Meeting me where I am Dear friend, A few years ago, I spent a year living in a magical forest. Hands down, the best place I've ever lived. This last year, I've been renting a room in a house on the outskirts of a small town. Not my favourite place to live by almost any standard – except for the apple tree outside the window, which has been a beautiful ally. A little over a month ago I went back to visit the forest and as fortune would have it an opening appeared. A clea

The more we behave as if we are only individuals the further away we move from our potential as humans Dear friend, From an early age we're taught to identify with our individuality We're called by a certain name that separates us from everyone else We're given things that are ours and ours alone And we're taught that money is first and foremost for me Even the collective is weaponised, learning to identify with one group by pointing at what we are not: I see po

What's the use of strong will without free will? And what's the use of free will if it isn't strong? Dear friend, Some philosophers like to argue about whether we humans have free will at all or if everything we do is determined by what comes before it. I think most people experience that they have free will, but if we consider things more deeply, what does that really mean? Free will to do what exactly? And in which situations? Certainly we do not have unlimited choices,

Meeting as equals – not because we're identical, but because we are not Dear friend, When we meet I am your equal Not merely a teacher Not merely a servant Able to be both, willing to shift positions, while also opening the door to non-hierarchy A shared exploration of possibilities Think of me as your peer Someone who is also on a journey through life In some areas, you are stronger or wiser and I learn from you In others, I am stronger or wiser and you learn

A flag is unfurling in the wind Dear friend of wisdom, Earlier today, I was walking in the sunshine and feeling the weight of the world I could dissociate into something more pleasant or succumb to the pain, but is it possible to stay with both? What happens if I keep a good posture without distancing myself from misery? Walking with a straight spine, while intensely feeling the pointlessness, I sense a connection The music grows crisper I hear the words more clea

If you don't want it, just say no – So that when you do, you can say so Dear friend, It's so simple, really If the shoe doesn't fit say so If you don't want it say no Yet, how many times do we lie instead? For fear of hurting the other person, maybe but doesn't the lying hurt more? I don't like everyone and I don't expect everyone to like me either Hearing that might sting for a moment or two but it's not a big deal However, if someone pretends, fakes or lies

Waiting for something to happen, for something that has already happened, or for that, which is happening. Dear friend of wisdom, Many, many years ago I wrote a song about remembering: Drawn by the memory of you I sit and watch the sunrise Fight to realise that is true In my heart Hearing that I talk like before The rain came down to greet me Slowly I am drying out In the sun Coming back It is here It is now It is time I let the memories Coming back It is here It is n

...effectasteffectasteffectaste... Dear friend of wisdom, I have been told that I drank coffee as a baby And I fondly remember the scent of freshly ground beans in the grocery stores in Budapest of my childhood Even so, the taste of coffee feels like an acquired one Cream, on the other hand, I have not been told that I took a particular interest in as a child Then again, what's not to like about cream? But why would we mix these two beverages? It's quite arbitrary if we

Swimming on the surface – swimming in the deep Dear friend of wisdom, How deep can you go before you hit the bottom? How much can you carry before it breaks you? How many people can you love before your heart is full? How far can your mind travel before you lose it? How many vantage points do you need to have before you see the full picture? Still here, Christopher PS Click here to listen...

The choices we make Dear friend of wisdom, Life keeps presenting me with choices Some feel easy Others make no sense Sometimes I want both Sometimes I want neither And sometimes my choices seem to make no difference at all A quick fix or a long-term solution The right way or the easy way Following my heart or my head Quality or quantity Safety or adventure Practising or preaching Logic or intuition A rock or a hard place Saving or spending The pe

Opening Dear friend, For many years I was convinced that things either should be perfect or didn't matter at all Aiming for the best but short of that why bother Living like a king or a beggar Travelling first class or hitchhiking Once I even hitched a ride in a Rolls Royce with a man whose business card said 'Eccentric' Shunning the common and the ordinary calling it mediocre Like a meter that was either at max or min never in the middle Until one day I s

Where is the path when every step is different? Dear friend, Between doing and being I'm exploring a path Hidden in plain sight and deeply felt It's beyond what I think I know I don't walk it to get somewhere yet it takes me where my heart longs to go Between allowing and becoming I'm receiving you Still here, Christopher PS Click here to listen.

The spider's web Dear friend, I keep finding myself in fields of tension Between what I feel and what I know I keep experiencing sensations in my body Pangs of pain and moments of relaxation Looking back, every step a trial every step a dance Right now moving at the edge vigilant Every step I wonder Sometimes I slip – for a brief moment – a year – a decade gone Here again here all the time Too busy worrying Still here, Christopher PS Click here to liste

Many strings – one instrument Dear friend, Right now, I feel like a guitar. Strings vibrating, each at its own frequency. Once in a while, moments of harmony. Even my straight spine Curves At times, just standing there Untouched for days Slightly out of tune Hearing thoughts Feeling emotions As they pass through Air enters me Air moves out Coming together I find myself resonating Where do you find yourself, right now? Still here, Christopher PS Click here t

Between violence and resolution Dear friend, Last fall, I sent a song about integrating trauma to a song contest. It wasn't selected to compete. The song which won the contest was about unresolved trauma. About toxicity and pain. For the past two weeks, I've been walking between these two worlds. Not trying to make the pain go away. And not celebrating it either. Meeting people, there's unexpected behaviour. Some are hostile. Some friendly. In conversations, drama i

Dancing with the flames Dear friend, After a year of gathering dead wood Shedding skin and letting go of patterns The last month has set it on fire Things I'd carried for so long Taken for granted Have started to move Last week, I found myself bedridden Coughing madly, Yet, feeling surprisingly cleansed The fire is burning whether we like it or not What happens when we stop fighting and start moving with it? Still here, Christopher PS Click here to listen.

What lies beyond the mountain? Dear friend, In many ways I am like a seven-year-old Joyful whenever I grow And eagerly looking at what's next And the fairytales are still telling me That if I work really hard And follow my dreams I will meet my true love And then We will live Happily Ever after But what is this Happily ever after After all? I wonder what lies beyond The fairytale of success And I wonder who's telling The story Because I remember a time When lif

Life growing and withering Dear friend, Here at the threshold Of what's emerging I meet you Early March Between Imbolc and Ostara Life starts returning I find my sense of smell Reminding The fragrance Ever new Yet familiar Nature showing me Cycles Something Is Always Happening The flowers Ever new Yet familiar Nature shows me My cyclical nature And yours The sky paints In slow colours Shifting Like the moon Waxing and waning Yet its shape remaining For

I Stand Here Looking Down at My Life Dear friend, I'm standing In a place Where only I Can stand Not because I am Better than Anyone else But simply Because This is My place Sometimes that place Is where a decision must be made And no one else can make it Giving myself permission Not to enter The world stops And starts paying attention When you dance I see your beauty For no one else Will ever dance like you My love Is an offering And when I give i

What wouldn't I do to feel more? Dear friend, It is a time of great upheaval On a daily basis my feeds overflow With outrage, despair and disbelief What is going on? Why is this happening? How can this be allowed to continue? And then, A thought occurs. An explanation, perhaps: We humans need to feel alive So deep is this need That we seem to be prepared to do almost anything Just to feel I am a human I need to breathe I need air If you give me water I will d