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Speaker 1: Creativity is an addiction unplugged because we will always say

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yes to creativity, totally uncut because we all make mistakes.

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So why not turn it into a tool. This is

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arrow unplugged. I'm a poet, one that just happens to

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write in a forest. In twenty fifteen, I stepped into

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a very special collection of trees at the Billygraham Library

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right here in Charlotte, North Carolina. While there, I did

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nothing but write. But they were never my words. They

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were the lyrics from Billy's Forest. Nearly two years later,

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God spoke directly into my heart. He said, dude, it's

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time to go. It's time to get you into other

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collections of trees, mainly your own forest in South Charlotte,

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North Carolina. You see, in every place that I have written,

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the spirit of Billy's lyrics vibrate the purpose and plan

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that God has put into play. I never know what

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I'm going to write about when I enter any forest,

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which gives us plenty of time to talk about it

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in the end. Remember, these aren't my words. These are

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the lyrics from Billy's Forest, Chapter number three hundred and

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fifty four, February fourth, twenty twenty three. This forest in

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South Charlotte sits amazingly still, this new sun twenty eight degrees,

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barely a leaf on the trees, The stream is frozen

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on its shores, yet there's still that beautiful sun bright.

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Look at it. It's so giving unless you want heat,

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and it says not today the silent period between the seasons,

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or is it a silent period? The extremely cold, slightly

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above a breeze wind has a roar to its personality.

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If this were summertime, it would just be just a

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breeze rattling the green leaves on the trees like that

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of a golf clap at a tournament. The one sound

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I would love to check in with is that of

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the squirrel as it's landing on a different tree. You

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fall witness to the flight, But where's the sound of

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the squirrel's claws gripping the tightly knitted bark of the tree.

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I do try to listen for all living things, but

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this is a forest, from distant hawks and owls to

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chattering ducks on the nearby frozen lake. So much noise,

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yet so calm. If I sat down to take a nap,

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could I truly fall asleep? Where is your zone, that

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place that you can step into to want to release

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yourself from everything that reality has delivered by way of

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your smartphone, by way of going to Instagram and TikTok.

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Do you ever set aside the digital devices and allow

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everything that is you to receive from the other things

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that are around you, such as this forest in South Charlotte,

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North Carolina. To hear that wintertime breeze with its little roar,

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it gets inside your mind, body and soul, and it

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reminds you of how cold are you to those that

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stand near you? Are you providing warmth and conversation? Because

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the sun is not It's twenty eight degrees, but it's there,

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and I have to ask you sometimes, are you just there?

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The beauty of winter is knowing that spring is on

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the way. That's a guarantee. But there's even a bigger

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meaning to the winter months. It is a time period

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of rest. And yet when you sit in this forest

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this morning, it's so noisy, or is it? I've always

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laughed it off as being jazz. Look at how important

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jazz has been to the formation of all genres of music.

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Imagine if you could be right there in the center

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of a very busy street. For some, that's your forest.

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That's where you can go to let go, because that

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gentle roar of all those cars, it just feels so

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good to receive it. The forest sits amazingly still, this

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new sun twenty eight degrees, barely a leaf on the trees.

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The stream is frozen on its shores. Which part of

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this painting is you, I'm arrow. These are not my words.

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These are the lyrics from Billy's Forest.