This is a beautiful conversation with recording artist and Rewilding Guide, Alvin Dawkins, about the unshakable truth of who we are at our core despite our circumstances. We also get a special sneak preview reading from Alvin's forthcoming memoir, From Prison to Purpose, which chronicles Alvin's birth in prison to his being adopted and growing up in Alabama during the harrowing Jim Crow era, to his discovery of music and his true spiritual essence.
Alvin reminds us that no matter what we've been through, the wisdom behind life -- this creative energy force that infuses us all, remains intact no matter what. Not only is it intact, but it is guiding us, and we get to be part of it. He likens this truth to learning the mechanics of music, or an instrument so that we can play it -- but we then do better when we release the mechanical knowledge and become the instrument. That's when the music plays through us. The same can be said of the spiritual energy we are all a part of. For Alvin, music was the most powerful gateway that led him to embody his truth.
For many years Alvin battled with depression and distorted self-limiting beliefs. Through his journey of finding freedom from depression and his many "internal prisons," he realized so many people are still trapped living in their own prisons, not living from their authentic selves, and he wrote his upcoming memoir to show others that it's possible to break free and to point readers to the truth of they are. As Angus points out, one of the best ways we can point people toward their true nature is by telling our own stories, recounting our own insights, so that people might start to see the truth and possibility in finding the same freedom.
This episode explores:
Show Notes
"psyche": Greek for breath, life, soul. Psychology is ultimately the study of the soul.
"higgledy-piggledy": in confusion or disorder / another Angus-ism
Alvin Dawkins is a Rewilder Guide. He's also a jazz bassist, composer, songwriter, and recording artist. He's author of the forthcoming book From Prison to Purpose, which is a memoir that chronicles his birth in prison, and being adopted and growing up in Alabama during the ugliness of Jim Crow segregation, during the heart of the civil rights movement, to freeing himself from depression and finding his calling.
Angus Ross & Rohini Ross are “The Rewilders.” They love working with couples and helping them to reduce conflict and discord in their relationships. They co-facilitate a private couples' intensives retreat program that rewilds relationships back to their natural state of love. Rohini is the author of the ebook Marriage, and they are co-founders of The 29-Day Rewilding Experience and The Rewilding Community. You can also follow Angus and Rohini Ross on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To learn more about their work visit: therewilders.org. Read Rohini's latest blog.
Episode 49 features the music of RhythmPharm with Los Angeles-based composer Greg Ellis.