Where I'm Coming From
we as humans so often choose to look away from what we have endured. i truly believe that if we take the time to stare down what has once tormented us and embrace it, we can move forward with a healthier and more positive lifestyle. since jumping on board with the combat paper project in august of 2007, i have learned that finding ways to numb ourselves into not recognizing trauma, we tend to drive ourselves down the wrong path making it more difficult to unearth ourselves in the downward spiral in which we have placed ourselves. the cpp has helped force my mind and body in knowing that in order to come to terms with what happened, we must find several doors that will lead us in different directions, circulating through our psyche and healing each and every torn fiber that we are made up of. we as veterans have walked a line that many will not, we have seen things that most will never see and we have played a part in the war that we have created. it is up to us to re-weave the fabric that makes us whole. with the first cut of my uniform on a warm summer night in vermont, my outlook on the current events drasticly changed, sending me down the path that i was meant to walk. since then i have been able to express my feelings, my thoughts, my experiences in ways i never would have imagined of doing. when one sets out with the intention to heal, they are taking on a task that is very difficult at hand for we must relive these events, look at them from different points of view and then mend together what was once broken, the end result being a more optomistic point of view of themselves, society and the world in which we live. it took more courage to go back to these times than it did when they actually happened. it becomes easy to shut down, it becomes easy to walk away but if we keep running from what took place then we can never truly be at peace. the combat paper and warrior writer projects are tools on the shelf. it is up to us to venture out in search of our calling and find for ourselves how we must fit into society for the greatest good, but a helping hand along the way is always a good thing. so we must pass along this knowledge to all beings even if they do not share the same belief because eventually they might just understand where we come from. i truly hope that in time, we can all live a healthier, happier lifestyle.
sevenstarart is my personal voice within the realms of combat paper, most peaces include my familys uniforms and were made at the green door studio or various workshops held throughout the country while on the road with combat paper
poetry is too little of a word for such a great subject matter. for centuries, societies have expressed themselves with a written language, speaking of their thoughts, dreams and daily life events. more often than not we tend to focus more upon the bad than the good. it is a subconscious gesture that we do have control over but giving in to negativity often becomes the easy way out. but i do believe that for every bit of bad there is a greater good. from past and current writing on negative thoughts and experiences, i was able to create a body of work that others can understand. with 6 years of writing scattered throughout old military seabags, books and scrap pieces of paper as well as my apartment in vermont, i felt the need to organize and put together my first book. self-published under seven star press titled eat the apple, the book includes 29 poems relating to war. i felt that paper and bookmaking wasn't enough and that i still had much to say and in a way that we can all relate to, through writing. since then i have felt weight lift from my shoulders and put me into a place to where i feel comfortable moving forward towards a more positive way of living and am starting to revisit these events again but from a different perspective focusing on the bits of good that had taken place during these traumatic events. i do feel that this is something that we all can benefit from if and when we are ready and willing to heal.
