this story.

some of them leave you
greater
than when -Y'ou arrived. 
be one
of these. Places that
lend
sovereignty through the mouth.  too
the rib's cages,  beneath the tongue.
where you can feel it absorbing.    
like the characters in your books
about discovering
happiness.  
this story drives a
motorcycle.
and
eats cornbread with a spoon.stirs things up
a bit.  at a time
we all need to fall in love with
a desert and then a waterfall. 
just so we know the difference.
this story sleeps on
park benches
 asks
wh?at you're thinking
about, halfway
through the afternoon. and
hears you.listens.before the words fall out.
because we all.hope.
someone might come along and believe in us
just
long
enough
that we believe ourselves.




Andrew Tipton

Boat Song

This song from the Black Angels found its way into my ears a few nights ago..    absolutely rocked me.      I see humanity asking these questions...  I feel myself asking these questions of myself. 

We lose our sense of permanence, we lose our fear, and then we lose nothing anymore - because we realize it is always ours to re.make.. We are the question as well as the fullfilment discovered in our answer.  


-Andrew Tipton


 

Bareness of Being

"..As I get older, I long even more for the wisdom and companionship of other living things; to stay in conversation with all I love, with all I admire, with all who have suffered and given of themselves to stay alive (awake) and to keep life going.   In many ways, our stories are part of one story.  Our pain is part of one pain.  Our surprise at the beauty and fragility of life is part of one chorus of awe.   My passion now is to stay as close as possible to the pulse of what is kind and true to stay in conversation with what happens there and to experience more and more ways to listen. " 
- Mark N. 

Rare Bird.

 

Our journey took us to the heart of Key West,  a place full of poet-visionaries and eclectic spaces. Its streets evoke the creation of music,..  its atmosphere urges you to press beyond your personal expectations.       While seeking out the lullaby echos of steel drums..  I wandered down an overgrown alley and found this man..   an Key West artist whose inspiration left a solid mark of goodness my heart.

 

"You are very fortunate..",  he told us..   "..you are young."

 

     An artist his entire life..  he has been sustaining his body and mind, while living in his camper van..  for the past twenty years.   Creating, envisioning, sharing, cultivating..  this man's life is about experiencing the world through his own reality.   As we talked I kept looking into his sprakling  eyes, and admiring his soft, white cloaked face..       He showed us drawings of eleborate apartments in New York,  abstract paintings of vivid colors, and sketches that can only be discribed as the "energies of music".       Wearing a loose sweater that one of his children knit..   he spoke about musicians, about culture, about the strangeness of becoming old..    and this crazy, warm smile kept making its appearance on my face.         I realized how simliar we both were.   I realized that I could be this man in 50 years..  and that didn't bother me at all..   because we are both simply humans creating our own definitions of life. 

 

I think one of the most liberating things to know about this life is that we are free to make it up any way we choose.   Meeting this artist and hearing his story reminded me of the open-ended sacredness of this non-permanent experience.    It is up to us to define or defend our pursuits..   we may (the choice is open to us) become world leaders, or we may (the choice is open to us)  become island artists living from the sheerness of our van.    It is beautiful either way.. and in all directions.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Tipton

 

 

 

 



The Invitation -

My new friend Ariana gave me this poem..  I am in awe tonight of discovering myself in the mouths and minds of strangers.    Ariana is a traveller and a lover of philosophical thoughts,  she left my body and soul refreshed with her warmth and her blissful, adventurous energy.   Windsurfing, philosohpical debate, and bicycle rides at 2am..    This year has just begun , and already I feel I have discovered so many facinating and inspiring friends!     I feel blessed and infinitely connected to my own reality at this moment..    

     


"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments."

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer from her book THE INVITATION

Re.invention

"Iamthecenterofmyhappinesseverythingstartsandbeginswithme. 
The presence or absence of happiness or goodness is not conditional on my perfection,
 but rather my assimilation into my moment.  What I see, or believe I see, has everything to do with my state of awareness. This experience is an echo of my own level of creation.
Are we God?   
Because the interpretation of "being" is open-ended, the outcome is wholly saturated with my own belief and certainty in HERE: 
this place - my place,  my mind." 






Andrew Tipton

Never Stop Becoming

"There are parts of me, I only recognize from photographs."   -  Sarah Kay