A mission to heal trauma

🧿 A purpose to understand shared histories — together

I was walking up from Midtown East towards Central Park South with a friend last week. He stopped with wonder in his eyes as I explained my vision for the second book of the ICARUS series. He said, “I wish more people were like you. I wish more people could commit to passionless passion in an effort to make the world a better place.”

I stopped in my tracks and I looked him in the eyes. “Passionless passion . . .” I repeated over and over again. “Passionless passion . . . That is exactly right!” I said with a smile while the synapses in my mind lit up from this interesting insight. He laughed. We kept walking towards and into the vast green of Central Park.

We began to uncover what he meant and what passionless passion can mean. To me, passionless passion is something an artist knows all too well. It is the dedication and consistency to their craft, day in and day out. An eye on the prize ambition without knowing when the prize might arrive and if the ‘prize’ is really the goal.

Photo by Alexandre Chambon on Unsplash

It points to an acceptance and attunement to the here and now, with no zealous obsession or attachment to future outcomes. It is the gift and ritual of creation for creation’s sake. It is a passion that burns twice as long because it does not burn away in one fell swoop. It is the "Middle Way" the Buddha advocated for — a path that avoids extremes of indulgence or asceticism.

The mission of POETRY IN EDEN in all its forms is to uncover the universal human search for meaning through philosophy and poetry, while understanding history to heal generational trauma. The mission of POETRY IN EDEN has many likings to the “Middle Way.” In this way, I look inward and I look backward to history to better understand what is to come. Perhaps I do not speak about it enough, but researching history is a huge part of what I do.

I spend months researching nuanced parts of history before I begin writing my novels (note: still working on a book deal and I am open to book agents). The historical part of my first novel/unpublished manuscript focuses on the Cold War in North Korea during the first dictator’s rule and East Berlin when the wall was up. I interview and read biographies of anyone who was there. I go to historical sites to transport myself back in time, and if I can, I always choose tour guides who experienced the events themselves.

My books aim to bring a certain hope to the world, but at the same time, shed light on the dark inner workings of mankind. In this way, we can understand history better. In this way, we can understand ourselves better, and hopefully as a society stop repeating harmful patterns.

“I said: what about my eyes?

He said: Keep them on the road.

I said: What about my passion?

He said: Keep it burning.

I said: What about my heart?

He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?

I said: Pain and sorrow.

He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

- Rumi

Healing requires us to sit with the pain. Healing requires us to understand ourselves. Healing requires us to understand the generational patterns holding us back. Will you commit to this mission with me today? Will you continue to heal yourself so we can heal the world? There is no better time like the present.

I pray we feel.

I pray we heal.

I pray we grow.

I pray we know.

Stay with it.

Wisdom comes in with the wind

because the air frees it.

Enlightenment comes in with pins and needles

because humanity holds compassion,

and genius.

I pray we feel it.

I pray we feel it!

I pray we see it.

I pray we mean it.

Intention is our friend.

May we find the path

in the middle of the underbrush

in the end.

Ah-men,

my friend.