Colombian-born, New Story Summiteer, Alixa Garcia, interweaves spoken word, lyricism, multimedia theatre and pan flute beat boxing to bring voice to the stories that go untold. Alixa is one half of artistic activist duo, Climbing PoeTree. They look at state violence, displacement, environmental injustice and the intersections between them, and turn very complex systems into poetry so that young people can start to understand these things and have them impact them in the heart. Their mission is twofold: 1. art is our weapon, our medicine, our voice and our vision; and 2. Creativity is the antidote to destruction. Here Alixa shares the gifts of her experience of Findhorn’s New Story Summit, along with her stunning photo story.
Though I walked in expecting nothing, my time at Findhorn’s New Story Summit was more than anything I could have ever anticipated. It was an incredible example of flexibility amidst a well thought out structure, deep listening in the presence of 350 participants, and a courageous concoction of people whose life’s work is guided by peace, love, and justice, but who most likely wouldn’t have ever had the opportunity to meet given their geographical and social circles.
These three things made way for a deeper understanding of self, while pushing both that self and the collective towards expansion. More than anything, as a young person of color, as a woman, as a queer person, and as an immigrant, I was deeply grateful for the centralization of historically marginalized voices, particularly those of indigenous descent who offered so abundantly of their rituals and practices. I think it created a space for ancestral healing and reminiscing, and those who dared be present to it were given an opportunity to, in part, restore, reintegrate and make amends with the post traumatic colonizer and colonized syndrome we have all inherited.
I want to thank the Findhorn Foundation for taking a leap of faith and bringing an amazing group of people together to re-think, re-imagine and re-member the New Story. I came in with great enthusiasm, and left with it ten fold, as have many of the people I have spoken to since. Enthusiasm for this new story, enthusiasm to unify the ancient one, enthusiasm to shift the paradigm and carve paths where they have never existed, all the while knowing that we do so on the shoulders of our ancestors. The etymology of enthusiasm comes from two Greek words, en and theos, which together mean “God within”. What an amazing gift to have such a state of being amplified. Thank you.
~ Alixa Garcia, Climbing PoeTree
See Alixa’s New Story Summit photo story.
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