I post some thoughts on Substack on occasion.
Thought you might have interest in these two posts about audience, presence, magic, and how to step into it right now.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Audience
https://zachfreidhof.substack.com/p/to-be-an-audience?r=18kjot
Audience Pt 2:
What is a song that has been inspiring you lately?
Music is such an inspiration for me. It is like air and water. I notice a difference in my mental health, and even physical health when I haven't been listening or working on music for a few days. Chelse can confirm this change in me.
In the last month, I came across the song, Catch the Wind, by Irma from Live in Paris.
The first thing that caught me was the sound of the acoustic guitar. It is recorded so well, and the nylon string guitar feels like you are sitting together in the same room. So intimate. Her voice also falls into this category.
The sparse production draws me in.
"As if I try to catch the wind
Or swim in the sand
My mind keeps wandering back
To the day I held your hand
I'm only crying tears of hope
But those are still real
The things that once appeared so strong
Now feel so faint
Cause when I woke up in the sand
You've hit the road and left my heart a dry land
We've been stained there
Witnessing the end"
While listening to these lyrics, I cant help but think of the election and the absolute cliff we've jumped off.
And it's January, which was my dad's birthday. And the holidays without my mom and dad. The beauty of this song though is that it isn't all grief. (I listen to Bon Iver for that). There's something in it that appeals to healing and growth, while not forgetting the depth of time I had with my family.
And if there's a hope in the grief there, I have to hope that it exists for our democracy too.
According to Forbes:
"Death doulas—also known as end-of-life doulas or death midwives—are “compassionate guides who offer emotional, spiritual and practical support to individuals and their families during the dying process,” says Ashley Johnson, president of the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) and founder of Loyal Hands, an end-of-life doula agency in Orlando, Florida.
Unlike hospice nurses and therapists, doulas don’t provide medical care or psychoanalysis, says Johnson. Their services often include:
According to Johnson, end-of-life doulas frequently work in conjunction with hospice programs to provide interpersonal, social, logistical and spiritual guidance by filling in the gaps that occur during end-of-life care."
The end of life transition is one of the most powerful, sacred, and challenging events in a life. Yet, it is often something that happens with little thought, ritual, and awareness. Many times it occurs in the impersonal, loud, and challenging spaces of hospitals. Places where a dying person and their families and friends cannot get their emotional, spiritual, and energetic needs met.
So a death doula can help a person facing that transition to bring awareness to how they want the process to go. We give autonomy back to the dying person.
In addition to this, a doula works with the family and friends to allow them opportunities to support the dying person's wishes, as well as helping them to understand and meet their needs from the process.
When a person is getting ready for birthing, there are months of preparations, skills, and discussions. They are encouraged to talk about their experiences and dreams for the future. There are classes which give specific skills one might need for parenthood.
Yet, almost none of this exists when death is approaching. Or even throughout life, as we don't always get nine months notice that death is arriving. And death is no less a powerful and profound transition as birth.
Many people have fear around the concept of death. Talking about it, planning for it, learning skills for it are all shrouded in taboo and silence. The thing is, death comes whether you're prepared or not, whether you've talked about it or not. So why not lean into the discussion, planning, and skills-learning to make the process as smooth and beautiful as possible?
You can begin your planning and skill growth today.
Dreaming Real Life
Depression is a wild ride. Months turned into years. Doors of opportunities and dreams began shutting. When long enough shut, their location even is forgotten.
Energy slows. Every action seems coated in molasses.
Then one day, after a very low night, the depression pushed away, so there was a space between us.
A breeze floated in.
Light began to shine.
And a door of hope cracked open.
Weeks passed while I worked at opening that door further.
Chelse was a major part of that door, that light, and that effort. One day, we got the door fully open, and I walked into the sunlight.
Each step from there seemed dream-like. And songs began to flow through. Daily.
Dreaming Real Life came as a message of awe and gratitude that life was unfolding in ways I couldn't have even imagined a few months earlier.
Baby. Life it is calling.
Im ready.