Tag: writer

thoughts

~ The Lightest You’d Ever Been ~

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~ The Lightest You’d Ever Been ~

““Isn’t that backpack heavy?” they’d ask. “Doesn’t it weigh you down?”

There was always something about that question which caught my attention. It was an ironic question in my mind because for me – whenever I had that backpack on – the exact opposite was the case. When I put it on and pulled the straps tight, it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Suddenly I was a bird with wings – able to up and leave to far-off lands. Because if you want to know the truth, a backpack with some crappy clothes in won’t weigh you down at all. The real things in life that hold you down aren’t usually found in a bag; they are the things we unquestionably accept as part of a normal lifestyle. Contracts weighed you down, debts weighed you down, credit-card payments weighed you down. Sometimes it was a gym membership, a cable subscription – a goddamn football season ticket. Often it wasn’t even physical, but the things that existed only inside your head. Fear weighed you down, ignorance weighed you down, the opinions of your work colleagues weighed you down. Usually you didn’t even notice, but all of these things subversively crept into your life, clipped your wings and left you cemented in one spot. That’s why whenever someone asked if my backpack was heavy, I couldn’t help but smile inside at the irony. I smiled because I knew being able to happily walk out of door with just a bag to your name wasn’t a heavy task at all. Whenever you did that you were agile; whenever you did that you were free. Whenever you put that backpack on and headed out to face the world, suddenly you were the lightest you’d ever been.”

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thoughts

~ The Celebration ~

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~ The Celebration ~

“The great trick is to just sit and observe. Be still and the universe will deliver its secrets to you. Meanwhile people rush around the sidewalks of life like electrons around a circuit board. The kids in school are preparing for work. The people in work are preparing for retirement. Some are chasing the weekend, some are chasing riches – some are even chasing an entire afterlife. Most people are so bewitched by the future that they can’t even see the glory of the universe unfolding right before them. They can’t see the beauty of a crescent moon, or a singular leaf dancing its way down a wind-swept street. To rush around your whole life declaring war on the present moment is a tragedy great enough to make the gods weep; it is to get to the end of your life and realise you missed the music all the way along. In this chaotic and crazy culture, people so easily forget that existence is playful and not political. Just watch the way the waves go back and forth, or the way the clouds sway – or the way the leaves flutter in the morning breeze. The entire universe is nothing more than a blissful playing of energy. It is a symphony; it is a dance. Just look up at those stars fill the clear night sky like a firework display. Every moment of every day you are a part of some spectacular celebration. So, please: don’t forget to dance.”

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thoughts

~ A Kingdom Untouched ~

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~ A Kingdom Untouched ~

“There is a flag which flies in my heart. It flutters in winds of hate and dances in storms of pain. It stays raised proudly at full mast in the darkest of all nights. There is a flag which flies in my heart. It will never be replaced by another. No tyrant will ever take it down; nor storm wear it away. Forever it will flutter free in that breeze, overlooking the lands of the wild. There is a flag which flies in my heart. It is the flag of joy, the flag of courage, the flag of adventure – the flag of a kingdom which will never be conquered in this life, or the next.”

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thoughts

~ An Inner Strength ~

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~ An Inner Strength ~

“I am not the most stable person. I have few practical or pragmatic skills. I often lose or break anything that I have to take care of. I am also not good with organisation or common sense. In this mechanical world, I struggle greatly to fit into anything. Life can be hard, but I have some things that help me survive. I don’t know how to ‘play the game’, but I do know how to pour every last drop of my soul into what I care about. I don’t know how to fit in well with the crowd, but I know how to stand up for myself and stay strong in my own company. My mind is stained with madness and I don’t expect to be understood in this life or the next, but I have learnt how to be fine with that too. As long as this madness still shines, then I know that I’ll survive. As long as this fire inside still burns my gut, then I know I’ll walk through life with a private joy which will never be extinguished.”

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thoughts

~ A Separate Space ~

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~ A Separate Space ~

“You may look for me in the everyday places but you will not find me there. The offices. The streets. The suburbs. The supermarkets. Yes, it’s true that I may sometimes be there in body, but please know that my soul and spirit are somewhere far away over the hills. If you are looking for the real me then come find me out in foreign fields of discovery, chasing my bliss and staring into sunset skies with a mind on fire. Find me lost in the woods of madness, tumbling down rabbit-holes and talking to the fairies. Find me out on the plains of the wild, running toward the horizon with wide eyes and an open heart. I am sorry but I just don’t know how to stay grounded in those concrete realities; I don’t know how to keep my mind locked in world of sensibility and stability. To me they are barren and desolate lands which only suffocate and starve my soul. So if you’re looking for the real me then come out beyond the fence and find me. There I’ll be on the other side of sanity, playing in the grass of eternity, swimming amongst the stars of infinity – happily lost in my own wonderland until the end of my days.”

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thoughts

~ The Fight ~

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~ The Fight ~

“If anything is worth fighting for, then it is the contents of your heart. In this world there are so many people out there who want to steal the treasure from within your chest. They want to see you deprived of your magic. They want you to be another empty soul beaten down into silent submission, totally afraid to show their true self to the world. But such an existence is a prison and you did not come here to suffer such a terrible fate. So whenever those poachers encircle you, rise up and fight them off at all costs. Grit your teeth. Let slip the roar of freedom. Be bold. Be fierce. Be fearless. Fight to the death to protect that magic inside of you. If you can migrate across the plains of life with that still intact, then you will know that you made it. If you can die with a heart still full of gold, then you will know that you lived a life of unbreakable beauty and courage.”

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thoughts

~ Keeping The Magic ~

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~ Keeping the Magic ~

“Play on little one. When the nature of your heart is joy and you yearn to experience the magic of this universe, play on. Don’t let anyone convince you that life is ordinary – that life is some sort of serious task. There is nothing ordinary about this at all, and the moment they convince you that life is a serious path of toil and drudgery, is the moment when the surrounding world loses its magic. Suddenly the trees and their branches are no longer paintings and those eyes no longer shining diamonds. Don’t let that happen. Play on and wander down the rabbit hole of your imagination and curiosity. Play on and explore your dreams, your natural instinct – your insatiable appetite to have fun with the world around you. The ones who tell you that adventure and imagination aren’t important are just the children who forgot how to play. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t become that bitter and resentful old person who doesn’t kick the football back over the fence. Don’t be the person who thinks money is more beautiful than a sunset. Shake off the shackles of seriousness; delight in the daisies of life. See the world through a child’s eyes.

Stay young now and forever.”

keeping the magic

poetry

~ Reckless Rebellion ~

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~ Reckless Rebellion ~

“You’re reckless rebellion
I see it in your eyes
I slip through your retina
and I watch the flames rise
because you don’t move like they do
you don’t dance the same grooves
you look up when they look down
you sing soul when they sing blues
not everyone may notice
but its visible to me
the wistful look in your eye
is burning anarchy.”
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short stories

~ The Art Of Getting Lost ~

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~ The Art of Getting Lost ~

“I always remember the first time I got lost. It was on a Saturday in the market downtown, and I was about five years old. I had momentarily wandered off from my mother and suddenly found myself sailing alone within a sea of busy shoppers. Amid the bustling stalls and scary strangers, I remember looking around and realising how utterly alone I was. As my stomach sank and I felt the fear, somebody came up to me and took me to a room where they announced over a speaker for my mother to come and collect me. Consequently, I was saved from that intimidating wilderness, but I never forgot the feeling – the feeling of being totally and helplessly lost.

As my life went on, I got lost a few more times until I suddenly found myself doing it willingly. One day I found myself travelling alone to Africa; one day I found myself somewhere in a foreign country without a map and a plan; one day I found myself again becoming that young child in the market, engulfed in the immensity of a big and scary world. And the more I got lost, the more I realised that it isn’t such a terrifying thing after all. In fact, it may well be the truest sensation there is – the thing that is rooted to the core of our very being.

When you thought about, we got lost all the time. We got lost in the movies we watched; we got lost in the books we read. Perhaps, most commonly, we got lost in our relationships with each other. Whenever people fell in love, they essentially threw themselves into the wilderness of another human-being. To go down the rabbit hole is a beautiful thing; it is something which takes us away from an old and safe familiarity, and into the wonderland of our magical universe.

So, don’t always see the act of getting lost in a negative way. Sometimes see it as an opportunity. Sometimes, within reason, leave the map and the plan at home, take the road less travelled, wander away from the crowd, fall in love with a stranger – explore what’s beyond the horizon with a child-like curiosity. As many people young and old will testify, you just never quite know upon what treasure you will stumble.”

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short stories

~ The Hidden Treasure ~

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~ The Hidden Treasure ~

“The day had come and gone, and there we sat at the end of the jetty, facing out into the sunset lake. We had only met just a few hours ago and now she was telling me things she had probably never told anyone. She told me deepest secrets, her fears, her hopes, her pains, her joys, her struggles. All of this to me: a random stranger from the bar. Back home people had their defences up; we were all standing upon society’s stage and playing whatever role it was we were supposed to play to be accepted. But there was a certain magic when you crossed paths with a stranger out on the road. Having just met and safe in the knowledge that you were probably never going to see each other again, there was no pretence or image to keep up. The masks were off and everything could be laid bare.

As the sun set below the horizon and the secrets spilled out upon the water, it made me think about how different the world would be if we all just shared what was really going on beneath the surface. So many people have undoubtedly carried the contents of their souls into the abyss without letting them ever see the light of life. One could despair for all the things that were never done and said because we were too afraid to deviate from the social script and say what we really felt. All the adventures that were never pursued, all the works of art that were never realised, all the friendships and loves that never blossomed – all because of the fear of exposing our true selves to the world. Even for the people closest to you, it would often take years and decades to unlock the vault of the soul; but get a random stranger alone for a few isolated moments in a foreign country and suddenly the secret combination is found.

As we both carried on talking about life into the night, I realised that there was something incredibly valuable about these brief and bittersweet encounters on the road. Most of us have treasure inside our chests that we want to show the world, it’s only when we feel free that the locks slip loose and the gold inside shimmers bright and brilliant under the stars.”

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(taken from my book ‘The Thoughts From The Wild’ available here)