Alain De Botton On The Fear Of Happiness.
Maybe because we’ve grown accustomed to our poverty, become acquainted with our loneliness, and developed such an intimate relationship with our sadness we are unable to accept the possibility, and actuality, of being happy. A small part of ourselves may struggle believing its deserved, strangely fearing the life we deeply crave. We are so quick […]
Blaise Cendrars on The Beauty of Language and Fortifying yourself in Love and Solitude
“The impulse to write things down is a particularly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself.” Capturing the strange desire, to document the world, contained in the heart of every writer; considered the source of our migraines, […]
James Baldwin on The Creative Process
Carrying 4 novels in a duffel bag on a boat to Paris, James Baldwin, age 24, hope to escape racism and live in a creative incubus that allowed him to write; shortly after his arrival he lost those collections. Losing those novels symbolized a letting go of the identity forced upon him by his peculiar […]
Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire; Answers from the most important cultural figures of a generation.
A parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature. Long before becoming one of the greatest human beings to touch a pen, Marcel Proust probed his psyche as many have done after him. Vanity […]
The Blog’s Mission
The writings are a space for intellectual and spiritual wondering about the meaning of life. Exploring the meaning of love, following our divine purpose, and creating a space of vulnerability that encourages people to explore the depths of their soul through the words of thought leaders, mystics, intellectuals, and my own personal discoveries. A documentation […]
Kahlil Gibran “The Prophet” on allowing ourselves to transition to new phases in life.
Almustafa, while in exile in a foreign land, waited for the return of his ship; climbing the hills of his adopted land, looking seaward, Almustafa searched for the ship meant to bring him back to the land of his mother. One must imagine the anxiety of yearning for returning home, home not only physical but […]
Joan Didion on being a keeper of a private notebook/ Through Journaling I developed a deeper relationship with the self
We live our lives searching for freedom. In the Spring of 2021, I watched women place sunflowers delicately behind their ears as white linens fell from their skin, symbolizing protection, love and beauty, and rocks that contained magic decorated their body. These rocks, supposedly, carried the energy they wished to invite into their lives. Recently […]
Joan Didion on how we lust for the power that the rich symbolize. Everything we crave is found living presently.
We create idols and myths that capture the illusive freedom and peace that has escaped our lives. Americans treat poverty like a disease, and even spiritualists associate a lack of wealth with having a low frequency or not being aligned with their divine purpose. Our deification of the uber-wealthy devalues the people in our daily […]
What I Love and What I Hate
Things I love: Black people, Affection, Sex, Music, Smelling nice, Being Handsome, Having conversations, Waking up in the morning with someone, Pizza, Eating Healthy, Spirituality, Mental Health, Reading, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Ralph Ellison, Mangoes, Sweaters, Making Notes and Lists, Kissing, Becoming and Being, Meditation, Yoga, Stretching, Black Women, Film, Photography, Dancing, Intellectualism, Jodeci, Nice […]
Love,Discipline, and Art
The discipline we bring into our art is a reflection of the discipline of our lives. Writing or loving cannot be done when we feel like it, but must be an active pursuit. Every artist must strive to live life through their art; willing, humbly and gratefully, to carry the burden of freedom by striving […]