What was and what will be – a year in review

 
Endings are often times of reflection,
a little pause before again it all begins.
What a beautiful year of creativity
2024 has been for me.

In a world that has gone mad,
riddled with wars and genocides,
exploitation and competition,
where what matters is to be efficient
in destroying the essence of life.
Still within the last hopeless convulsions
of a system on the verge of collapse,
I managed to find solace.

In January, with a dear friend of mine,
a fellow procrastinator and creative mind,
we committed to a weekly rendezvous.
In a café every Sunday, an afternoon to just do.
Do the thing, no more excuses,
“I'm not good enough”-s and “who am I to”-s.
Don't I have anything better to do?
With no chasing results and no expectations,
a little pocket of time of joyful creation.

In just a year I have written more
than I had ever done before.
By the hundreds, poems and haiku,
writing challenges, drawings and of course dance.
Finally letting go of perfectionism,
things I'm proud of, some things not so,
but no matter what, I feel content.

So in whatever shape or form,
and with no AI involved,
into our days let's try to insert
those, even tiny, creative pockets.
“Joy is an act of resistance.”
Because when we find joy,
we say no to what fools us
into an artificial happiness.

Living is not about dreams of grandeur
or sensational bucket list must-dos,
that we buy with our life and time,
throwing ourselves into the grinder.
Maybe living is about things insignificant
making up the fabric of the existence.
Those little moments that can become,
within the boundless realm of imagination,
an entire magical world that opens in front of us.
 
 
I wish you all a fulfilling year, full of little pockets of creativity, turning insignificant moments into joyful magical worlds.

Note: “Joy is an act of resistance.” is from a poem by Toi Derricotte
 

2024 in numbers

125 poems and haikus
1 month-long writing challenge: Writober
1 short story written over 25 days: The Cave
130+hrs of dancing and about 50 choreos learnt
200+hrs of voice acting for 1 project, definitely not enough and hoping for more new projects in 2025 (demo updates coming soon-ish)

I don't know what 2025 will bring but I will be sure to keep this weekly or even daily creative practice alive. I will keep writing, dancing and will try to draw more, practice calligraphy more and to go back to a more consistent Chinese study.

And if you're in Vancouver, BC and want to join in on our Sunday creative session, give me a shout. The more, the merrier.
 
 
 
#Poetry #english #writing #2024review #YearInReview #2025 #dance #VoiceActing #dubbing #creativity #creation #joy #imagination

Dancing, lonely
My skin against yours
Deeply you touch my soul

Looking, through your eyes
I see the other side
And instantly all makes sense
 
 
 
#Poetry #english #FromTheDarkCornersSeries #tree #gods #soul #dance

 
This poem is as raw as I wrote it on the worst morning of a 3-week bout of severe hives and angioedema. It came to me in a wave just like the hives did. Thank goodness it finally got better earlier this week. So this morning, I took a 3hr dance workshop. I was not sure if I should go. First I'm not a morning exercise kind of person, but also my body was so exhausted. My muscles felt weak. I could sense I needed replenishing and I was not sure I could go through a 3hr dance class. But Rianne made it so gentle and soft, inviting and caring. It's probably only in the last hour that I felt a new flow of energy, the liveliness re-integrating my body.

I hadn't realized how much of a toll this whole thing took on me, physically and mentally, until at the end of the workshop, when sharing our thoughts, I was unable to hold my tears. Contained within those tears was a messy mix of feelings: all the stress from both the illness and not knowing why it was happening or how long it would last; all the fatigue from not sleeping well; but also the gratitude of being here in a safe and judgement-free space where I could share those feelings; and the appreciation of being able to deal with this from a place of privilege, privilege of having a great family doctor who cares and listens, privilege of friends and family I can count on, privilege of not stressing about other things like money or housing.

The title of the song for the phrase we danced at the end felt so appropriate. It's called “God Turn Me Into a Flower” by Weyes Blood (beautiful and soothing song by the way). And that's really how I felt, like a flower blooming again after the winter.

I know the hives could come back anytime. And I'm still pretty tired. But for now, I will just be grateful for my healthy and fully functioning body and mind, while having a new understanding and admiration for those who suffer from chronic pain and illness. And I will try to be more attentive to my body, who was probably trying to tell me something worth listening to.
 
 
 
#Poetry #english #FromTheDarkCornersSeries #dance #hives #illness #ChronicPain #health #energy #flow #MentalHealth #gratitude

Lost in a field of lights like flowers.
Circled in a sea of peering eyes. Watching.
Me against you. You against us. Us against them.
Attempting communication.
Touching. Making it through. Failing.
Trying again. Always.
Blinding stars.
Overcoming the burden.
Being me in a sea of us.
Light opening the world. Seeing.
Me against myself catching me.
All the lights of us connecting. Supporting.
Against darkness. Pushing through.
Collective experience.
Release.

Left. Right. Left. Right.
Hand. Shoulder. Heart.
Solitude amongst the multitude.
From the moving shadows, darkness creeps in.
Humanity still beating. Surviving.
Until the last note.

From the confines of the Earth. Life.
Creatures from within. Origins.
Shapes of nightmares.
Reimagining Creation. Beyond darkness.
From the depth of the universe.
Souls murmuring. Showing the path.
To scarring ends and new beginnings.
Fire. Incandescence.
Different. Same. Choice.

Dancers. Humans. Body. Soul.
 
 

 
This is something I wrote after watching Body and Soul, choreographed by Crystal Pite (one of my favourite choreographers of all times) for the Paris Opera Ballet. A flow of words came to me, raw and underwhelming compared to this mind-blowing work.
 
 
 
#Poetry #english #InspiredByDanceSeries #dance #CrystalPite