Herrison Chicas wants to take you out … to talk about love
On Friday, July 8 – after a week of tragic news – we awoke to headlines of the ambush on police in Dallas. Later that morning, Charlottean Herrison Chicas spoke on the topic of “Love” at the monthly CreativeMornings/Charlotte meeting at Warehouse 242.
Through a powerful spoken word performance and a 20-minute talk, Chicas engaged the crowd of 275 guests about his experience with the transformative power of love and liberating nature of passion in the face of fear. Watch a recap of this impactful morning event in this video:
Below, Chicas answers five follow-up questions from the audience:
Q: HOW does a 24 year old know so much about Emotional Intelligence, love, passion…LIFE? – Kim Mcculloch
The short answer: reading a lot. The long answer: intentionally and repeatedly getting out of my comfort zone!
Knowledge is gained through education or experience. We either read about it in a textbook or go through challenges and reflect on what we’ve learned. Early on I realized that if I truly wanted to have an impact in the world, I needed to become the best I could be intellectually, socially, physically, emotionally, etc.
So I read. And challenged myself. And failed. And learned. And succeeded. And learned some more.
I always try to continuously challenge myself and research what I’m experiencing to make sense of it all. That, to me, is growth!
Q: Why can some people find their spark/motivation/strength to move out of debilitating darkness/fear/depression and others can’t? Is it nature (inborn resilient personality), or is it nurture (they got the right parenting), or can it be one or the other for different people? -Marcy Braverman Goldstein
In the 1800s, philosophers would say that a successful person is just innately gifted. By the 1900s, behaviorists would argue that a successful person is not born, but created.
In modern psychology, we learn that it is a mixture of both nature and nurture. We are all born with genetic predispositions — meaning you may have a “resilient” gene. But, if everyone around you is hopeless and depressed, then that gene may never get activated and you never become resilient.
Or, vice versa. Your resilient nature can be so strong that it uplifts your fearful community into a vibrant epicenter. We are all beautifully different and unique!
It is all about knowing yourself; your self-awareness will help you align both your nature (your passion, talents, habits) with your nurture (your family, peers, community) in order to move out of a debilitating place and into your love.
Q: How does love find its way into your creative passions – spoken word, photography, etc.? – Monica Crandall
I believe that emotions, not just love, are the foundation of creativity. First, an artist feels. Then, the artist attempts to capture that feeling in the form of a poem, a song, or a photo. Lastly, the artist shares what he/she has created in order for others to experience that feeling.
If you want love or any type of emotion to find its way into your creative process, allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to truly feel that emotion…and then go create!
Q: What do you think are the greatest challenges to jumping into love in the modern world … and in the Queen City, for that matter? -Ted Banks
The greatest challenge is to be yourself. Part of jumping into love is understanding what YOUR love is.
In today’s world, there has been a rise in insecurities with the emergence of social media. Now there is a way to compare your life, your accomplishments, or your love to those of others by scrolling through Facebook and Instagram.
No one wants to feel inferior or rejected. So, many of us cave into conformed facade, instead of jumping for what we believe in our hearts to be right. It’s almost as if we have all standardized “faking it.”
This is evident in our city, as well. We give up our happiness and our love in order to buy it back in the form of luxury, which never works.
Q: I’d love to hear more about your business. What is the name of your company? What’s your mission and what are you working on now? – Bobbi Cavanaugh
Universe Creative Agency: full-service booking firm representing award-winning artists dedicated to making a difference in the community.
Our mission is to provide the most thought-provoking entertainment experience through inspirational live performances, creative digital media, and the integration of multiple artistic disciplines.
Our vision is: Through art, create a world where everyone can respectfully coexist.
Current Project: Skin of Natives – a 12-chapter excursion documenting the indigenous tribes in Mexico to better understand and humanize the struggles of natives in which neither their homeland, Mexico, nor their refuge, the US, want them.
Love Is Still in the Air
Chicas will continue our discussion of “LOVE” at the inaugural “CM/C5 After Party” on the Common Market South End patio on July 20 – the first of a series of monthly gatherings created to further explore our monthly CreativeMornings topics. This event is sold out. To be placed on the wait list, contact ktoussaint@charlotteobserver.com.
Have Your Own Creative Morning
Set your alarm for 9 a.m. on Monday, August 1 to claim your ticket to the August 5 meeting of CreativeMornings/Charlotte at www.CharlotteIsCreative.com. Tickets are free.
The speaker will be Hasaan A. Kirkland, associate professor of fine art at Johnson C. Smith University, talking about being “Weird.”
For more information on CreativeMornings/Charlotte or to sign up for the newsletter, visit www.CharlotteIsCreative.com.
Photo: Pat Arnold
This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Herrison Chicas wants to take you out … to talk about love."