morganharpernichols
Morgan Harper Nichols
412Following49.5KFollowers507.4KLikes
Autistic/ADHD artist and MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts candidate ♥️
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The wonderful thing about a river
Is that even the smallest drops of water
contribute to the flow.
Even the smallest drops of rain,
practically unseen and untouchable
by the human eye or hand
is a part of that river.
Remember this when you start to feel
like your contributions are not enough.
Remember this when all you have to give
on a particular day
seems to only be defined
by how small and seemingly insignificant it is.
Smallness does not equal insignificance.
The small things you do matter, too.
This is important because
under the heat of the sun,
you might feel pressured to
always just do more and more.
You might feel that you need buckets of water
in order to earn your place in the world.
Others may say or do things
that make you feel
like what you have to give
is not enough.
There is where you learn to trust:
whatever you have to give today
will serve its purpose
in the way it’s meant to,
and it might serve a purpose
in way that is beyond what you can see (or hear).
You might not be able to see (or hear)
a small drop of water,
making it down the river,
but you can still trust
it serves a purpose in that river. It’s a part of something more
beyond what you can see (or hear).
Remember this with every little thing
you do today,
especially when you start to wonder
if you’re doing enough.
Maybe this is a part of a larger river.
Maybe you can’t see how it all connects,
and that’s okay.
Find peace in knowing that every day,
you have contributed to something bigger than you
in a mysteriously grand and beautiful way.
_
Journal prompt:
Make a list of five things you’re proud of yourself for doing (no matter how small)
_
Accessibility: This is an animated illustrated video featuring a river in a blue-green landscape. The animated illustration of the river moves slowly through the image to reflect the sounds. #poetry #spokenword #nature #calm #relaxing #morganharpernichols
Is that even the smallest drops of water
contribute to the flow.
Even the smallest drops of rain,
practically unseen and untouchable
by the human eye or hand
is a part of that river.
Remember this when you start to feel
like your contributions are not enough.
Remember this when all you have to give
on a particular day
seems to only be defined
by how small and seemingly insignificant it is.
Smallness does not equal insignificance.
The small things you do matter, too.
This is important because
under the heat of the sun,
you might feel pressured to
always just do more and more.
You might feel that you need buckets of water
in order to earn your place in the world.
Others may say or do things
that make you feel
like what you have to give
is not enough.
There is where you learn to trust:
whatever you have to give today
will serve its purpose
in the way it’s meant to,
and it might serve a purpose
in way that is beyond what you can see (or hear).
You might not be able to see (or hear)
a small drop of water,
making it down the river,
but you can still trust
it serves a purpose in that river. It’s a part of something more
beyond what you can see (or hear).
Remember this with every little thing
you do today,
especially when you start to wonder
if you’re doing enough.
Maybe this is a part of a larger river.
Maybe you can’t see how it all connects,
and that’s okay.
Find peace in knowing that every day,
you have contributed to something bigger than you
in a mysteriously grand and beautiful way.
_
Journal prompt:
Make a list of five things you’re proud of yourself for doing (no matter how small)
_
Accessibility: This is an animated illustrated video featuring a river in a blue-green landscape. The animated illustration of the river moves slowly through the image to reflect the sounds. #poetry #spokenword #nature #calm #relaxing #morganharpernichols
Ink, a poem about my experiences being autistic
They said all you have to do
is follow the rules on this page,
and then they wrote down rules
in invisible ink.
So the only way
that I could learn
what was on the page
was to study how the rule-makers think.
I spent decades
in the halls of their libraries.
studying their idioms
crossing t’s, dotting i’s.
I learned to lower and RAISE
MY VOICE at the right times
and prepare a face
to look them
in the eye.
But no matter how I hard tried,
I could NEVER see
the invisible ink on this page.
I just wanted to see
if it held the fine print
about talking too much,
or “be yourself, but not THAT way.”
Then someone said,
“well, with invisible ink
all you need is a UV light.
Simply hold it up to the page
and then you can read everything just fine.”
So I went out and bought a UV light,
ready to read this fine print I didn’t know,
and then, from the corner of the room
everyone laughed,
and said “are you serious?
That actual page was just a joke.
How can’t you see
we were just messing with you?
The rules are things you just…know.”
So I backed out of the room
and I wish I could tell you I left
having said something clever
or made some speech.
Something about
embracing our differences
and how to make room
for people like me.
But in reality, I left that room
hiding behind
the same old mask I’m used to…
the one they tell you
you don’t have to wear,
but...you do.
I left that room
even more mystified
about how the rule-makers
make rules,
and how they think.
But I also left that room
deciding
the when I
tell my story
I will tell it
in the blackest of inks.
-MHN #autism #actuallyautistic #blackandautistic
They said all you have to do
is follow the rules on this page,
and then they wrote down rules
in invisible ink.
So the only way
that I could learn
what was on the page
was to study how the rule-makers think.
I spent decades
in the halls of their libraries.
studying their idioms
crossing t’s, dotting i’s.
I learned to lower and RAISE
MY VOICE at the right times
and prepare a face
to look them
in the eye.
But no matter how I hard tried,
I could NEVER see
the invisible ink on this page.
I just wanted to see
if it held the fine print
about talking too much,
or “be yourself, but not THAT way.”
Then someone said,
“well, with invisible ink
all you need is a UV light.
Simply hold it up to the page
and then you can read everything just fine.”
So I went out and bought a UV light,
ready to read this fine print I didn’t know,
and then, from the corner of the room
everyone laughed,
and said “are you serious?
That actual page was just a joke.
How can’t you see
we were just messing with you?
The rules are things you just…know.”
So I backed out of the room
and I wish I could tell you I left
having said something clever
or made some speech.
Something about
embracing our differences
and how to make room
for people like me.
But in reality, I left that room
hiding behind
the same old mask I’m used to…
the one they tell you
you don’t have to wear,
but...you do.
I left that room
even more mystified
about how the rule-makers
make rules,
and how they think.
But I also left that room
deciding
the when I
tell my story
I will tell it
in the blackest of inks.
-MHN #autism #actuallyautistic #blackandautistic
90 seconds to breathe ♥️
this is a space to breathe:
welcome.
Imagine
this is a place where
there is no pressure
to “do” anything…
just room
to be free
to breathe.
and even if
your next
exhale
doesn't change
everything,
it is still a small
form of letting go
that matters more
than you know
…may the space
you find to
take deep breaths
only continue
to grow.
mhn
__
Thank you so much for watching! There will be a long form version of this coming to youtube soon. I’ve been working on these kind of videos for a couple of years now and I am finally coming around the bend to be able to make videos that are filled with poetry and art that you can watch/listen to while going to sleep, studying, waking up, etc…and I will have some free ones up on my app (@thestorytellerco)’s YouTube channel. More coming soon ♥️ In the meantime, thanks for watching and listening, and I hope this creates a little room to breathe. - @morganharpernichols #poetry #art #calming #autisticartist #motiongraphics #finalcutpro
this is a space to breathe:
welcome.
Imagine
this is a place where
there is no pressure
to “do” anything…
just room
to be free
to breathe.
and even if
your next
exhale
doesn't change
everything,
it is still a small
form of letting go
that matters more
than you know
…may the space
you find to
take deep breaths
only continue
to grow.
mhn
__
Thank you so much for watching! There will be a long form version of this coming to youtube soon. I’ve been working on these kind of videos for a couple of years now and I am finally coming around the bend to be able to make videos that are filled with poetry and art that you can watch/listen to while going to sleep, studying, waking up, etc…and I will have some free ones up on my app (@thestorytellerco)’s YouTube channel. More coming soon ♥️ In the meantime, thanks for watching and listening, and I hope this creates a little room to breathe. - @morganharpernichols #poetry #art #calming #autisticartist #motiongraphics #finalcutpro
as you move through the day,
may you know it's okay
to create a little space,
to let this day be
what it needs to be.
and however you can,
create room to simply breathe.
for you have already been through
so much,
and to simply breathe
through this moment
is more than enough.
inhale,
exhale,
and pace yourself
through the landscape
of the day,
gathering what you need as you go.
grace,
gratitude,
space,
hope,
joy,
love,
rest,
room to feel what you need to feel,
room to grieve,
room to embrace gentleness,
slowness,
room to learn what it means to be free,
room to breathe,
room to
breathe.
in your stillness, in your motion,
in your silence, in your song…
breathe.
MHN
#animation #poetry #pause #art
may you know it's okay
to create a little space,
to let this day be
what it needs to be.
and however you can,
create room to simply breathe.
for you have already been through
so much,
and to simply breathe
through this moment
is more than enough.
inhale,
exhale,
and pace yourself
through the landscape
of the day,
gathering what you need as you go.
grace,
gratitude,
space,
hope,
joy,
love,
rest,
room to feel what you need to feel,
room to grieve,
room to embrace gentleness,
slowness,
room to learn what it means to be free,
room to breathe,
room to
breathe.
in your stillness, in your motion,
in your silence, in your song…
breathe.
MHN
#animation #poetry #pause #art
this video is an infinite loop
designed to create a little space to breathe...
let it repeat as often as you like...
if you’re only here
for a few seconds,
that’s okay...
or, if you’d like to stay a little longer, that’s okay, too...
whatever you decide,
take the time you need...
and no matter where you are headed,
may you always
create room to breathe...
MHN
#animation #calming
designed to create a little space to breathe...
let it repeat as often as you like...
if you’re only here
for a few seconds,
that’s okay...
or, if you’d like to stay a little longer, that’s okay, too...
whatever you decide,
take the time you need...
and no matter where you are headed,
may you always
create room to breathe...
MHN
#animation #calming
“The kaleidoscope image that we see has infinite possibilities but not without what’s happening in that object chamber. Because it’s what’s in there…those small, colorful pieces in that chamber…hold what makes the complex, vibrant, whole. So maybe, we can think of our days as little containers that hold within them possibilities, and we shift and turn through many things we look up toward the sun and see colors emerging and interacting. We witness a beautiful way of observing what’s right here, that we never noticed before…” - MHN
—
Audio is an excerpt from the podcast:
Episode Title: “When Daily Life Feels Scattered (Lessons From The Kaleidoscope)
Date: March 12, 2023
Podcast: “Morgan Harper Nichols Show”
-
Video song: The Road to Odessa by Lama House
Video Art + Edits all by @morganharpernichols
#poetry #podcast #art #videoart #morganharpernichols #inspiring #calmingvideos #artistic #actuallyautistic #artisticvideo
—
Audio is an excerpt from the podcast:
Episode Title: “When Daily Life Feels Scattered (Lessons From The Kaleidoscope)
Date: March 12, 2023
Podcast: “Morgan Harper Nichols Show”
-
Video song: The Road to Odessa by Lama House
Video Art + Edits all by @morganharpernichols
#poetry #podcast #art #videoart #morganharpernichols #inspiring #calmingvideos #artistic #actuallyautistic #artisticvideo
Podcast. Being in the process is a lifelong pursuit, and it matters to make space for that. Our process is a meaningful endeavor worth investing in and a work of art in its own way. #podcastsoftiktok #longvideo #10mintiktok #art #creativethinking #creativesoftiktok #podcasts #calming #journaling #inspiration #motivation #morganharpernichols