My Aura

Write about me and the aura that you see

but make sure it captures my full personality

 

Could it be infrared

ultraviolet

something unseen

blue

red

or a color in between

First gather all you can on what makes me tick

then think of black, or brown

where the opacity is thick

Then go from there, to the color of my hair

the shine in my eyes and the way that they stare

for those that dare

it's beyond compare

the questions not how

or why ...but where?

 

Write about my smile

write about my style

write about the God in me

something worthwhile

 

Write about me and the aura that you see

please don't forget to use the word mahogany

 

A deep shade of handsome with complexity

and undertones of integrity

higher than a basic mentality

oh well...

enough about me

 

Its not about the blackness of my skin

but the substance of content deep within.

 

 

 

Behind the poem

This poem was written by me in 2000

 

Routine day, Washington, DC, 2000 riding the metro 7-o-clock in the morning on my way to work for the largest hospital group in DC... DC General Hospital, Medicaid Division.  My co-worker expressed herself with a pad and pen in hand constantly and spoke with poise and metaphors that reinforced an essence of majesty and royalty within the black culture.  She wore her wavy black hair sporadically braided that laced against the sides of her face into fuzzy nests of silk.  Sometimes adorned with a real wild flower or an antique piece of jewelry of her distant kin.  I had known her and her family for at least 10 years.  She had a style of her own. Her name was Lisa, she lived poetry.

On this day, I remembered a poem that she recited out loud on the subway.  Within the poem, I recall words that colored my morning to have me feel like I was more than a passenger on a train, on my way to work.  I began to feel like I am a vital part of everything in this life.  She stood there in the middle of the aisles, armed with only words.  Words that floated out of her mouth with deeper meaning.  Words that blended together so well that every set of ears on the train was listening with the content of motherly advice.

I felt so in tune and captivated with her impromptu performance, the articulation of her wording, the raspy crispness of her voice, and her gentle yet aggressive approach to the unknown public.  I love words, and she reminded me of the pleasure to use them artistically.  At the last stop on our morning commute, before we separated into our own morning rituals and off into our offices, I asked her to 'write about me and the aura that you see.'

I pressed record on my cellular flip phone, recorded those few words and didn't stop talking until this poem was written.  It wrote itself.

 

 

Creative Exploration

 

 

 

cre-a-tive
[kree-ey-tiv adj]   
adjective 
1. having the quality or power of creating.
2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative:
creative writing.
3. originative; productive (usually followed by of).
4. Facetious. using or creating exaggerated or skewed data, information, etc.:
creative bookkeeping.

ex-plor-a-tion

[ek-spluh-rey-shuh n] 

noun

1. An act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination.   

2. The investigation of unknown regions.

There is a very unique and strange yearning inside most of us to be creative... but to be creative, it involves a certain amount of exploration to get the creative ball rolling.  What am I wanting to express?  What should I use?  How should I this or that?  Well the process itself is the art and the complete product is the creation, thus the process of creative exploration.

There are quite a hand full of commonalities that (so called) creative individuals share.  Even though there is an abundance of uniqueness, point of views, and variations of a theme, many completed works end up with some sort of tell tale signature that separates their expressions from the likeness of others. An Andy Warhol print has its own signature just as Annie Leibovitz' photos are creatively and visually hers. 

Creative explorers tend to be daydreamers. They get out of their own head and surrounds themselves with beauty.  Many like to people watch and observe everything in great detail within subtle glances. They also gravitate to work hours that work for them.

There is something almost spiritual about this, but Creative explorers take time for solitude, and with the daydreaming component, they lose track of time. They turn life’s obstacles around easily, partially due to a willingness to seek out new experiences. They usually “fail up” because they ask the big questions in order to take calculated risks.

Creative explorers view all of life as an opportunity for self-expression within following their true passions and connecting the dots. They constantly shake things up within themselves in an attempt to scratch the creative itch. One trait that is most understated is they make time for mindfulness.

...The creative exploration process could either be having to go deep into a cold, dark hole that challenges your entire being, your mere existence, to pull back a shadow that covered your life and stolen many breaths that shaped, formed, and stunted the growth of your essence. 
...It could be the harnessing of a single moment where you caught yourself in the middle of climbing out of the hole and suddenly found the strength in knowing that there is hope, a possibility for a deep inhale of real change.
...It can also be that moment where you consciously make a decision to realize and understand the location where you are is the location where you exactly belong at this precise moment.  Whether you are exploring within the hole, partially hanging around the hole or nowhere near the hole, creative exploration is a process.

Enjoy the process!


-Namaste'