Expanding T.H.E. Universe

#86 - Our First Featured Writer is here

“Maturity is the opening of awareness to what I already am and what the world is trying to tell me every day.”
—Cody Lark

I’ve been eagerly looking forward to this day, because it marks a point of evolution for this writing project.

While I used to think I could, and should, do everything in a vacuum, I have now learned a greater appreciation for community. And I’d like other writers and artists to be able to speak through this platform as well.

So, today we are pleased to present our first ever Featured Writer.

If you remember, back in T.H.E. #56,

Cody Lark

was our first ever video podcast guest. And today we’re honored to share a short, resonant piece written by him.

Cody is a keen observer, with a calm command over the pen. Please be sure to drop a comment below, in response to his words.

I Am the Desert

Written by Cody Lark

My soul chose to be conceived, born, and raised in the vast desert of California. It suited my nature.

The depth of sight, the warm colors, the emptiness, the scurrying creatures, the lost objects to be found, the purifying sunlight. I must’ve been looking for a life of less distraction, in a place begging me to silently explore solitude.

I must’ve wanted nothing more than to preserve my attention span.

Stepdad brought up the other day how he didn’t understand me as a child. He said he’d set me down in the shade somewhere and watch how I’d just look at everything. The sand in front of me, or the mountains far off, I was a content observer and never caused a fuss.

He determined back then that something was broken in my brain.

But my mother just appreciated that at least one of her children wasn’t a handful.

Not wanting much, or having an opinion, proved difficult as a teenager. What was I if I couldn’t be expressed with words, concepts, traits, desires? Maybe I’m just shy, I thought. Or maybe I’m a loser because I don’t really care about much.

Maybe if I create stories about who I am, I’ll be accepted. Maybe I really do have passions to be unlocked within me!

As an adult, I tried giving my thoughts about “being” a chance. I succeeded in traditional ways and enjoyed many fruits. And my mind took all the credit for how stable my life became.

It chirped praises for itself, like, “heh, we really made it, Cody. People respect and love us, and of course they do! We're so smart and cultured and compassionate, so why wouldn’t they?”

But my truest self was terribly unhappy with the part me that reveled in those praising words. The part of me that needed them in order to be ok.

Though I lived in a major East Coast city, the bulk of my personal writing centered on the California desert. I was obsessed.

A gentle love blossomed in my chest when I thought about my childhood adventures roaming around Joshua Tree. I knew I had something special back then and I wanted it again.

My soul was patiently guiding me back to my center with feeling and wisdom, flooding me with images of the life I had so long ago, in all those careless days.

My greatest experience of love has not been with a person, but with a place. It continues to give me gifts and it always receives my love.

It reminds me of so many things, like the fact that caring too little in life is impossible if I just let go and witness (this world).

And that caring too much is child’s play. Not the wonderfully open and free-spirited kind, but the “playing house” version of kids trying to mimic adulthood.

For so long, I was so wrapped up in pretending, that after awhile my childish games convinced me I must actually become an adult.

What does it mean to be an adult anyway? I’ve thought about this a lot.

The aging process of my body and the harsh experiences of life really had embittered me to the belief that adulthood is just something that happens over time, rather than a measure of actual maturity.

But I’ve learned that maturity isn’t about aging or the accruement of experience. Maturity is the opening of awareness to what I already am and what the world is trying to tell me every day. 

The earth endlessly speaks to me. I remember that now.

My earliest memories of conversing with the earth come from back in my desert days. After scraping my knee, chasing a lizard as a boy, I watched as streams of blood ran down my leg.

A drop formed at the bottom of my foot. I gracefully removed my sandal.

The drop clung and collected grains of sand. After waiting, looking, feeling, breathing, until the blood was dry, I plucked the tiny ball of blood and sand, and placed it on my palm.

With my fingertips, I felt, and was intrigued by, the wet and dry of it.

A little thought crept in, “the pieces of mountain, the pieces of me, all together make a scene.” 

A scene. 

This existence is and is perceived. 

Caring too little is impossible. 

Caring too much is a game. 

Nothing I am is extreme.

I am the desert and the desert is me.

— Written by Cody Lark
— Edited by Hueman

T.H.E. Podcast Featured in a Music Video

Sending another huge THANK YOU to community member Elli Colta for sampling T.H.E. Podcast in her new song, “Take A Chance”.

This high energy Rock and Roll track features strong lead guitars and energetic drumming, along with Elli’s ethereal vocals, urging you to trust in your ability to follow your own path. A message we are 100% behind, and honored to reverberate!

Looking to share your writing?

Thank you again to my dear friends, Cody, and Elli for honoring us with your work. It’s truly a pleasure to feature you both here, and I look forward to more collaborations when they bloom.

If you are reading this, thinking you’d like to get your writing or artwork featured on The Hue-Man Experience, then please get in touch with me via email so we can talk!

I would love an opportunity to feature interesting writing or other art projects you are working on, and I’m sure our growing community shares the same feeling.

Please send some info my way, when you’re ready, and let’s collaborate.

And next Wednesday, I look forward to seeing you back here for another Wednesday Edition of The Hue-Man Experience.