The Passionate Revolutionary

Words by JP Michaels
Photography by Justin Anantawan
BLM Protest Toronto - June 2020​

For the purposes of this writing the term "Revolution" will be Capitalized and be understood as follows:

A Revolution is a great turning point in history. A revolution is a tumultuous and trans-formative event that attempts to change a nation, a region or society – and, in some cases, even the world.
(Merriam-Webster)
• A revolution is not just a question of a change of heart.
• A revolution is not just a question of a change of mind.
• A revolution is a change of collective heart and collective mind at the very same time. 
• A Revolution is the collective mobilization of Reinvented souls. 
• The call to duty to Revolutionize, like the call to duty to Reinvent Self, is a duty to the soul fueled by passion to mobilize the collective will to sustain the Revolution. 
• COVID-19 is humankind's non-partisan equalizer. Weeks of Isolation have caused me to reflect that we are more alike than different. 
• I have sensed my isolated self strangely connected to human-oneness, while standing together/apart, on guard, outside on our terraces, balconies and sidewalks at 7:30 each evening. 
• For months now I do my part to honour the heroic efforts of the frontline workers, my baby sister included. 
• I blend my voice with those of others who cry out and I am not aware of their colour. 
• I am only aware of The Voice to which I lend mine. 
• I willingly heed the call to the ritualized duty of the COVID CAW CAW. 
• For those few minutes of connectedness, we are of one heart and one mind. 
• My brain knows what my heart feels and my newly reinvented self finds itself as part of a revolution in behaviour within the global mindset. 
COVID -19 may have captured the attention of the global psyche, but it is the mobilization of our collective psyche that will sustain the passion inherent in a Revolutionary cause amidst the cries of defunding for policing and within the milieu of all that is right and just in the battle cry for #blacklivesmatter
• This is revolutionary on every level, and it is for this reason it is the duty of humankind to come together to sustain the Revolution. As Repetition is the Mother of all learning, 
Due Reflection is the Father of all understanding. the historical Repetition of Racial Injustices,teaches human-kind that such history cannot repeat itself from this moment going forward.
• We can no longer claim voluntary ignorance; to know better is to do better. 
• It is only through the discipline of Due Reflection that we, as global citizens, will harness those serendipitous teachable moments and begin to address the systemic causes for and the perpetuation of the injustices. 
• Much like my thoughts about Reinvention of Self, of which I have written about and video-chronicled in the recent past, Revolution happens when the collective brain knows what the collective heart feels.
• We feel in our hearts racial Injustice is wrong, just as our brain knows that such injustices are wrong.
• It is on the back of our global commitment to engage the dynamic between what the brain knows and what the heart feels.
• That we as global citizens will hold our vigilant attention to keep this global revolution alive so that history does not ever repeat itself.

---

by JP Michaels

How to Curate Your Confidence

Definitions:

1. A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish.

2. Confidence
• A noun made up of two Latin words 
• "con" meaning "with" and
• "Fidelis" meaning "faith"
3. Symbiosis
 /ˌsɪmbɪˈəʊsɪs/
 noun
Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.*
*Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

What does it mean to curate your confidence? The counsel of nother to "have faith in yourself" doesn't really help an individual who is struggling with self-knowledge. Confidence is a ying and yang dynamic exchange between the brain and the heart. Confidence is the symbiosis between feeling something and knowing something. Confidence is a component of Reinvention of self. Confidence will accompany you on your journey when the brain knows what the heart feels.
These two "dynamics of Reinvention" , feeling and knowing, are codependent on one another and neither can be left out of the equation. This is a reminder that the goal of Reinvention is to create a strong and mindful opinion of yourself so that you don't accidentally believe what others say about you. The curated process of creating a strong and mindful opinion of yourself involves you becoming the 'Curate of Your Soul', that is you are invested with the care of your authentic self wherein passion resides and gives substance to confidence. If "Repetition is the Mother of all Learning",☆
then Due-Reflection is the Father of all Understanding. ☆☆
Your quest as the Curate of Confidence and officeholder of your soul, is to carefully choose, mindfully organize and simultaneously present to your brain and heart those chosen 'Life Experiences' which serve to inform and empower in the investiture of your reinvention process. 
Knowing you have given due reflection and mindfully selected those aspects of your true character help galvanize your soul. It is indeed a remarkable moment of achievement of reinvention
when the brain knows what the heart feels. Passion is Reinvention of soul realized. Confidence
is the substance found in the indisputable exchange between the brain and heart. It is the world where the mundane is banished stepping aside and giving way to fuel the extraordinary and incite confidence.
☆Latin Proverb
(Repetitio mater studiorum est.)

Picture this: 
 An Easter Sunday Antiphonal Choir made up of 60 black-robed Friars 30 on one side and 30 on the other flanking the sanctuary, facing each other on raked pews.
The choir director thought it would be a good idea to have a voice crying in the wilderness by asking Friar Tony a.k.a. Friar Bull
(as in bull-in-a-China-shop-bull", to sing the first line of the recessional hymn "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," a capella no less. It was not-for-not that Tony was affectionately called "Friar Bull". I happen to be seated directly in front of Tony.  All through the service he was clearing his throat multiple times giving indication of the level of his anxiety on being given the most auspicious of a choirmember's tasks...a solo. 
When the time came for the lone voice to cry in the wilderness, a capella no less, cry it did! True to his name Friar Tony sang the words "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" brilliantly to the tune of the ever-popular minstrel folk song "Camptown Races" 
There was complete silence throughout the entire chapel. It was as if time were suspended  because no one knew what to do next; except for one other lone voice.
If you know anything about the song "Camptown Races" and antiphonal choirs then you will know that it behooves a lone voice response from the other side of the sanctuary. A quick-witted friar was knee-jerk compelled to sing the most holy of antiphonal responses to ,"Jesus Christ is Risen Today,"with the response "doo-da doo-da." At which point the choir convulsed into spasming laughter. A quick-thinking organist pumped the pedal-to-the-metal and pipe-blasted us all out as we recessed up the centre aisle of the Chapel. Adding insult to injury, we were obliged to run the proverbial gauntlet past a most unimpressed gathering of pious and disapproving confrères. The only saving grace were the punctuated gaffes of  the brilliant and wheelchair-bound Father Cosmos,  made all the more punctuated because "Incontinent  Cosmos" was legitimately convulsing  from laughter due to a medical condition. Are you getting this picture class? I know, sounds like something outta of Fellini movie doesn't  it?
To this day I cannot sing that hymn with a straight face! And for those who are so inclined, I daresay from here on end, you won't be able to keep a straight face either.

MONKey Business
​No. 3:
Camptown Races

​by JP Michaels

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