The Life Project: Recent Episodes
Cam Hayden
Hey, I’m Cam Hayden a musician and poet from Austin Texas welcome to the Life Project With Cam Hayden. The goal is to use this space to make my poems more available and give me a space to work on interviews and segments that surround topics of interest to me. Some will be funny, some more serious/informative, but the overall aim is to help people. And as always thank you for listening.
Discover the Untold Truths of Emotions: A Deep Dive into Anger and its Impact on Identity
Embark on a profound journey through the intricate realm of emotions, as I unveil my personal odyssey of self-discovery. Despite years of introspection, I confess that the enigma of emotions remains partially unsolved. Nevertheless, I am compelled to share the invaluable insights gained from engaging in heartfelt conversations with the diverse fragments of my emotional landscape.
As a person of color, I have witnessed an alarming surge in the voices urging me to suppress my anger since the earliest days of my existence. This phenomenon seems to be an all-too-familiar narrative for the black men in my life, who have encountered the ubiquitous "as a black man" admonition. Such conversations often encourage the restraint of anger, leading to a collective struggle against the unbridled emotional turmoil experienced by those who lack the tools for emotional growth and maturity. While it may be tempting to lay the blame solely on individuals for their emotional shortcomings, I find myself sympathizing with those who were deprived of a fair opportunity to learn and navigate their emotions. I can't help but question whether forcibly fostering docility in minorities truly served their best interests or exacerbated their challenges in the long run.
In my relentless quest to understand my relationship with anger, I stumbled upon a revelation, subtle yet profound. Like all emotions, my anger was a guardian, ceaselessly striving to shield me from the perils of my own missteps, the draining influences of futile connections, and, above all, the insidious effects of external perception attempting to define my very being. It dawned upon me that many of the situations and relationships I found myself entangled in were born out of a desire to conform to society's imposed definitions of who I should be. The consequences were a silent accumulation of discontentment and an ever-expanding cloak of imposter syndrome. Imagine nurturing a talent in secret, fearing societal judgment, only to later realize its immense potential to empower and uplift others.
Join me as we delve into the multifaceted nature of anger, unraveling its hidden motives and shedding light on the profound impact it has on our identities. Through this exploration, we will come to appreciate the inherent wisdom in our emotions and the transformative power they possess. Together, let us embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and harness the strength of our emotions to create a brighter future for ourselves and those around us.
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cameron-hayden2/support
you've put the weight of the world on your shoulders but, you never stopped to notice how much the weight shifts because you've been too focused on there being any weight at all.
"new people, in new scenes, where people back home only remember us for who we used to be."
As always, thank you for listening
why is being vulnerable so hard and how I combat losing friendships/love interests/family
finding joy in meeting people even if just for a moment. raining in jersey is a poem i created about a passing interaction that made me happy.
Typically speaking when someone tells you “get a hobby” it’s probably an adult prompting you to pre-occupy your free time. Most people who suggest you get a hobby tell you to do such because they assume you have too much free time on your hands. In today's society someone telling you “get a hobby” could simply be them wanting you to find something you enjoy and then turn it into a side hustle. This is not what I mean.
After a minor argument with a friend, we spoke on empathy and the nature of people needing to be more empathic toward one another which lead to the creation of this poem!