Untold Stories: “There is peaceful. There is wild. I am both at the same time.” Nayyirah Waheed
I believe we found both peaceful and wild on our May Community Call - what a sacred and joy-filled community call! Our call brought so much heart, wisdom, and art through the voices of Carmen, Clintel, and our community. For those that were not able to join us, here is a brief summary. (Below you will find a link to the call recording and additional resources.)
Hollister (Euphrates Head of Community Engagement) opened the call welcoming us with a moment of silence and then introduced our two guests - Carmen Rubin, an author/activist/peacebuilder and Clintel Steed, an artist/activist/peacebuilder. Carmen and Clintel use different mediums that unite in the harmonized voice of their hearts.
Clintel Steed was invited to join the call and create an art piece inspired by the conversation. As the conversation unfolded, so did his masterpeace. Please see the above photograph and attachments below.
Katy (Euphrates Executive Director) guided our conversation with Carmen Rubin, author, activist, philanthropist, teacher, artisan, storyteller, light giver, partner, mother, daughter, an inner peace warrior. The conversation explored storytelling as a form of peace, overcoming challenges, and personal & interpersonal peace practices.
We then headed into breakout rooms where we shared reflections and our own personal peace practices and untold stories.
When we returned Clintel revealed his creation which he described as reflecting self love, the idea of reaching for maturity and a clear voice, and letting the light come from you. He explained this piece created today might be an answer. “What is the answer to the chaos that we feel right now? And that is love..love of yourself...”
After a group reflection on the art and a few questions, Carmen closed encouraging us to stay soft. "You have to find a way to keep yourself soft. It’s the only way to do this work...make sure you’re ok first and then take yourself to the world." She shared that this was one of the greatest moments of her life :) Mine too, Carmen!!!
Call Recording and Additional Resources
Carmen Rubin’s website
Carmen Rubin’s non profit, One Blue Village
Clintel Steed’s website
Carmen Rubin reading Ashti Meets Birdman Al
Carmen Rubin reading Honcho Hates Mud
An article - Storytelling for Peace by Kirthi Jayakumar