Find your Medicine

Don’t waste your hate,

Rather, gather and create.

Be of service, be a sensible person,

Use your words and don’t be nervous.

You can do this–you have purpose.

Find your Medicine and use it.

Manifesto by Nahko & Medicine for the People

Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, shared this video on Facebook today. He reminds the faithful that We are the Light of the World. Though times may get tough, we can always choose to bring our own unique Medicine to the world. Before we bring it, we must find what it is.

What’s your Medicine? And how will you bring it?

Creating a Sacred Space

My room is my sanctuary, but it didn’t start like that. It used to be a garage in a row home built in 1925. I can’t imagine what it was before that. It’s been redone 5 times over, and when I moved in the spiders had more real estate than the carpet. But I made a commitment to make the small carpeted off area my safe haven. Now, it’s my favorite room in the house.

Decorated in tapestries and custom artwork and cozied up with Philadelphia sports memorabilia, my room welcomes me home every day. It has some wood furniture and some plastic, a cheap black rug, and enough books to keep me occupied for a decade. It’s draft but well lit, comfortable but many workouts have happened there. Nothing can be seen out of the small marbled window, and airflow is somewhat of an afterthought.

I’ll never fully understand why, but I love my rough and tough room. It makes me feel safe. Like I’m the king of my own kingdom, like I’ve ruled well and my dominion has afforded me a soft bed and secure walls. I am the king of this kingdom. And I always will be.

Until the lease runs out in May.

What Makes a Gift

I once herd it said that, “A gift is only a gift when it’s given a second time.” The man I heard this from said it was a Native American tradition, one that involved a selfless sharing. In the age of personalized packages sent across the world at the click of a button, this tradition has lost traction.

What would it mean to give the gifts you receive a second time? It would be case specific, but there also are probably some similar principles evident throughout. Perhaps, that if something is given to you, it isn’t really yours but is now under your jurisdiction. Maybe this is a reminder that nothing is really ours, that everything is merely borrowed from Mother Earth.

If that’s the case, then maybe giving a gift a second time entails honoring the gift by using it for a life-affirmative purpose, one that returns life back to the earth we take from. Maybe. Or maybe, more simply, it’s about using gifts for a purpose greater than yourself. This broader vision would surely culminate in giving back to source.

As the days of gift giving come to an end, think about the gifts you’ve received throughout your life, both the tangibles and the intangibles. Respond to them with gratitude. Then, and only then, should you share our gift with the rest of creation, affirming it in its holy wholeness.

I missed 5 days, but Here’s a Poem

This week was the first time since July I missed some days of blogging. I was planing on going back and writing a blog for each day I missed, but that’s ridiculous. Better to start fresh. As I like to say, Nunc Coepi—now I begin. Now I begin to blog every day again, until the end of time.

I’ve made a commitment to start “creating” at least once a week. Right now, this means sitting down and free writing. I free wrote this past Tuesday and creating some interesting work. Here’s one of the thoughts (if you can call it that) that I created:

Reality is a broken rocking chair.  It’s uncomfortable and you can’t lean back as far as you’d like, but you sit in it and hope anyways.  Hope is dangerous.  I tell myself to stop hoping every day.  I say, “Don’t hope.  Make it happen.  Think it into existence and existence will follow suit.”  I am a father wearing a banana suit into Walmart.  His kids aren’t around, but he’s rehearsing his act. Uncomfortable resistance, too drastic to be saved for Halloween.  Why do I hate Halloween?

I like the first line and the line about the banana, but the rest doesn’t make too much sense (yet). I like writing and not knowing what it means. It’s the half-known world, the uncertain realm of the universe. Certainty bores me and cannot be trusted. I want to be okay with being uncertain, more like the weather. Less like construction plans.

Here’s to an uncertain life on a rock floating through nothingness.

Oatmeal & Eggs

Of late, my favorite breakfast currently is steel cut oatmeal with three sunny-side up eggs. Steel cut, sunny-side up. I call it savory oatmeal, but a lot of people call it strange. For one who’s never tried it, combining two breakfast staples like this seems odd, even appalling. I get it—I was one of those people once. But I tried it, and that changed everything.

I’m trying to think back to the first time I dropped the perfectly cooked sunny-side up eggs into a bowl of pain oats and I can’t picture it. It’s astounding how alien it is the first time you perform a ritual. It doesn’t make sense to you or anybody else, but you’ve heard it works. So you go for it, all the way. Oatmeal in eggs. Cold shower. Sandals with jeans. Freedom from fear of judgment, openness to a new way of living.

This is a new way of living: being open to new experiences, having our souls be free to explore this world free from shackles of false beliefs. Today can be the first day for you, the first day of a new ritual or lifestyle. All you need is a will stronger than your desire for permanence.

The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

I fasted for 21 hours today. From 10pm last night to 7pm today, all I consumed was water, an americano, and the Eucharist. When I started fasting like this, I would get very angry in the middle of the day. My energy was all over, I couldn’t focus, and I said hurtful things to my loved ones. But since building up a tolerance to fasting, hunger is often replaced with greater mental clarity, and discouraging remarks towards family and friends turn into awareness.

I feel as if fasting takes the attention off me and places it on the immediate world around me. Smells become more vivd and colors become brighter. I can see other people for who they are instead of who I want them to be for me. My whole world becomes less self-centered and more focussed in on my environment. All of this because I chose not to eat until dinner.

Being a college athlete with workouts nearly every day, fasting becomes far less possible during the season. But rest days on the weekends are fair game. So long as I can resist the urge to guzzle down waffles and omelettes, I might just have my most productive days of the week. If only…

Here’s to the joys of not eating. Hip, hip.

Lifeguard

Nahko & Medicine for the People released a new single today called Lifegaurd. It’s the band’s first released artwork since 2016, so it’s a big deal. Rumors of a new album in the next few months has been circulating, making all Medicine fans very happy.

This song is upbeat and hopeful, all while being a battle cry during tumultuous cultural storms and crashing societal waves. “The world’s about to shift again—we’ll never be the same.” While most songs about cultural awakening make leave you feeling cold and desperate, Nahko’s music always leaves me with a sense of peace and responsibility. Maybe we can make a change in these difficult times. Maybe I can be the one to make the change.

A Lifeguard is somebody who watches out for your safety when you don’t even realize they’re there. On this All Saint’s Day, we remember those who have gone before us and are now alive again, reunited with the divine creator, pure love. These saints above are looking out for us, our daily Lifeguards, making sure we keep our heads above water and sailing in the right direction. We set the course; they make sure we stay on it.

Let’s take a moment to thank our Lifeguards, those alive on earth and those alive in heaven. We’d be mistaken to think we can do this life alone.

God Is

Kanye West’s new album Jesus is King is taking the world by storm. I’ve been on and off the Jesus Music bandwagon since high school, but it’s always been important to me. And some of it slaps. When Kanye’s new album came out, I heard it was about Jesus. Indeed, it is. And it, too, slaps.

Whenever a famous artist outsteps his or her main mode of transmission, people loose their heads. Remember Old Town Road? When something can’t be categorized, people tend to dismiss it at first then eventually come running back.

Some people don’t like Kanye’s preaching, but He’s an artist. This is a masterpiece, whether people see it or not. Gospel and rap? Unthinkable. Imaginative. Powerful.

Thank you, Kanye, for opening our eyes. Let’s praise Jesus for a bit and bring people together.

Keep Going

Mike Posner is almost finished walking across America. That’s right, Atlantic to Pacific. He started in New Jersey and is currently in California with less than 100 miles to go (out of 2,851). His walk was delayed while walking through Colorado. He was bit by a rattlesnake and nearly died. It took him 3 weeks until he was back to walking. He just surprised the world by dropping his brand new mixtape called “Keep Going.”

Throughout the walk Mike has been sharing videos of spoken word on Instagram. He’s been shouting “Keep Going” at the end of every one of his posts. It’s been his rallying cry during this whole journey. Little did we all know, but Mike was sharing his new songs, verses, and mixtape with us. And none of us realized it.

This album is magnificent. Really, it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. This man doesn’t speak about making money and partying. He speaks of love, self discovery, and following your heart. This is a meaningful message, too meaningful to not be heard.

So go check it Mike Posner’s Musical Medicine. Now we’ll just wait for him to do a song with Nahko…hopefully!

Back to the Basics

When embarking on a journey towards better health and more vibrant wellness, you must remember to keep things simple.

If the basics are not the cornerstone of your endeavor, you’ll soon find yourself overwhelmed. When things are too complicated and you can’t commit to all the changes you held yourself too, you’ll feel defeated. You’ll stop progress altogether because if you’re not all in you’re not getting the most benefit, right? Instead, your complicated plan shortly becomes too much to bear and you remain the same, still holding that extra 20 pounds, still gasping for breath after going up the stairs.

Let me take a moment to remind you of the basics, the bare necessities of living a healthy, balanced life. This doesn’t include a food scale or calorie counting, and there’s no need for a fancy fitness program.

The Basics:

  • Eat plants and animals
  • Avoid processed foods
  • Cook your own meals
  • Eat until you feel full
  • Pack your lunch
  • Find healthy snacks that don’t have too many simple sugars
  • Drink filtered water
  • Steer clear of sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Don’t have caffeine past 2pm
  • Move your body every day
  • Go for a walk
  • Run, lift weights, or go to a yoga class if you want to
  • Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, depending on your own needs
  • Limit your screen time, especially at night
  • Take deep breaths
  • Spend time with your loved ones
  • Spend time with yourself
  • Allow yourself to laugh
  • If you slip up, forgive yourself and get back on track

If you implement these lifestyle practices, things will start to change. You’ll feel more energized and less lethargic. You’ll need less coffee and have more time to spend with your loved ones. Once you start, the momentum will keep you going. That cupcake you have in celebration of a good week won’t feel like a defeat but a victory. Small victories will compound and you’ll soon be miles ahead of where you started

It’s all about balance. If 80% of the things you do are healthy and 20% aren’t the best for you, you’re living a pretty balanced, enjoyable life. Forgive yourself if you slip up and move forward with a grateful heart. This is all about learning and growing.

I’m telling you, if you get back to the basics, things will change.