Since You Asked

The first Open Meditation was a night of firsts and newness. Samantha Frazier-Keys debuted a beautiful poem during the open mic - after a nudge from Wesley - that made my mother cry, and gave her the biggest hug afterward; new bonds happening. The poem is about the journey of pregnancy, fighting against the changes it can make to you and in you, what it’s like to fight and lose, not unlike having faith yet fighting against God. It crystallized an evening that peeled layers and built warmth despite anything hacking away at us outside of that space, standing on a foundation set earlier in the evening, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

She.Unapologetic debuted an excerpt of prose from a new book she’s narrating in a formerly unexplored tone, making her pen and person more prismatic; reinvention. Wesley Frazier-Keys honored the jubilation in Black praise and turned stereotypes around loudness inside out in a piece where “Shout!” went from line to a new ancestors’ call. David T. Wilson closed out the event honoring Black military veterans, and the painful hindsight of choosing to spend time learning a trade instead of investing in his craft; bodies on the line for something new, and worthy of sacrificing for. And Robin Bobo shared a piece on why her real name is more than enough to step to the stage with, with her R&B verses probably still ringing somewhere in a new plane.

Open Meditation | Growth & Satisfaction turned out to be a night of vulnerability, warmth and community that left an immediate impact and indelible mark on attendees and performers alike, partly to the brief group discussion serving as a springboard prior to the open mic and features.

The 2nd definition of meditation is “a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.” Neither seeks a predetermined outcome. It’s an allowance for distance from the unconscious thought, and a break from any conscious ones except “make no immediate judgement”, for instance.

Similarly, Open Meditation was initiated, and intended to be a space to explore, pull apart, and discuss themes that appear in our everyday lives without judgement, opening with what and how grief and loss can teach from its initial pain point, on.

Participants shared reflections, lessons, and current and recent struggles about how they process and reframed grief again and again from the deaths of multiple family/friends in a short period of time, or from a single loss that’s made a change in them over time. And without judgment; a well of mental/emotional goods poured into and to borrow from sprang.

Also acknowledged were the loss of old phases of life, missed opportunities or connections, with a break for hugs and new bonds before landing on the new relief that community sharing can produce. It didn't have to, though. Grateful it did.

The participants were genuine and selfless, including the features (who I want to thank again for being down to talk about such sensitive things publicly, truly modeling what Open Meditation was meant to be on the first go round.) Their poems afterward asked for longer, concentrated listening and freedom to allow the imagination to roam; the other, more popular/incomplete interpretation of meditation. But there’s the seated stillness, observing quickly moving thought. The Collective provided the closing movement.

Unfortunately, due to time, we didn’t get to the satisfaction, ambition and indulgence part of the discussion. But we’ll come back around to that sometime soon.

For the next ones, I’ll have to include trigger warnings in the promos, and maybe a disclaimer that I’m not a therapist or a mental health professional, or something. I'll keep you posted on the next one. Other than that, I been chilling. Wife's great, kids getting old, giving me grays.

What you been up to?