my voice is muffled by the sounds of my
city weeping I am NOT ready to inherit
the trauma of my town the Rio to empty
there is nowhere for me to lay my body
to rest would be to drop my home on its
head
my children aren’t listening I pull them
as close to me as possible and they just
push away I am trying to paint a picture
for the young each brushstroke a new
chance to show their brightness my bike
was stolen the little white frame with
the pink tassels now only a ghost on my
front porch
I am scared this is all my birthplace
has left for me ghosts the Sandia’s are
getting almost as tired of watching our
city as I am I want to share our history
instead they are showing me how fast
they can tear it down I am told to sit
still in class how am I supposed to sit
still with not even enough books set in
front of me watching the paint slowly
drip off my classroom walls so instead I
learned to count in the dirt somewhere
between the Bosque and the Sandia’s I am
trying my hardest to teach them to make
the way we look at problems shapes the
way we look at possible solutions though
Sophie and I are decades apart poetry
and mindfulness have helped shape a
relationship where age doesn’t matter
and we have a shared vision for the
future we’d like to see in New Mexico
we’d like to see the arts of poetry and
mindfulness be used more intentionally
for community building particularly for
intergenerational mentorships poetry and
mindful practices activate our senses
they help us open up new perspectives
and design unconventional methods for
responding to challenges that face not
only young and old but New Mexicans of
every stripe when we are more mindful
it’s easier to see that what happens to
one of us happens to all of us
mindfulness helps bridge differences and
poetry helps us express our shared human
experiences at 12 years old I was
diagnosed with anxiety I was prescribed
as flu of medication and convinced my
young self that I had to alter my
chemical makeup in order to ever feel
emotionally sound again this terrified
me at 14 years old as day-to-day life
began became more tumultuous and I was
entering my sophomore year I was
diagnosed with PTSD and the allure to
prescription medications increased but I
refused my doctor’s propositions for
xanax and Prozac it’s not because I
believed that medication is for the weak
or helpless it was because deep down I
knew I was equipped with all the tools I
needed to change my own perception of a
damaged or sick self so at 14 i sat knee
to me in a youth leadership training
course with Sydney her peaceful and
calming demeanor gave me something to
aspire to I decided to look my anxiety
straight in the
and I found my art my art is poetry
I needed an art that would reflect not
only myself but my community and it
struggles because New Mexico youth are
not broken
we’re not hopeless we are amazing we are
bright and we are powerful and we have
all the tools and we have all the tools
we need to instill the power to heal
for years I worked in war zones with
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees taking a mindful pause stopping
for self-care seemed like a luxury when
literally people were dying all around
me my passion my motivations to make to
make a better world became the nail in
my coffin
it’s called burnout it wasn’t until
years later that I realized that
stopping to be fully present is the
starting point to make a difference in
the world
mindfulness is key for any action that
we want to take yes we have to put that
oxygen mask on first but that’s not
enough when the systems that created the
chaos in the first place are still
dysfunctional however when we put that
oxygen mask on we can see the world
differently we listen more deeply and we
can see and we are aware that no one is
wrong when we’re looking for solutions
together for our community it’s that
discovery that led me to share my
experience with other changemakers and
that’s how I met Sophie over the past
three years Sophie has taught me that
young people are not future leaders they
already are leaders
[Applause]
yeah she thought she taught me also that
poetry is mindfulness and mindfulness is
poetry because it’s all about feeling
and sensing with our hearts with our
minds with our bodies what is happening
right now and from that place of right
now we can choose what actions we want
to take rather than go back to a default
mood this young woman has been an
incredible inspiration for me and has
made my commitment to a more mindful New
Mexico very very solid together with
other members on our communities we’ve
begun to plant seeds seeds for leagues
of mindful mentorships by partnering
youth leaders and entrepreneurs with
successful conscious business leaders we
have decided to integrate the voice of
the youth into the design and content of
local and napes nation state and
I asked her to help her hands fill them
to the brim with water drink fast listen
listen to the sounds our city is making
listen to the cracking of the Thunder
she is telling you something move
forward take the advice of the mesas the
Pinot’s the wild coyotes they challenge
you take your art plant a seed paint a
picture build a home with a kid who is
aching to be engaged use your art to
ignite unmistakable creativity and
spread it wildly I asked her what she
thought of me
she said take a breath listen I want to
build a bridge I want you to see how
beautiful you look from this side [Applause]
city weeping I am NOT ready to inherit
the trauma of my town the Rio to empty
there is nowhere for me to lay my body
to rest would be to drop my home on its
head
my children aren’t listening I pull them
as close to me as possible and they just
push away I am trying to paint a picture
for the young each brushstroke a new
chance to show their brightness my bike
was stolen the little white frame with
the pink tassels now only a ghost on my
front porch
I am scared this is all my birthplace
has left for me ghosts the Sandia’s are
getting almost as tired of watching our
city as I am I want to share our history
instead they are showing me how fast
they can tear it down I am told to sit
still in class how am I supposed to sit
still with not even enough books set in
front of me watching the paint slowly
drip off my classroom walls so instead I
learned to count in the dirt somewhere
between the Bosque and the Sandia’s I am
trying my hardest to teach them to make
the way we look at problems shapes the
way we look at possible solutions though
Sophie and I are decades apart poetry
and mindfulness have helped shape a
relationship where age doesn’t matter
and we have a shared vision for the
future we’d like to see in New Mexico
we’d like to see the arts of poetry and
mindfulness be used more intentionally
for community building particularly for
intergenerational mentorships poetry and
mindful practices activate our senses
they help us open up new perspectives
and design unconventional methods for
responding to challenges that face not
only young and old but New Mexicans of
every stripe when we are more mindful
it’s easier to see that what happens to
one of us happens to all of us
mindfulness helps bridge differences and
poetry helps us express our shared human
experiences at 12 years old I was
diagnosed with anxiety I was prescribed
as flu of medication and convinced my
young self that I had to alter my
chemical makeup in order to ever feel
emotionally sound again this terrified
me at 14 years old as day-to-day life
began became more tumultuous and I was
entering my sophomore year I was
diagnosed with PTSD and the allure to
prescription medications increased but I
refused my doctor’s propositions for
xanax and Prozac it’s not because I
believed that medication is for the weak
or helpless it was because deep down I
knew I was equipped with all the tools I
needed to change my own perception of a
damaged or sick self so at 14 i sat knee
to me in a youth leadership training
course with Sydney her peaceful and
calming demeanor gave me something to
aspire to I decided to look my anxiety
straight in the
and I found my art my art is poetry
I needed an art that would reflect not
only myself but my community and it
struggles because New Mexico youth are
not broken
we’re not hopeless we are amazing we are
bright and we are powerful and we have
all the tools and we have all the tools
we need to instill the power to heal
for years I worked in war zones with
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees taking a mindful pause stopping
for self-care seemed like a luxury when
literally people were dying all around
me my passion my motivations to make to
make a better world became the nail in
my coffin
it’s called burnout it wasn’t until
years later that I realized that
stopping to be fully present is the
starting point to make a difference in
the world
mindfulness is key for any action that
we want to take yes we have to put that
oxygen mask on first but that’s not
enough when the systems that created the
chaos in the first place are still
dysfunctional however when we put that
oxygen mask on we can see the world
differently we listen more deeply and we
can see and we are aware that no one is
wrong when we’re looking for solutions
together for our community it’s that
discovery that led me to share my
experience with other changemakers and
that’s how I met Sophie over the past
three years Sophie has taught me that
young people are not future leaders they
already are leaders
[Applause]
yeah she thought she taught me also that
poetry is mindfulness and mindfulness is
poetry because it’s all about feeling
and sensing with our hearts with our
minds with our bodies what is happening
right now and from that place of right
now we can choose what actions we want
to take rather than go back to a default
mood this young woman has been an
incredible inspiration for me and has
made my commitment to a more mindful New
Mexico very very solid together with
other members on our communities we’ve
begun to plant seeds seeds for leagues
of mindful mentorships by partnering
youth leaders and entrepreneurs with
successful conscious business leaders we
have decided to integrate the voice of
the youth into the design and content of
local and napes nation state and
I asked her to help her hands fill them
to the brim with water drink fast listen
listen to the sounds our city is making
listen to the cracking of the Thunder
she is telling you something move
forward take the advice of the mesas the
Pinot’s the wild coyotes they challenge
you take your art plant a seed paint a
picture build a home with a kid who is
aching to be engaged use your art to
ignite unmistakable creativity and
spread it wildly I asked her what she
thought of me
she said take a breath listen I want to
build a bridge I want you to see how
beautiful you look from this side [Applause]
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