Speaker 1: Creativity is an addiction unplugged because we will always say
Speaker 1: yes to creativity, totally uncut, because hey, we all make mistakes,
Speaker 1: so let's turn it into a tool. This is arrow unplugged.
Speaker 1: I am a poet, one that just happens to write
Speaker 1: in a forest. My forest is the Rainbow Forest right
Speaker 1: here in South Charlotte, North Carolina. When I enter this forest,
Speaker 1: or any other collection of trees, I never know what
Speaker 1: I'm going to write about. These aren't my words. These
Speaker 1: are the lyrics from Rainbow Forest, chapter number three hundred
Speaker 1: seventy six, July eighth, twenty twenty three. The sounds of
Speaker 1: Fleetwood Mac's song Dreams from nineteen seventy seven. It is
Speaker 1: gently playing in the background now. Mentally and spiritually, I've
Speaker 1: been removed from this beautiful forest right here in South Charlotte,
Speaker 1: North Carolina. The inner core of my presence finds my
Speaker 1: fifteen year old self sitting on the front lawn on
Speaker 1: Ryan Avenue in Billings, Montana, which is so abnormal in
Speaker 1: my present place of what is right now, My usual
Speaker 1: states of mind are usually locked in on being where
Speaker 1: I am and where I really Yet, the sounds of
Speaker 1: Stevie Nixon company has bodies snatched me and place me
Speaker 1: in the heart of an area and not truly known
Speaker 1: for having a forest or mountain like landscapes. All has
Speaker 1: changed on Ryan Avenue except for maybe the gravel road
Speaker 1: in front of the house and Optimus Park, two anchors
Speaker 1: that carry a lot of weighted memories inside my heart.
Speaker 1: But why today, especially on this page, while the mind
Speaker 1: struggles to locate its path back to Carolina. Now, I'm
Speaker 1: open to enjoy all that once was, but it can't
Speaker 1: be where I remain. That's a tough place right there.
Speaker 1: We all find ourselves reflecting, being in a memory, trying
Speaker 1: to have those great times we once had as children
Speaker 1: and or early stages of adulthood. We want to go back,
Speaker 1: and we allow the music to take us back. We
Speaker 1: watch those old TV programs to get us back, But
Speaker 1: what are we doing to look forward? I'm blessed with
Speaker 1: the opportunity to talk to a lot of seniors, many
Speaker 1: of them not so happy that their mind and body
Speaker 1: aren't working as well as they used to be, but
Speaker 1: they still keep moving forward. Now. I love my sister dearly,
Speaker 1: I really do, But in her final moments together, she
Speaker 1: didn't want to move forward. Anymore. She didn't even want
Speaker 1: to go back. She wanted to just sit there and
Speaker 1: do absolutely nothing, because in her mind, body, and soul,
Speaker 1: she was done. And I understand, I truly understand, and
Speaker 1: what I'm going to share with you is very transparent.
Speaker 1: She was the caretaker for not only my father, but
Speaker 1: she chose to be the caretaker for my mother and
Speaker 1: my very sick brother. She took care of three people.
Speaker 1: An uneducated nurse, she was there for them every single time.
Speaker 1: Now Here's where I began to understand her side of
Speaker 1: the story. In Whoopy Goldberg's new book, she talks about
Speaker 1: losing her mother and her brother, and she asks the question,
Speaker 1: why did you leave me here? Pause? Pause, pause, where
Speaker 1: we are. We can live in the past, we can
Speaker 1: live in the future, which is still very much unborn
Speaker 1: and unpredictable, or we can be in this moment of now.
Speaker 1: It's okay to visit the past, just don't live in it.
Speaker 1: I'm erril. These are not my words. These are the
Speaker 1: lyrics from Rainbow Forest.