Lindsey’s Blog Post:
The Real, the Raw, the True – that’s what it’s all about, the growth that spreads inside. In creative expression we attempt to translate the sometimes impossible, mysterious realm into sight, sound, touch, taste or smell. When brave hearted artists have the strength to unzip the inner walls of our existence to translate our own presence, lives can be shifted forever. Unmovable mountains can be moved. We bring our empty cups to the wellsprings of vulnerability in search of the Real, the Raw, the True. We drink and refill. It is not easy.
This process of opening to artistic attunement helps us learn how to be more human, for ourselves and others. We need this like we need food. All people need creative expression – not all people know we need it. But we will die without it. It’s a basic human need, an interconnected thread that asks artists of all mediums to be life-affirming leaders.
We want to witness the ethereal spoken into thick air, to be blanketed in words or images that trace the very existence of our desire. We want to hear courage, to listen to the momentary erosion of our own fear from the beginning of a song to the end. We want to see grief in a matted glaze, to hold the clay bunny in our hands and feel tragedy translated perfectly. We want to taste kindness, that sweet relief of a soup made with empathy. We want to feel love pour through our hair and land on our shoulders, like a flannel bag of hot rice.
Moments of attunement, strung together, form a life fully lived. And attunement is impossible without the ingredient of free creativity. The way mindful conversation with a loved one can open long hidden rooms, like language as a map leads the lost souls home. The way light lands on a prison cell floor and brings a memory of comfort to the innocent’s eyes. The way a two hour play can mark the official beginning of a new way of life. The way a book can sooth loneliness through companionship over dinner alone.
What moves you in the wide umbrella of creativity? My answer is humble vulnerability. Intimate and open exploration of the Real, the Raw and the True is the gift of all gifts. As everyone is an artistic being, we are all invited into the choice of how much to open our emotional vessels, when to unzip our internal landscapes and if – if to even begin at all. For me, that’s the hardest part. But I want skin inside out, I want the microscopic. I want to feel the churning circulation of the heart of the one giving the gift. And if that’s me, I want to make sure I’m showing up a clear channel on my highest road. I want to hear your stories – however thin or vast – I want to share mine. And when I sing, I want to give like gravity.
FreeSessions is a place that has consistently invited my vulnerability to widen. Without knowing it, FreeSessions has held me in days I could not speak yet found strength to sing. FreeSessions held me up when I could not stand. FreeSessions is a small community worth fighting for, a place I love to co-facilitate. For this curation, I’m grateful to share some of my original music with this mountain town, solo style. My broken down ukulele, with alternate tunings, will be my trusty steed. I’m grateful to offer my poems as an optional cliff jump for free improvisations. And I will invite myself and other brave explorers to dive into the question:
What does your Real, your Raw, your True…need to express right now?
