1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,520
Speaker 1: Creativity is an addiction unplugged because we will always say

2
00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,799
yes to creativity totally end God, because we all make mistakes.

3
00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,279
So let's turn it into a tool. This is arrow unplugged.

4
00:00:10,439 --> 00:00:13,160
I write in a forest. I go into this forest

5
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,079
to do nothing but listen. What started at the Billygraham

6
00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,879
Library in twenty fifteen, right here in Charlotte, North Carolina,

7
00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,640
has evolved into a lifelong commitment and journey. Something is

8
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,039
always moving through each and every one of us. It's

9
00:00:26,039 --> 00:00:29,399
our calling. These aren't my words. These are the lyrics

10
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,240
from Billy's Forest, Chapter number three hundred forty seven. December

11
00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,039
twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, Christmas eve Day, in this

12
00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,719
forest in South Charlotte, North Carolina, the mighty chill of

13
00:00:40,799 --> 00:00:44,399
winter upon us nine degrees. Yet if you look up

14
00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:47,280
at the giant blue sky, it doesn't share the same story.

15
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,840
So much sun, so many places for the birds to fly,

16
00:00:51,359 --> 00:00:54,399
no wind to get in the way. Yet it's bitterly

17
00:00:54,479 --> 00:00:57,119
cold today and it will be for many on the way.

18
00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,240
There's something quite cozy about being in this moment of now,

19
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,120
the processing of thought inside a cold snap on Christmas

20
00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,680
eve Day, while sipping on hot caramel coffee. Looking upward

21
00:01:09,799 --> 00:01:13,280
at the tree tops, naked of their leaves, they stand

22
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,959
like warriors, protecting everything around them. All that's experienced to

23
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,519
be placed into an annual ring. I often wonder if

24
00:01:21,519 --> 00:01:24,079
anyone stops to count those rings anymore. It's what we

25
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,640
did during our childhoods. It was the expectation to see

26
00:01:27,719 --> 00:01:31,079
how old this mighty, mighty tree once was, now given

27
00:01:31,079 --> 00:01:34,599
to the earth for continued growth and exciting new things

28
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:40,920
for other living things. Nine degrees, so silent, the air, calm,

29
00:01:41,359 --> 00:01:46,359
no stress, a place of peace, and I'm just listening

30
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,519
the preservation of how we experience life and mother nature.

31
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,599
Christmas Eve Day, twenty twenty two. You know, it's moments

32
00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,879
like this when people say, do you ever get angry?

33
00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:03,079
Do you ever have depression? I have things like this.

34
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,599
I document those special moments of spiritual travel and those

35
00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,560
moments where you have received something from the universe for

36
00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:17,680
future use. It's not just that moment where you're experiencing it,

37
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,199
it's that time period where you're going to need it.

38
00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:25,039
It's almost like something has planted this seed in your mind,

39
00:02:25,199 --> 00:02:28,000
body and soul. And you know how human nature is.

40
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,080
We tend to forget about it. We tend to hey,

41
00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,439
this is all mine. I want to experience it right now.

42
00:02:33,599 --> 00:02:36,919
Oh my god, it feels incredible, And then you do

43
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:43,000
have that bout with fear, depression, lack of concentration, and

44
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,680
instead of doing a red Bull pop of a pill,

45
00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:50,680
smoking something or drinking something, I pick up my writing

46
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,840
and I go through the experiences and I offer that

47
00:02:54,879 --> 00:02:59,000
to you. It's not about reading into something. It's not

48
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,680
about oh my god, he's bringing his junk to me. No,

49
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,479
it's about you. This journey is your journey. It's your

50
00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,560
personal relationship with all things in you, around you, and

51
00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:14,879
things that are going to move beyond you. Take the

52
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,560
time to document those moments, those feelings. I'll give you

53
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,960
a good example. When I'm first waking up in the morning,

54
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,479
it takes me a long time, and I think the

55
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,520
reason why is because there is an essence of meditation

56
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,280
that consumes my entire body. It feels like I'm on

57
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,319
a cloud and I do. I'll lay there in bed,

58
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:42,240
my eyes closed, and I feel that unbelievable acceptance of

59
00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,319
what is in that right now. It's like your body

60
00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,319
is going, Am I really here? I have to be

61
00:03:49,319 --> 00:03:54,080
because I'm thinking, but I feel like I'm floating. It

62
00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:58,120
sounds weird, but if you pay attention to the slightest

63
00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:03,120
little moments of oh my God, save it for a

64
00:04:03,199 --> 00:04:07,360
rainy day, I marril. These aren't my words, These are

65
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,840
the lyrics from Billy's Forest