallowed and forgotten
Another mere speck ov dust

In a world of impossible creation
Hallowed by the ever changing universe
Blessed to be one single sperm birthed
Grateful to have lived life and burned
Momentarily failures only last as long as focus
Change perception from the clear differences
Re center the Self, falling in and out of balance
Connect with the inner wolf, the strength, focus
Embrace the pains, part of daily living,
face change, it brings stability

To keep watering when all dried out
To replant when the pots too small
To grow and grow regardless of my roots
One Life to go do all I want to do
These days can seem beyond reachable...
Dark times may be whats most pivotal
Pain may be serious, regret most difficult
Take a breath, scream into pillows
Destroy something beautiful
Beautifully create whats destroying you

Remember all that is possible
Feel bad and grieve, take time to relish in pain
What would life be without the hard days?
We take it all in, continue to have the best day
Wether its your first or last, accept all that is
Good and the bad
Life is a fantastical tradgedy
A tradgedy ov fantasmal existing
Make the most, even on the dark days
We all have them, simply embrace
And find a way to release. . .
Within Grace We find Peace

7even.zer0.6ix.

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Ariel Ky Rowdy, I see you struggle in your poetry with the angst of living in these times that we all feel. Always remember that you are a true poet, sensitive to the core, feeling all the things that most people won't let themselves feel. Remember the trees. Trees are the saving grace for empaths and sensitives like you and me. You can't always rely on people because everyone has all their own stuff to deal with and can't always be available. But the trees are always there to help us. I believe the gemstones want to help people, too, or at least most of them. What I'm seeing is that we have resources to slough off negativity. When I was younger, I also internalized it the way that I see you doing, although you are struggling to some kind of philosophy to deal with it.

Manage

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 · Reply · 14m

Ariel Ky Now I'm trying to articulate what I want to share with you to inspire and support you, and maybe even some healing. Who are we, after all? It comes down to that. Are we merely our physical bodies and appearance? Are we our personalities? Yes, we shape our bodies and appearance to a certain extent, but no amount of wishing will make me an inch taller or you an inch shorter. Some things are given. Our personalities, well, that's a little more debatable, but we come into this world with certain proclivities and a nature that gets hammered into who we are through our experiences and conditions. Now, character. That's something we do shape; how we respond to what happens in our lives, that's something we have a lot of choice in. And spiritual growth. If everything that happens, everything we experience, is examined in the light of our spiritual growth, with the understanding of the utter perfection of our shining spirits

Manage

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 · Reply · 6m

Ariel Ky This material world, this consensual reality that those of us who are engaged in the paradigm shift have been struggling to shrug off, like a caterpillar in the process of becoming a butterfly, would have you measure your innate worth in terms of your education, career, marriage (or lack thereof), savings and investments, financial success, and your home, car, and possessions. Remember never to use these yardsticks in assessing where you are at (not that I think you do, but it's all around us, and hard not to). At some point, you have to disengage from the notion of success, achievement, and material conditions, and let yourself just be. I know that is how most people will judge you, and believe me I have been judged and found wanting by these yardsticks, but you have to hold true to your inner life, your shining, wondrous inner being. And then you will find it easier to calibrate and find inner peace.