theROGUE - Issue #2

Spring Summer 2020 Isuue # 2

b /w Photograp hy

Artict

M o l o reped | D olup t at | Fugiatem os si tem ad ignat ia non rer up t ia

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Breaking Stereotypes Contents

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C a pt u r i n g h e r s p l e n d o r

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A culture of movement

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T h e v i r t u e s o f u n ce r ta i n t y

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A l i fe by d e s i g n

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B reat h e i n to yo u r s o u l

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Portland’s Ode to Japanese Food Culture

credit : Cover Photo

by Renee Scott

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Cu l i n a r y G e n o m i c s : T h e n e w fo o d co n ve rs at i o n

t h e R O G U E co c kta i l

W ea v i n g i n t h e f u t u re o f fa s h i o n

t h e R O G U E f i n d s B a g ta zo

theROGUE bookshelf

A l o n e to get h e r | t h e R O G U E p o et

Thank you

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The Editor’s note I hope this second issue reaches you in good health, peace of mind and in a space of internal wealth. There is something monumental that we are experiencing together, while we are alone.

Times like these need a greater force to guide and steer us, so allowing it into our lives is essential. Once I personally surrendered to it, this mystic universe not only better controlled my tomorrow but also guided me and theROGUE to become alive and reveal our true, pure, and authentic selves.

I believe our second issue has evolved tremendously with its theme on “breaking stereotypes.”

This issue unearths itself as a surreal, whimsical yet honest body of work that allow us all to pause, reboot and dissipate the noise within us. Using powerful imagery with curated dialogues, I am confident that it will not only inspire you but also ignite the latent power within you. theROGUE remains obsessed with the letter “F.” So, together with fashion, fitness, food and faces, my co-founder, Neha and I, have added more. It’s fun, allows us the freedom of express, create and think, and above all, build beautiful friendships with people all around the world.

This is why do we do it and it keeps us humming.

Hen’a 5

The Editor’s strength Life moves in mysterious ways that often cannot be explained. The year 2020 has been one such adventure, to say the very least. For most of us, the past few months have revised our lives in ways we could have never imagined. Change with a sprinkling of chaos has become part of our everyday life. But I find it is through this chaos that we unlock the realities and beauty of being human.

In a time of social distancing, Hen’a and I united through screens to create this issue. Looking back to when we started working on our second issue, we had to decide what stories we wanted to fill our 100 + blank pages with. We couldn’t help but notice some of the stereotypes we see all around world, and we wanted to have the much-needed conversations with people who see and think about the world through an unconventional lens.

This issue is a celebration of individuals who challenge the norm by expressing themselves and their work in beautiful and unique ways. I hope in this time of isolation you find inspiration through the stories of these creative mavericks.

Magic is all around us.

Neha 6

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Capturing her splendor Ph otograp hy by Tha l er Pho to gra phy

Aesha Ash is one of the few black women represented in the world of professional ballet in the United States. Trained at the legendary School of American Ballet, she joined the New York City Ballet at 18 and danced in numerous soloist and principal roles for eight years. In 2003 she moved to Switzerland to perform as a soloist in the Béjart Ballet. Hen’a Yadav chats with the ballerina about her journey, which was often isolating because of race, and about her initiative, The Swan Dreams Project, that encourages a new generation of kids to defy stereotypes.

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“One thing that I always fought for as a ballerina was showing that women of color can be graceful and ethereal.”

When you think of a ballerina, what do you imagine? The deeper question is this: have the media’s portrayal and stereotypes found a home inside of you? An African-American ballerina is not an image that our minds can easily conjure up, is it?

My virtual meeting with Aesha Ash, a trailblazing ballerina who has dedicated her life to breaking the stereotypes that infect our society, was inspirational. Her modest and deep sense of self was alluring and contagious. After our dialogue I felt revived, strong, and lucky to have had the opportunity of meeting this generous spirit.

“One thing that I always fought for as a ballerina was showing that women of color can be graceful and ethereal,” says Aesha. She feels that women of color are not traditionally thought of as princess-like or angelic, but rather as strong, and sometimes over-sexualized. Aesha wants to be a catalyst for changing these stereotypes.

Images have immense power and communicate to our sub-conscious in the most mysterious manner. Through her Swan Dream Project, the images Aesha has placed out in the world tell a unique story: an elegant African-American ballerina poses gracefully with stunning beauty against inner cityscapes of her hometown, Rochester, New York. Bleak deserted lots, crumbling and graffiti-covered buildings, dirty sidewalks in front of dumpsters illustrate her story. The contrast is striking and the message powerful. It resounds in our minds and breaks the old molds we have nursed through the years.

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“I felt like it was important for young girls to see a different side of a woman of color and that being vulnerable doesn’t mean weakness.”

Aesha began the Swan Dreams Project as a platform to convey -- through powerful images -- the message that beauty and talent are not constrained by race or socio-economic status. The goal is to show youth that, with hard work, passion, and determination, they can break away from deep-seated stereotypes within themselves and go to where their blood truly beats. She aims to educate and nurture children, encouraging them to become free thinkers and step outside their comfort zones regardless of who and where they come from. She further explains, “I felt like it was important for young girls to see a different side of a woman of color and that being vulnerable doesn’t mean weakness.”

Aesha emanates self-confidence, wisdom, kindness, and compassion.

While she admits that she hasn’t always been self-confident about her external appearance, her inner strength radiates and fills her aura. She says, “The looks fade and change. You can do and create things, but it can go. What remains is your core essence.” She owes this deep-seated confidence to her mother, her mentor in life. “My mother is a very strong woman, and she always instilled in me the importance of being true to who you are.”

When starting out, Aesha struggled with her own inner conflict and breaking through her own stereotypes. The ballet world experts discouraged her, saying that as a black girl, she’d never become a professional ballerina. Her peers accused her of “trying to be a white girl.” As the only black girl in her ballet school, and later the solitary black woman at the New York City Ballet, her nights often ended in tears.

But Aesha had something inside of her that would not quit, would not allow her to relinquish her goals. She was different – yes -- but it was an appreciable difference. The difference was of character, rather than color. Aesha is a ROGUE! 14

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“I wanted little girls and boys to see a black woman differently” Aesha feels that the secret to her success is her tenacity. “You can knock me down, but I’m not gonna stay down for long. I have this strength within me, each time to pull myself back up. And every time I come back up, I’m gonna come up 50 times stronger than I was before.”

As she spoke these words, goosebumps sprouted throughout my being.

Aesha wanted to use the power of imagery to bring the Swan Dreams Project to life. She didn’t feel the models in advertisements. For example, “girls in bikinis on motorbikes” were helpful and feared these images were seeping into children’s consciousness and defining their expectations of themselves. She didn’t want that. “I wanted little girls and boys to see a black woman differently” she says. So, she decided to “blast” images of herself into her hometown for the benefit of the youth, so expose them to a new definition of a black woman.

She wants to empower, educate, and reshape the perception that lingers in the sub-conscious minds of the future generation of our world.

Empowering children is pivotal to Aesha and she seeks to impart to them what she has learned in her arduous journey to becoming a ballerina. She has created a camp; however, it’s been put on hold due of COVID-19 restrictions. The camp is focused on teaching fitness, ballet, nutrition, body care, etiquette, music, and art. She wants to encourage children to try things and step outside their comfort zones.

Despite all that she has already achieved, she wants to do more. She proclaims, “my dream is to open up a Swan Dream Center in my hometown where kids can go after school.” Aesha realizes that children from the “hood” aren’t often exposed to the outside world. She explains, “a lot of times, children don’t feel empowered. I want these kids to learn entrepreneurial skills and how to create art -- and on the weekends have a market where they sell their creations. That way they learn to make money using and cultivating their unique talents.”

Counseling is another facet to her program because many of the inner-city children need it.

Aesha feels that art can facilitate that counseling work and serve as an outlet for the kids to “work out their problems.” She wants to teach kids not to let anyone put them into a box or to make their box so huge that nobody can define it. She firmly believes that there is so much more to a person, “you are not just one thing ever.”

She intends for her center to be a home away from home for kids whose parents aren’t “present” and wants it to serve as a safe haven and provide the kids with opportunities that they would not otherwise receive. That is her dream and we at theROGUE support her magnanimous vision.

To learn, support and donate to The Swan Dreams Project 16

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Q: What trait in you is the most ROGUE? A: You can’t break me!!! I don’t get peer pressured at all. You can make fun, you can tease, but if I am dead set on my principles, you’re not breaking me.

Q: What are you most conscious of in your appearance?

A: I think everything. While performing I can hide it easily but I’m very self-conscious of everything.

Being told repeatedly at a very young age that I had to lose weight, I became very self-conscious about my body.

Q: What is your non-negotiable indulgence?

A: Popcorn! It’s salt in general, but I like chips and popcorn.

Q: What is the biggest deal breaker in another person for you?

A: I can’t deal with inauthenticity, even beyond that I think is arrogance it’s a very ugly trait to me and if I meet someone like that, I immediately put up a wall.

Q: In which part of your life are you a conformist and in which part of your life are you most ROGUE? A: I am giver and say yes a lot, which results in me wearing myself thin because I just want to be available to everyone. I learned later in life, there is a way to say no without being offensive.

My ROGUE side: I am a rebel. I don’t conform to what my society wants, and that’s for everything be it fashion, social trends or what’s in vogue right now. I feel that’s why the Swan Dream Project has stuck around -- because I’m not afraid to show that juxtaposition of me being from a different environment.

Q: Describe your perfect world in five words.

A: Love. Music. Movement. Good Food. Laughter.

Q: Describe your nightmare in five words.

A: A world filled with mirrors is my worst nightmare and arrogance.

Q: Who is your greatest ROGUE? A: Lupita Nyong’o because she’s very true to who she is a non-conformist, beautiful dark-skinned African woman, articulate, intelligent and elegant. She did not let the world’s standard of what’s beautiful and what’s accepted define or change her. Chimamanda Ngozi is another ROGUE for me, she’s a writer.

Q: When was the last time you were in awe?

A: When my daughter recently wrote a poem for Earth Day. I’m in awe of her! She is a brilliant little girl who is so full of love, life and wonder -- and the things that come out of her mouth are so beautiful.

Q: How would you like to die?

A: Surrounded by love and peace! I wouldn’t want to leave knowing that I haven’t helped someone.

So, a sense of peace, knowing that everything has been accomplished and that everything I fought and worked for has helped and made a difference.

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A culture of movement A d i alogu e w ith K r is a nd Pav l in a fro m S o m a Cul ture Pho tos by SO MA Cu l tu re

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02 The Soma philosophy is rooted in the observation, understanding and expansion of human structure and form. The Dubai-based husband and wife duo come from two different yet complimentary backgrounds. Kris Rai, the academic and scientific half, is a trained and practicing osteopath and naturopath. He has spent over a decade developing and sharing his understanding of the human body with patients and students.

Pavlina Rai, the creative and artistic force, comes from the acting and performing world. She has spent fifteen years researching and studying different movement forms and arts, from dance and wing chun to yoga and sports performance. Soma Culture was born as a quest to understand the human condition -- combining Kris and Pavlina’s ideas and multi-disciplinary approach to unravel some truths about physical longevity, injury prevention and athletic performance.

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NJ: You look at movement through a very different lens. Take us through the philosophy behind Soma Culture and how it sits at the intersection of anthropology, communication, science and artistry.

SOMA: We believe in seeing the totality and searching for the theory of everything. Anthropology shows us who we are and the journey of how we arrived to where we are. It gives us the guidance to rediscover and further develop our individual unique biological signature.

The communication aspect looks at everything we cannot not always communicate. Knowledge was handed down through generations of our ancestors through story form. Stories share a message; messages require decoding. The process of decoding encourages unique thought, concepts, and ideas. Body language, gestures, tonality of our voice -these all shape who we are and the relationships we develop.

Science gives us the why behind the what, how we can attempt to explain the physiology, the neurology, the biomechanics, cosmology and all the rest of what it is happening inside of us. While sciences aim to offer definitive answers, art gives us the creativity, the spontaneity, and the passion to create new ideas and the space for non-conformity. To understand the value of current ideas and yet still not conform is a crucial component in developing new ideas. These all inform how we move through life.

NJ: Your view on fitness is beyond athletic feats, being in a gym or pounding pavements for miles. Describe the Soma Culture interpretation of fitness.

SOMA: What is fitness? We see fitness as the ability to thrive within our environment. Our environment has the potential to be incredibly diverse, yet can also be very monotonous and predictable. We believe that people need to have great diversity in their approach, so that they can cope with unpredictability and the unknown. We should ask ourselves, “How do you train today if you do not know what tomorrow brings?”

From our research, we believe that fitness is simply a by-product of varied, biodiverse approaches to life of which movement is a component.

A movement practice doesn’t start and end with a series of exercises; rather, it permeates our life in all that we do. Movement expresses who we are; it doesn’t function only to help us become strong or resilient.

We look to movement, medicine, and life to create longevity, prevent injuries, and develop athletic performance. Therefore, fitness cannot be looked at in isolation.

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NJ: Can we move our DNA? SOMA: We once believed that our DNA was fixed. Now we know that isn’t true. Our genome can be manifested in a myriad of variables; epigenetics, single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our DNA is influenced by our environment, how we think, what we eat, and the toxins we expose ourselves to. We have much more control over our DNA than we think.

NJ: What is your definition of good health?

SOMA: Good health is the ability to be resilient, thrive and withstand the unpredictable nature of life.

NJ: Share some Soma insight and tips one could incorporate for better health.

SOMA: To attain better health, we must invest the time to understand and observe ourselves – to see who we are within the environment that we have shaped and how that environment has, as a result, shaped us. What are the things we know deep down we must change, things which we know are difficult, the inconvenient truth? To move in a diverse, dynamic way that speaks to our genome. To listen to our biological rhythms, and to know that rhythm is the foundation of everything. Rhythms in how we move, yearly rhythms in how we eat, rhythms of how we sleep.

website: www.somaculture.com Instagram @somaculture Youtube: Soma Culture

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The virtues of uncertainty Pho tos an d wo rd s by R ya n K ayel l o

In the current unsettled COVID-19 times, where any semblance of normality has been stripped away from everyone around the world, Ryan Kayello takes us on a journey of his life and the gift of ‘Uncertainty.’

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Most children hate school. I took it to a new height. Every morning I woke up pleading, crying, hiding around the house. But perhaps one day it was a tantrum too many, and my parents surrendered to pulling me out. Home schooling did not work either. I could not sit still, could not focus, could not retain anything that was force-fed into my head. Eventually they gave up on me, figuring I would “grow out of it.” And it was since then, at fourteen years old, that I have gone on to spend my life at home.

Beyond knowing that I was ‘too much’ — too sensitive, too stubborn, too emotional — I had no inkling of myself. Because I spent so much time alone, when the Internet wasn’t what it is, I was not privy to the outside world. In my mind, everyone was ahead of me. Everyone knew what they wanted, how to live, how to navigate their material and mental complexities. I fell into the illusion that if I had gone to school, things would be different. But after years of reflection it became apparent: most of us guard our uncertainty from each other under lock and key. Revealing what we don’t know would be the death of our projected images of maturity and capability. And since everyone is keeping up a convincing charade for their social survival, we believe we’re the only ones pretending.

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I remember the moment — I was seventeen — when I first felt that it was safe to be me. I was reading the introduction to Wuthering Heights, where Charlotte detailed the lives of the Brontës. They lived in the countryside, isolated from the stir of society, with nothing but each other and their imaginations. “Neither Emily nor Anne was learned,” wrote Charlotte. “They had no thought of filling their pitchers at the well-spring of other minds. They always wrote from the impulse of nature, the dictates of intuition, and from such stores of observation as their limited experience had enabled them to amass.”

Every phrase entered my consciousness like a balm. They were not educated; they did not think to fill their minds with external influence. They were limited in their experience — and yet they wrote with such peculiar intensity that reverberates with extraordinary power to this day.

Reading this was a revelation. It was as though I had time-travelled and came to observe that the core difference between me and the Brontës was simply that I was part of an era where I was surrounded by endless reminders that I need to KNOW MORE, BE MORE before crafting a single sentence. The Muse would whisper, but I was paralyzed with how little I knew.

Afterwards I asked in earnest: do I really need to be more than what I am to find my voice and purpose? I began to question everything I had borrowed as The Truth with laser-like intensity.

The flashing neon axiom of our times for every artist and entrepreneur is “be yourself.” It is spoken in such a way as if it is something to arrive at. But where are the voices that say that it is a never-ending unfolding? How many of us never reveal our pulse to the world because we believe we are still incomplete? Our self-named flaws — those things that have us convinced are the reason for our incompleteness — may just be the secret beams that illuminate our aimless ships. I wasn’t too sensitive, I began to see; I was incredibly intuitive. I wasn’t too stubborn; I was extremely in tune with what aligned with my spirit. And I wasn’t too emotional; others just did not have the capacity to face the feelings I so strongly felt.

But even armed with this loving self-reorientation, we never quite come to see how these aspects translate as creative outpouring. It is so very tempting to fall prey to the idea that we must be certain before we present ourselves to the world. But we do not have to concretize who we are, what we have to say, or how we appear in advance. It is worth considering that perhaps it is part of our purpose to be blind to what makes us shine. Because it is in expressing ourselves that we come to experience more of our beauty — which at heart is what our pull to creativity is really about. Brilliance does not exist in a vacuum; it is intrinsic to the process. Our truths do not exist in a vacuum; they reveal themselves in the process.

If we drop the idea that there will ever be a point in our development where we will be “complete” — in strength, love, identity, security — then this allows us to redraw incompleteness in its rightful place: as the propellant to ask, discover, and grow in an infinite state of becoming. In my life, I have come to find strength with the admission that I just don’t know who I am and to find a paradoxical freedom in being certain that I’m not certain.

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Like most, I would always imagine the concept of enlightenment as supreme peace. Peace in full knowing, a crystalline knowledge of Self. But I never could have foreseen that the more I knew myself, the less I knew myself. All I want — all I have ever wanted — is the comfort of sureness.

What a shock it is to recognize that of all the certainties I tried to find outside of myself in relationships, in the Universe, the least certain thing of all is myself. But, when seen in a certain light, there is great freedom in this insight as we grow to accept it. We are all waiting to discover ourselves when all along who we are is who we believe ourselves to be.

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The lack of identity most of us share in the modern age may well be the biggest part of our identity waiting to be embraced. It is just that we are trained to think only in positives as worthy parts of our makeup. Sureness, confidence, and courage have their place. So do uncertainty, fear, and vulnerability. Rather than recoil and build fortresses against them, it serves us to re-evaluate them with open, objective eyes. Laziness, for instance, is far too often seen as something to battle. To our spirits, all dimensions are valid. Whether a dream, a daydream, or even a video game — spirit makes no distinctions between realities the way our minds do. Rather than being quick to pass the verdict on “procrastination,” we would do well to follow mindfully along our soul’s tugs, like patient parents, to see what it wishes us to consider. We may find that it takes us down a road we never could have gone in our habitual loops of thought.

If this lands on your ears as an overwhelming task, heed the hunch. Not all of us are meant to sit in intense reflection and wring ourselves out to find the truth; my life only necessitated this as a matter of survival. It may seem the nobler path to come to your revelations within, but the world outside has its revelations too. Where would I be without seeing myself in the Brontës? Their very being, even more than their output, rippled across time to show me who I yearn to become. Their gift was to show me this was possible and allow me to find my way to embody this self-contained creativity in a new world. There is no mistake in the pull to anyone you admire; each one of them is a messenger reflecting a facet of you that has yet to be gleaned. Although we are alone in unravelling through our experience how our spirit is expressed, we are not alone in encountering others who show us their own inspiring light. And sometimes, they share the immense gift of admiring us for parts we have not yet loved.

In the end, whichever way we go about dismantling our borrowed constructs in pursuit of inner freedom is valid, whether through reflection, art, or therapy. And even if the prospect of such soulful mining makes us cringe, we might find comfort in the thought that our whole lives are orchestrated to help us uncover our uniqueness. Through that lens, every experience we have lived through since birth has been an invitation to gather more and more fragments of our essence.

Every supposed misstep, every supposed crisis in relationship, career, or identity, has all been in service to get us to ask, “What if I’m more than this?” The truth we all feel deep down that these fragments will never add up to a perfect image, has for too long caused us to give up the search before it began. What if perfection lies in the freedom of never knowing, forever enabling us to discover and rewrite ourselves as we see fit? If you’ve been guided to find these words, I invite you to consider that perhaps our only true misstep is in seeking certainty in a soul that is far too vast to be contained.

Ryan Kayello is a self-taught artist, writer, and actor. His excursions into all manner of expression came early, when he left formal schooling at fourteen years old. Having no means to connect with others or the outside world, he began to populate his inner life with characters that functioned as a way to get in contact with his deepest truths. He now mostly creates under the pseudonym Dr Joyous Dark, who often explores the Big Questions and giggles about the fact that he knows nothing. He lives in Dubai, in a house with terrible air conditioning and three cats.

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A life by design Ph oto s by Travis B el l

Practical advice from Travis Bell, The Bucket List Guy®, who fulfills himself by helping others live happier and fulfilled lives now.

“Be happy now! Why wait? Live your life now, get fulfilled now.”

With a wry grin, Travis Bell says that he is not “a robot in a suit like everybody else.” He does not buy into the status quo; he’s his own leader. When he first started public speaking, he felt he had to fit in and wore his suit and tie, but gradually he shed these societal strictures.

Travis made his first bucket list when he was eighteen. It became his compass and his reason to get up in the morning. He wrote the list out and re-read it every day; the process changed him.

He believes that many people have lives filled with regret. They have the typical goals: pay off the house, put the kids through college, then retire and travel a little. He wants to help people break out of that mindset and live lives of fulfillment.

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“Living by default rather than by design.”

Robust and athletic, Travis started his career franchising personal training sessions in Australia and helping people with their physical health. In the process, he started getting many requests to help people with other aspects of their lives. To fulfill these requests, he began studying positive psychology and became a lifestyle wunderkind. Today he speaks all over the world, teaching people how to feel happier and more fulfilled in their lives. He says that many people are “living by default rather than by design.” So he wants to help them design better, more fulfilling lives.

Over the years, his own bucket list has changed. “I have kids now, so the riskier stuff isn’t as important to me anymore.” He says that making a self-accountable bucket list ensures you become your own leader. “People are dying at 40 and being buried at 80,” Travis laments.

In Travis’ world there are three types of Bucket Lists: future, reverse, and fuck-it buckets.

The future bucket list is a list of the things a person wants to do.

The reverse bucket list is a list of things a person has already done. They can look back and reflect on the list, which helps to build gratitude.

The fuck-it bucket contains all those items that a person doesn’t want to do -- even though society may be pressuring them to comply.

The animated entrepreneur says “my list has evolved to being more about the legacy that I can leave, how I can help others and who else I can take with me around the world. It’s not just centered around me anymore; it’s about my family and my partner. I think your bucket list reflects where you are at in life.”

When asked what grounds him and where he gets his positive reinforcement, Travis says that he wanted to spread the word about the bucket list and striving towards this goal has kept him focused. “I knew I wanted to be a messenger for this. It has helped me compartmentalize all my thinking and really focus. My business is me; I’m not separate from it. It’s just a reflection of my life, what I love talking about and a filter I make decisions through.”

Travis believes that all businesses and jobs should produce the cash flow and time to help a person fulfill their own bucket list. “Double bonus if you are putting something in the world helping a load of people. Sweet! I think that’s the holy grail: to be able to make money, time, and meaning for other people.”

People today are re-evaluating their lives because of the pandemic. “And now more than ever, because of COVID-19 and the isolation, I feel people have taken a big collective deep breath and are reassessing what makes them happy.”

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When asked about his philosophy behind creating the bucket list, Travis references Stoic philosophy and memento mori, the Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die.” Travis says it is crucial that we remember our own mortality -- that is what having a bucket list is about. Don’t wait until it’s too late! Get inspired to make things happen now, not “someday.” The movie The Bucket List is “dumb,” he says. Why wait for a cancer diagnosis to live a fulfilling life? Why wait until your “use by” date expires?

“Whatever lights you up is the most important thing.”

In Australia, an average lifespan is 80 years, and in his seminars Travis draws 80 squares on a grid to represent those 80 years. He then asks people to cross off the ones they’ve already lived and then look at the number of squares left. He asks to think about all the people they knew who didn’t even reach their 80th square. “Fuck it!” he says. “Be happy now! Why wait? Live your life now. Get fulfilled now.”

The bucket list is a tool for reaching your potential. Overflowing with enthusiasm, he declares that he wants people to experience fulfillment sooner in life. “Whatever lights you up is the most important thing.” People who become ‘Bucketlisters’ often say it is a process of catharsis in which they let go of the beliefs that have kept them stagnant for years and they finally feel free.

Adding easily achievable objectives on a bucket list helps people to do things now instead of waiting until later and creates the habit to achieve loftier objectives. “There are two types of goals: habit goals and achievement goals,” Travis explains. Habit goals help a person meet their achievement goals. For example, jogging every day can be a habit that leads to your objective of finishing a 5K run. “I want people to experience more potential earlier.”

Travis shares five things on his current bucket list:

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Publish his book.

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Develop and expand his business, which Travis sees as his legacy.

3.

Perform stand-up comedy.

4.

Swim with wild sharks.

5.

Meet Elon Musk.

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A minimalist by nature, Travis says he has removed ego from his decisions. He never spends money to show off his wealth, instead, spending it only on things that mean something to him. He believes that people are the CEOs of their own lives. “Who do you put on the board? Who are the four people who can inspire you to achieve your goals? Read their books, follow them on social media, ask them for advice. Unfollow those who don’t fit on your board and decrease the noise. Pick a goal that you want to achieve in 90 days. Then pick four people who can help you with this goal and get rid of the rest. Apply this method to every aspect of your life.”

Learn more about The Bucket List Guy® Watch Life’s way too short not to live your Bucket List | Travis Bell | TEDxMelbourne

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Ten Questions with Travis

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Q: What trait in you do you think is the most ROGUE? A: My perspective on life.

Q: What are you conscious about in your appearance?

A: My muscles. I’m 47 and I like to be in aesthetically good shape.

Q: What is your non-negotiable indulgence?

A: Travel, a good steak and good coffee.

Q: What is your biggest deal-breaker in another person?

A: Lack of integrity.

Q: In which part of your life are you a conformist and in which part of your life are you most ROGUE? A: I don’t really conform very much. Being a dad is where I have conformed, but for years I had resisted. I’m adopted and I just didn’t want family until I got one. Now I’m a stepdad to four kids and I fucking love it.

The part of me that’s most ROGUE? I am in a way anti-society -- not in an anarchist way -- but I challenge the norm. I’ve never had a job. I’ve always worked for myself.

Q: Describe your perfect world in five words.

A: Health, family, freedom, love and helping others.

Q: Describe your nightmare in five words.

A: Not being congruent to who I am.

Q: Who is your greatest ROGUE? A: Elon Musk. He challenges thoughts; he challenges processes to create his own. Jared Leto, too. He’s an absolute rockstar.

Q: When was the last time you were in awe?

A: Last weekend I went to catch a wave and the surf was BIG. I have been a surfer all my life and surfed competitively. This surf was so big that I chickened out and pulled back on a few takes.

For the next 24 hours I beat myself up and the following day I went back to the same spot. I had decided that no matter what came my way I would commit. I caught an epic wave, a light take-off and a full barrel -- I was in awe.

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: The 10X rule by Grant Cardone.

Q: How would you like to die?

A: After I am 100 -- with all my family and great love all around me.

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Breath into your soul An insight into Holotropic Breathwork

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What is Holotropic Breathwork?

Holotropic Breathwork is a simple but deeply transformative approach to self-healing and self-discovery. The breathing technique and powerfully evocative music work together to help participants access a non-ordinary state of consciousness.

Non-ordinary states of consciousness are nothing strange; we experience them when we dream, fall in love, witness awe-inspiring beauty, or give birth. These states are very much a part of being human.

We each have a cellular memory that records all our life experiences, including spiritual experiences and those that take place while we are in the womb. Even though we may not be conscious of these experiences, they can influence and shape our perceptions of the present.

In this expansive state, people are open to allowing their Inner Healers to work on unresolved issues. It is very important that this takes place in a safe environment under the care of certified facilitators.

History Dr Stanislav Grof is a Czech psychiatrist and a pioneer of psychedelic psychotherapy. He is also considered a founding father of Transpersonal Psychology. In his career, which spans over 60 years, his primary interest has been research into non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Grof was one of the leading researchers studying LSD’s effects on the psyche. In 1967, LSD was banned and Grof looked for alternative approaches to achieve non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Dr Grof and his wife Christina Grof developed Holotropic Breathwork in the 1970s. Their work is based on deep experiential psychotherapies, several mystical traditions and consciousness research.

Benefits · Release past trauma · Alleviate chronic pain · Relieve depression · Gain powerful life insights · Remove negative thought patterns · Let go of fear of death · Find newfound meaning and purpose · Increase creativity · Experience mystical states 56

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Holotropic means moving towards wholeness. This breathwork helps people reclaim and integrate lost or disowned parts of their psyches and experience themselves as they truly are beyond the constraints of space and time.

While the experiences encountered in any breathwork session may vary, they sometimes include themes of death and rebirth; of struggle and eventual transcendence; and of a deep sense of connectedness to others and to the universal whole. A session may shift the participant’s focus from personal suffering to concerns with things beyond the self. There may be a reduction in anxiety and tensions in the body, as well as an increase in the sense of the participant’s selfworth and connection with others.

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Is it comparable to some psychedelic-assisted therapies?

While sacred plant-based ceremonies also help people access non-ordinary states, people who have significant experience with both have said that they find sacred plant-based experiences more visual, while Holotropic Breathwork is more cathartic. Some would lean towards one modality over the other.

Where Holotropic Breathwork stands apart is the support provided around fully integrating the experience. In Holotropic Breathwork, equal importance is given to preparation, the actual experience and integration after the experience. Some types of plant medicine therapies have a reputation for skipping the integration part, which may leave participants ungrounded and troubled by re-entering ‘ordinary’ reality. Because there is no pharmacological substance in Holotropic Breathwork, there is more ease of negotiation between the non-ordinary states entered via breath, music and holding space.

What happens in a session?

A Holotropic Breathwork session typically includes an introductory talk that explains the breathing technique and the types of experiences that may arise; a breathing session; expressive artwork; and a sharing session in which the participant has the opportunity to discuss what arose.

The facilitator serves as a Sitter watching over the Breather and responding to any requests. The breathing session takes up to three hours to complete. The music that is played during the session is incredibly potent and escorts the Breather through their journey.

One question that is frequently asked is how to breathe in the sessions. Stan and Christina Grof did considerable research into different ways of breathing. In the end, they concluded that a particular breathing technique is much less important than inviting the participant to breathe faster, deeper and fuller than usual, with the Breather’s full focus on and awareness of their inner process.

If the Breather requests support towards the end of the session, focused bodywork is offered to shift blocked emotional or physical energy. Another frequently asked question is whether people can do Holotropic Breathwork alone. This is not recommended.

Holotropic Breathwork facilitators go through extensive training and personal experience with non-ordinary states to support participants unconditionally with whatever they are experiencing and to remain unperturbed.

Andrea Anstiss is a transpersonal psychotherapist and a certified Holotropic Breathwork facilitator based in Dubai (UAE) with over thirty years of healing expertise.

Vanessa Arnold is an intuitive healer, artist and writer based in Dubai (UAE). She loves watching people blossom as they realise how amazing they truly are.

Explore more and find a facilitator.

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Portland’s Ode to Japanese Food Culture Nodoguro is touted as one of America’s most exclusive Japanese restaurants. Their signature is a multi-course kaiseki menu “by appointment only.” Trained under old-school sushi masters, Ryan Roadhouse creates ornate Zen Japanese dishes showcasing some of the finest ingredients from the Pacific Northwest and Japan.

Elena Roadhouse the other half of Nodoguro and creative lead- curates’ whimsical menus that sit at the intersection of art and food. Inspired by Haruki Murakami books, cinema, and music, eating at this intimate dining room can feel like a visit to another world, so it’s no wonder that Nodoguro is a frequently featured nominee for the James Beard Foundation Award. Neha Jamani chatted with Elena and Ryan early April to learn about their creative process and their future plans.

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NJ: What’s your earliest food memory and what sparked your curiosity around Japanese cuisine?

ER: The hot cacao and steamed omelet at preschool. As a child I lived in the Far East of Russia on the Sea of Japan. I grew up eating a lot of the same ingredients as in Japan but were prepared a little differently. On a school trip I traveled to Japan to study. The food and the culture left a great impression on me.

RR: Grandma’s baked ham and cheese was my favorite preschool treat, Grandpa often scolded me for devouring all the butter. I went to hockey school in Canada and had many Japanese schoolmates. They always had the best snacks and fascinating personalities. We went to eat together at small Japanese places and those experiences made me curious to learn more about Japanese food. I got a job as a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant and fell in love with everything Japanese.

NJ: How would you describe Nodoguro’s food philosophy?

ER: It’s unpretentious, high quality, rooted in classic technique yet playful.

RR: Craft cooking, here and now, hidden complexity and flavor first NJ: Nodoguro launched as a pop-up experiment. Tell us about your journey and evolution.

ER & RR: Tough circumstances led to wild ideas. We wanted to open a restaurant but had no start-up capital and weren’t having much luck with investors. Portland rarely sustains higher end restaurants and the concept of Omakase, where the dishes are selected by the chef was unheard of at the time.

We started it as a virtual restaurant with no physical location and made a makeshift reservation page.

When we would secure a restaurant vacant for the evening and transform it into our dining room. Tickets to our dinners were sold in advance, which was also unheard of in Portland at that point and a bit of a hard sell. But we filled up our first few dinners and just worked to grow and get better every night.

Each night we would interact very closely with our guests, so it was inevitable for our place to be pushed to the extreme edge of being guided by guest experience. To this day we see all the same people and they have grown with us over the course of the 6 years since our first dinner. We now offer luxurious 25-course tasting menus and serve our dishes on exquisite pottery, but it all started in the side room of an Italian grocery store making dinner for friends.

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NJ: Whimsical, poetic menus are a regular feature in Nodoguro. Tell us about the creative process for your innovative menus.

ER: I pick the theme and curate the guest experience. We connect the key thematic ideas to the menu while staying true to our style of service and food philosophy. Many themes were requests or challenges from our frequent guests. Some of the most memorable were McDonalds, Twin Peaks, and the Salvador Dali cookbook.

RR: I like Elena to guide us with ideas unrelated to specific food items. Thinking about those ideas and images brings me to connections I would have never made. With cooking we get fixated on ingredients, composition, techniques, and the visceral experience of eating, but allowing yourself to fixate on a word or image that is unrelated can inspire much originality. Being offered limitations, images, and specific words force creativity.

NJ: Currently restaurants are presently being pushed to rethink their operating model by social distancing requirements. What are some of your learnings and do you see Nodoguro shifting formats?

ER & RR: We will just become smaller and more focused. We plan to shift Nodoguro towards being an “invite-only” restaurant. We learned from this experience that we have so many generous and inspiring supporters and we want to focus on our community. We see this as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves by returning to our roots. Our service style will change, but this will create the opportunity to design even more theatre in the dining experience and offer even our most frequent guests a few surprises.

NJ: You’ve made a very ROGUE move to open a new restaurant during the pandemic. Tell us more about Tonari and Peter Cat. ER: Our new restaurant is designed as an affordable alternative to Nodoguro. It has a split personality, by day its Tonari and by night it transforms to Peter Cat, a Murakami- inspired Jazz Vinyl Izakaya incarnation offering healthy original Japanese food. Tonari brings stylistic and flavorful twists on Japanese fare from Okinawa because of its knack for the good life.

When the pandemic reached our city and the shutdowns began, we hit the pause button.

We didn’t want the opening of our project that required so much time and effort to design to be tainted by tragedy and fear. In quarantine we gathered our thoughts, we took a leap of faith and opened the restaurant. Tonari opens in a new world and a new time for restaurants and people.

Nothing is likely to ever be just as it was, and our initial concept no longer has any place in this climate. As people become accustomed to social distancing and more resilient to change, we see a significant opportunity to adapt our business model due to COVID 19.

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Tonari opened as a pick-up only service. We still offer the food in the way we envisioned, but in a way that provides our guests need even more care, comfort, and community. We’ve added a few of the Peter Cat dishes we were most proud of. It would be a shame to not let our guest see this beautiful restaurant that we built to experience the jazz vinyl bar vibe we hoped to share. Tonari is the first restaurant in Portland born during the pandemic. We had to redesign the guest experience to address our guest’s pandemic related concerns. We pack Tonari dishes in carefully selected compostable packaging. Guests will still get to see all the intricate Japanese design of the space and hear songs playing on records crafted for us by Questlove as they walk through our space to pick up their orders, still taking in the environment and vibe we so hoped to share, but in a new time for restaurants.

Connect with Nodoguro | Tonari

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Culinary Genomics: The new food conversation

Amanda Archibald is widely recognized for her trailblazing work as a culinary nutritionist and dietitian based in Western Wisconsin. In 2015 she unveiled the concept of Culinary Genomics, a term she coined to express the revolutionary merging of nutrigenomics and the culinary arts. She is the founder of The Genomic Kitchen, a visionary company offering clients, clinicians, and chefs the opportunity to participate in the healthcare revolution driven by rapid advancement in DNA science and interpretation. Amanda’s forward-thinking approach and unique perspective are derived from over two decades of work in nutritional science, nutritional biochemistry, culinary translation, as well as on-the-ground interaction with consumers, chefs and health professionals.

Neha Jamani chats with Amanda to understand this unique approach of eating for your genes.

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NJ: What is Nutrigenomics and why does it matter?

AA: Nutrigenomics is the field of study that looks at the nutritional components in our diets and how they influence our gene expression. It moves away from the old “calories and percentages” approach and towards a new way of thinking about food where genes are the pivot for directing our biochemistry.

At the Genomic Kitchen a lot of our work is based on looking at “bio-actives” which are components in food that activate processes in the body to turn genes on and off. This allows us to steer biochemical pathway and influence how genes behave through dietary intervention. Our genes are also influenced by lifestyle factors, environmental exposure, and exercise.

NJ: Your work sits at the intersection of science, health, and the kitchen – a new specialty that you describe as culinary genomics. Tell us more about your work in this field.

AA: I have been in the nutrition field for 25 years, and I felt there was a gap. Science which cannot be translated to the plate is just “advice” and good advice is useless unless you can implement it.

Most of my career is has been to fill this gap between the science and the plate.

Culinary genomics is unique. I look at gene behavior and how genes are influencing the way we utilize nutrients -- and I take that understanding into the kitchen. Culinary genomics is a union of the culinary arts and cutting-edge medicine and nutritional science. The results of this union help us understand how to create recipes and prepare foods that optimize the information that food provides. It also considers cooking techniques, which ingredients may give you the best information and how to cook them, so you preserve and optimize the best of the information.

NJ: Is it necessary for everyone to do a genetic test done in order to benefit from nutrigenomics?

AA: No! One thing I realized when I started the Genomic Kitchen was that there is no point in sitting at the cutting edge of medicine and the culinary arts if the information provided by this confluence of culinary and medical information is not available to everyone. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s population at this time does not have access to genetic testing. It’s just not available to most of the public because it is a primarily a consumer product available only through purchase.

We have public health guidelines around the word, so depending where you live it would be a slightly different lens that we shine on food. Regardless of different cultures and ethnicities around the world, we mostly follow the same food rules: lots of vegetables, fruit and as much as fiber as we can get. Some of us may need more animal products and seafood than others because each person tolerates it differently, but the bottom line is if we don’t eat vegetables, fruits, spices, and lots of fiber, we will get sick.

The offerings at the Genomic Kitchen are accessible to everyone, because if we look at disease for the most part the root causes are the same: oxidative stress, imbalance in the gut and inadequate nutrition or poor understanding of nutrition. It is a broad brushstroke, but the goal is for anyone to understand how to go to the store, choose ingredients and understand how to prepare them in a way that optimizes their health. Genetic testing is like the icing on the cake in that it allows clinicians to push harder on certain foods. Clinicians can create a bespoke nutritional strategy for an individual based on the genetic and nutritional information gleaned from the genetic testing.

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NJ: Can our DNA be optimized through food?

AA: Yes! For example, by eating foods rich in antioxidants like vitamin A, C, E we are picking foods that contain information and bio-actives that inform our body and our DNA to do its best work and behave better. Testing allows us to look deeper and identify if a biochemical pathway or a gene is compromised. Based on that information, we select the foods most helpful to create a workaround and enable the body to function at its biochemical best.

NJ: What are some strategies that can influence our genes toward better health?

AA: One of the most important foods a person can buy is any member of the cruciferous family. If you think of them conventionally, they are a brilliant source of calcium, fiber and minerals. When we look at the cruciferous vegetables through the lens of biochemistry, the most important nutritional factor becomes the plentiful glucosinolates they contain. This family of compounds produces something nutritionally magical called sulforaphane when the vegetable is cut or chewed. This compound helps turn on the genes that produce the body’s own antioxidants.

Another substance from the cruciferous family is Diindolylmethane (DIM), which is extremely important in how the body metabolizes estrogen. The inability to metabolize estrogen efficiently can lead to our body potentially going down a less beneficial path. Cruciferous vegetables can help open a beneficial door that promotes the body’s natural mechanism to remove excess estrogen and to detoxify the body.

Herbs and spices are an important part of so many cuisines around the world, but many people don’t realize what nutritional powerhouses they can be. Regardless of which herb or spice used; when put under a microscope they are more bio-actives in them than any other ingredient.

Olive oil is an excellent source of bio-actives. However, I’m very mindful about recommendingit as it gets elevated a lot but is not the preferred oil for two-thirds of the population in the world.

Legumes, in population-based studies, one key that we see integral to longevity would be legumes.

As humans, it took us a long time to realize we could eat legumes. They are one of the best sources of folate.

NJ: Where do you see nutrigenomics going in the future?

AA: Nutrigenomics is 100 percent the future, and it’s so relevant right now. With genetics you start with a blank sheet of paper -- you assume nothing. There is no pre-described route, and that’s what’s beautiful. The individual genetic blueprint guides the clinician. Such an option should be available to every person. And there is no better time to do this because it saves trillions and trillions of dollars in guess work, unnecessary lab work and medications that can be potentially toxic for so many people.

With nutrigenomics we can carve a much better, cleaner path if we start with some of these unique movements. I feel this field will only grow exponentially as people realize the need for personalized medicine and nutrition.

To learn more https://www.genomickitchen.com/ 77

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theROGUE cocktail Passion Fruit and Rosemary Fizz

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The tropical flavors of passion fruit and herbaceous peppery taste of rosemary come together in a refreshing summer cocktail.

Ingredients 2 oz. white rum 1 passion fruit 1 oz. freshly-squeezed lime juice 1/2 tsp. sugar 2 sprigs rosemary Club soda Preparation

• Hold a sprig of rosemary over a wooden chopping board or a ceramic plate and burn the leaves with a blowtorch or matches.

• Invert your drink glass over the leaves to extinguish and fill the glass with smoke.

• Combine the remaining rosemary with sugar in a mixing glass. Using a muddle, pestle or spoon, muddle the rosemary to release the oils.

• Cut the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp.

• Add the rum, passion fruit and lime juice to the muddled rosemary and stir.

• Turn over the smoke-infused glass and add ice. Pour the rum mixture and top it with club soda.

• Garnish with passion fruit or rosemary.

• Enjoy!

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09 Originally from the world of performing arts, Mayank Anand and Shraddha Nigam worked in several films and television shows. In 2010 the Mumbai based husband-wife duo pivoted their creative energy and transitioned to the world of design with their clothing label debut at the Lakme Fashion Week. What transpired next was a revival of Indian handloom fabrics and weaves in mainstream fashion. The label’s minimalist, elegant and edgy designs seamlessly transition “from Jamani chats L Othe E X ramp E S E Dto I P Sthe A Ehome.

C E R I B”UNeha S with the actors-turned-designers about their journey with their design house MASN. Nam velic te vel is ma d elib ea ver um non nonseq ue et ur ?

Nob is aliasp it, comnim usto conec tem rem etur saecupt atquati d elent q ui isimend ant facep e rionem experup icidemquam vellit eum vento volup t at imus autem aud iasp ed

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Weaving the future of fashion

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NJ: What drew you into the world of fashion?

SN: Mayank is an artist. For him, fashion is an extension of his canvas which includes the written word, architectural spaces, fashion, film, fine art, and stage. For me personally, fashion is making business sense out of wearable art.

NJ: Drapes and flow are a signature feature of your label. Take us through your design journey in the making of a collection.

SN: Mayank is one of the few designers I know who doesn’t necessarily sketch his designs before putting them into the sampling stage. The first thing that he sees is the weight and flow of the fabric -- this is paramount to him. He will go into his eclectic studio with lengths of fabric, a set of pins and a series of dress forms and will whip out dreamy drapes that most of us in the office can’t get our heads around.

NJ: Your brands ethos is rooted in sustainability and you have always advocated to preserve Indian handwoven textiles. What are some projects the label is working on?

MA: Mayank Anand Shraddha Nigam is a label that does three primary lines. There is a line that focuses on sustainability that we refer to as P.U.R.E. The eveningwear line is aptly called DRAPE and our formal Indian wear line is Kapurthala. Indian handloom weaves and textiles feature extensively in all three lines. These weaves and textiles are our heritage and we cannot, as a brand based in India, fail to honor this legacy.

We work largely with little-known and under-marketed clusters of weavers, some of which are three to five loom set-ups. Others are co-operative setups where a group of families with a singleloom per household come together and work in harmony to produce marketable merchandise. We also employ a few single-loom households without a cooperative umbrella that do very specific customized products for our brand.

Over the years we’ve learned how to exchange ideas with them, and they help us weave our ideas into actual fabrics. It’s a collaborative effort and something that we really cherish in our working day.

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NJ: Unlike industrialized fashion, MASN has taken on the rogue route to feature unconventional models in your campaigns. Tell us more about that decision.

SN: Fashion should be for everyone. We don’t believe that one needs to be a certain body type, size, or skin color to be beautiful and that’s what we have always advocated. We like to work with people who embody the brand who might or might not be fashion models.

NJ: In recent years we have witnessed a rise in more conscious fashion brands. Do you feel the industry is heading in that direction?

MA: Conscious fashion, in India, has always played a two-faceted game. Either it is really high-end or a cottage industry line. It is only of late that the industry has embraced conscious fashion.

I remember that when we started, a friend jokingly referred to our brand as very “ragged.”

Unfortunately, at the time that was the image, conscious fashion had. I’m glad that we have been able to contribute to changing this image to a more positive one.

NJ: What is a closet must-have for women and men?

MA: Confidence! That’s what makes all the difference between you wearing the clothes and the clothes wearing you.

Instagram : @mayankanandshraddhanigam

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theROGUE finds Bagtazo Photos by Bagtazo

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Bagtazo is a New York-based hat and accessories collection designed outside of gender norms and repetitious tropes of bland, or ironic, aesthetics that are currently en vogue.

Founded in 2014 by Courtney Bagtazo, everything in Bagtazo’s collections are produced in limited batches using materials of verifiable sources, either crafted in Bagtazo’s studio or made with integrity by independently owned and operated manufacturers in the US. Bagtazo is a Filipino surname inherited from the designer’s maternal grandmother, a woman who walks the line between tradition and modernity.

To view the collection, visit www.bagtazocollection.com

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11 theROGUE bookshelf This issue theROGUE bibliophile Swashbuckler explores books that challenge stereotypes.

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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin All cultures offer narratives, often combined with theologies, about who we are as humans.

Most offer stories that imply humans have changed little since the dawn of time. In “Sapiens” Yuval Noah Harari challenges many of the narratives about how we evolved, what drives us now, and how we may change in the future.

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Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents

by Elisabeth Eaves “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” - Jane Austen, Persuasion.

Across many cultures the expected trajectory of young women is towards schooling, the selection of a job and mate, and then raising children. Over time, many will be expected to relinquish career and intellectual pursuits in order to better support husbands and children. But is that truly how all women want to live?

In “Wanderlust” Elisabeth Eaves challenges the common stereotype. She takes us along her journeys to numerous cities. She refuses to stay in one place and settle down. Her loves are deep and meaningful, but also contingent. They exist in a time and place, and in a certain context. They also help the author grow, but they do not transcend times and places. It’s a candid and fascinating look at one woman’s life and travels.

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Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday “Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.”- Lao Tzu In a world that moves “at the speed of business” and demands that we respond with a “bias for action,” Ryan Holiday makes a persuasive argument for building in time and space to sit still. He goes against the grain by pointing out that aggressiveness can lead to success or terrible disaster; taking time to reflect often helps us steer a wiser course.

Swashbuckler is an American man living in the Middle East. He lived previously in Asia and Europe. He enjoys challenging stereotypes and popular narratives.

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Alone Together theROGUE poet

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TOGETHER AS ONE These are dark times The fog of war settles over the world The enemies are dangerous and merciless Humanity is on the brink of the abyss Threats are invisible They attack unexpectedly Our life is delicate; we are susceptible And by failing to defend ourselves, they shall soon eradicate us Our life is a battlefield We fight in our bodies, against infectious invaders We fight in our minds, against our own darkness We fight in our soul, against the dread of existence We fight alone, against the cruelty of reality Although our chances are impossible Although we’re losing the war We live in the past Blind to the truth For millennia we have killed each other We’ve enslaved each other We’ve censored each other We’ve been our own worst enemy Our ego, traditions, greed and stupidity They have sealed the reality That we’re all the same, Part of the same humanity.

The same humanity that conquered the world And that it will conquer space The same one that built wonderful monuments

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And he created the most poignant art The same one who unlocked the secrets of the universe We are powerful, we are human.

The war shall be endless But in the future, we’ll be even stronger We’ll tear down the walls of the past And we’ll build the bridge to the future And when we fight on our personal battlefield We’ll be able to remember that we’re alone...

But together, as one.

-Brayant-

Brayant Manrique is a journalism student and lives in Venezuela. He is passionate about art and has dedicated his life to writing poems and scripts for films and television.

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Thank you

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Aesha Ash Amanda Archibald Andrea Anstiss Ankush Chaudhary Aspen Aman Bagtazo Brayant Manrique Cottonbro Elena Roadhouse Elina Krima Gabb Tapic Iris Basha JG Katarzyna Kanchan Monga Kris Rai Laxmi Kaisth Luizclas Matheus Viana Mayank Anand Oleg Magni Pavlina Rai Ryan Kayello Ryan Roadhouse Shraddha Nigam Travis Bell Vaishali Vaidya Vanessa Arnold Siddiq Kosh Sky Zach Jaroz

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