ON CONNECTION

A critically acclaimed poet and recording artist reflects on the relationship between creativity and human connection.

In a book that Tempest wrote in response to a publisher's request for "a work of non-fiction for a series of short pamphlets,” they avoid political statements about connection in a divided world and focus instead on “how immersion in creativity can bring us closer to each other and help us cultivate greater self-awareness.” Drawing on 20 years of experience as a spoken word artist, author Tempest titles each essay to reflect a component or element of a spoken word or musical performance. In "Set Up," they suggest that creativity in all domains of life allows individuals to "access and feel connection [with]” everything from ideas and emotions to other individuals. Disconnection, which Tempest discusses in "Sound Check,” arises from a "numbness" that serves as "a logical response" to the onslaught of modern life. In "Doors," the author describes their own creative journey and reveals how poetry became the avenue for connection with others, including a homeless man who forced Tempest to look past their own prejudices and cultivate a deeper understanding of the inequities of life and chance. In later sections, the author reflects on performance. In "Going Out There," for example, they suggest how social media has transformed performance art into a mindless act done for approval rather than communion. “Anything we think, feel, witness, imagine or partake in becomes ammunition for the next pithy tweet, political statement, glamorous image or sarcastic caption,” writes the author. For Tempest, connection only comes about through conscious artistic effort, and when it happens, it brings together performer and spectator "in a communal feeling that takes the whole room or none of us.” With its emphasis on empathy and the importance of being present, this slender book, which will appeal mostly to readers with an interest in mindfulness, is a welcome tonic to the fractured dissonance of modern life.

A lyrical, tender linguistic balm.