Freedom from Our Stories

"People tell compelling stories with emotion, but you don’t seem to get wrapped up in them. My stories create my suffering. How can I, as a songwriter, find freedom from stories without losing my art? Rupert says: ‘Leave the stories – they’re the raw material of your music. Don’t invest your identity in them or derive your identity from them, but you don’t do that by struggling with stories or pushing them away. You go repeatedly back to who you are – the simple fact of being. See that it’s already free of any story or narrative. The more you taste that, you don’t need to free yourself from narratives. You feel that what you are at the deepest level is already free. That gives you freedom from your narratives while still being able to use them in your songs. When your understanding outgrows your form, it requires courage to stay true to your understanding. Artists always feel their form is too small for their vision. No true artist can be imprisoned within their own creation. I would encourage you to break the shell, find a new form that’s more consistent with your new understanding.’"

From event 05 - 12 October, 2025 Seven-Day Retreat at Garrison Institute, 5–12 October 2025

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