Hello from East Topsham, Vermont! I am here for the National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellows Program. For nine months, I will be working on a big project– something unique and uplifting for my hometown and for the Southwest Mississippi region. I can’t wait to tell you more about it. In due time.

My personal theme for this particular residency has been: clarity. I’ve learned that it is good to break away from daily norms to pursue it.  Right now, I am finding clarity here at the Galusha Hill Farm Lodge. I can literally get clarity anywhere– around a camp fire, in grassy fields, on top of hills, on balconies, in moments of gravity/ levity, even during karaoke…

This fellowship has positioned me to (re)define community, to get the tools I need to build an organization with a specific team for a specific people, and to develop revolutionary bonds. Human connections are hard to make; and kindred spirits are even harder to discern. But I’m finally at the table. And the vibe here is good.

Here are things I am deeply clear about…

I am Myself alone.

I am Myself with others.

I am shy.

I am bold.

I am words.

I am pausing for thought…

I have experienced trauma.

I am healed.

I am cotton.

I am silk.

I am soul.

I am nurturing.

I am ritual.

I make ritual.

I make art.

I am out-voted.

I am self-governed.

I am a hot mess.

I am flawed.

I am flawless.

I am free.

I am a sip of bourbon.

I am an accented beat.

I am gradual.

I am on fire.

I am giving from my heart.

I am too deep in my head.

I am too deep for words.

I am growing.

I am exploding.

I am staying in tact.

I am missing my family.

I am no longer afraid.

I am a maker of change and culture.

I am a keeper of artifacts and story.

I am the rose that grew from concrete.

I am Roberta Flack.

I am Lauryn Hill.

I am in the zone.

I am the zone.

I am here.

I am not here for that though.

I am building something.

I am intentional.

I am laughing out loud.

I am the voyage back home.

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

 

♥ clinnesha

Clinnesha D. Sibley is an award-winning playwright and published poet/essayist. She is the Literary Arts Instructor at Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven, MS. For more information, please visit: http://onepagerapp.com/clinneshadsibley.