omg i had a meeting with you once about like oratory and speech and debate in like january and dude i just love reading your stuff or listening to you speak, it's literally like you have this glowing charisma that radiates even through my screen and i really can't explain it better than that. i think about your writings a lot and the meanings in them and just thank you so much. at first when i talked to you i asked you if a heart story was necessary in an oratory speech and you told me that you think the best oratories themselves are centered around people's personal stories and at the time i didn't quite get what that REALLY meant. it was only after some months and having borne a lot of unexpected events was i able to get a strong grasp on what you meant about those oratories. what YOU made the event of original oratory after you left the national stage in 2022. i am genuinely so inspired by you and i honestly really strive to create waves in the world and to people the way you do, with raw and inherent humanity. it's crazy because i'm only nearing the end of my freshman year in high school but it feels like i've learned SO MANY things that a total of four years of american high school can't afford to some. i started this year with such a drastically different mindset and perspective than i do now, and i really have found PASSION. it's so funny too because when i was giving my oratory at my state tournament this past march, every time i ended my speech i thought back to your nsda performance and the way you ended it, like it truly came from the rawest part of your heart. beyond a clever zinger or some iconic ending, it was humane. that small moment that i've rewatched on youtube so many times is something that'll probably never erase from my mind. i'm excited to try oratory again my sophomore year, because i now have such a different perspective on how to create one. it's ambitious but i really hope that one day i could be on that stage too and be able to share my story and something i care about a lot to an audience of people who need to hear it. but more than that, i hope i'm at least able to touch people's hearts like you did, even if that ambition doesn't end up working out. please never stop doing what you do ariv.
tisha you made my entire year with your words. thank you for taking the time to engage with the art i share and respond with a beautiful reflection. you are the reason i keep doing that i do, and it's an honor! at the end of the day as long as you get the opportunity to share what speaks most deeply to you with one other person, it is a gift. i'm excited to hear your next oratory :)
love this reflection so much - some of the points you mentioned resonated so well w/ me and the writing is so beautiful that i could feel the feelings you described and your amazing experience. definitely adding Ezalen to my list of places I want to go! subscribed and hope our paths cross one day :)
Big Sur is more than a place—it is a state of being. You answered the Hokey Pokey question, "You put your whole self in... and you shake it all about."
wow this is so cool!! congrats :)
thanks mia!
omg i had a meeting with you once about like oratory and speech and debate in like january and dude i just love reading your stuff or listening to you speak, it's literally like you have this glowing charisma that radiates even through my screen and i really can't explain it better than that. i think about your writings a lot and the meanings in them and just thank you so much. at first when i talked to you i asked you if a heart story was necessary in an oratory speech and you told me that you think the best oratories themselves are centered around people's personal stories and at the time i didn't quite get what that REALLY meant. it was only after some months and having borne a lot of unexpected events was i able to get a strong grasp on what you meant about those oratories. what YOU made the event of original oratory after you left the national stage in 2022. i am genuinely so inspired by you and i honestly really strive to create waves in the world and to people the way you do, with raw and inherent humanity. it's crazy because i'm only nearing the end of my freshman year in high school but it feels like i've learned SO MANY things that a total of four years of american high school can't afford to some. i started this year with such a drastically different mindset and perspective than i do now, and i really have found PASSION. it's so funny too because when i was giving my oratory at my state tournament this past march, every time i ended my speech i thought back to your nsda performance and the way you ended it, like it truly came from the rawest part of your heart. beyond a clever zinger or some iconic ending, it was humane. that small moment that i've rewatched on youtube so many times is something that'll probably never erase from my mind. i'm excited to try oratory again my sophomore year, because i now have such a different perspective on how to create one. it's ambitious but i really hope that one day i could be on that stage too and be able to share my story and something i care about a lot to an audience of people who need to hear it. but more than that, i hope i'm at least able to touch people's hearts like you did, even if that ambition doesn't end up working out. please never stop doing what you do ariv.
tisha you made my entire year with your words. thank you for taking the time to engage with the art i share and respond with a beautiful reflection. you are the reason i keep doing that i do, and it's an honor! at the end of the day as long as you get the opportunity to share what speaks most deeply to you with one other person, it is a gift. i'm excited to hear your next oratory :)
LOVE THIS, you made me sign up to sub stack lol
let's go! great to see you here natasha :)
love this reflection so much - some of the points you mentioned resonated so well w/ me and the writing is so beautiful that i could feel the feelings you described and your amazing experience. definitely adding Ezalen to my list of places I want to go! subscribed and hope our paths cross one day :)
thanks for reading adeline! i appreciate you taking the time to comment :)
if you're ever in the bay area send me a note!
Of course!
dude this is beautiful! nice job.
hey thank you sarah – it was quite a week!
“I like to think—what advice would I tell myself when I get through this?”
never thought to think of it this way — super powerful!
loved it ariv!
thanks fazal :) -- i'm back in town, we should catch up soon!
Big Sur is more than a place—it is a state of being. You answered the Hokey Pokey question, "You put your whole self in... and you shake it all about."
Well said!