What's Next?
- Oliver Clark
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
The more I understand my own creativity, and the more I speak with people who are actively working with theirs, the more I realize how few spaces truly teach us how to listen to it. How many places invite us to witness it, nurture it, and act on it with intention? Creativity has its own language. It has its own timing, rhythm, imagery, sensation, longing, and intuitive nudges. It speaks constantly—yet many of us have never been taught how to hear it. Listening to the sound of your creativity is the starting point. Honestly, it’s a relationship, and if you talk about co-creating with all that is, it’s the energy that inspires you to make change happen. You grow into it the way you grow into any relationship: with attention, honesty, curiosity, and time. You learn its rhythm, noticing when it slows down and when it accelerates. Over time, you begin to recognize all of the ways it signals you.
So I ask you: What is your creativity saying to you right now?
After the launch of A.U.R.A.: The Algorithm of Peace, I entered a period of rest and recalibration. I had plans for how I wanted to teach the book, yet I am also a citizen of the world. My eyes are always open, paying attention to what people are experiencing and what is happening in the world. It became clear that what I had originally planned was not aligned with what this moment requires. The world is shifting quickly, along with its priorities.
Many people are struggling to understand what to do when there is so much work to be done—ensuring everyone has enough, safeguarding human rights, and acknowledging the violations unfolding in real time. You and I are only one person — we cannot lift the entire world on our shoulders; we know that path leads to collapse. We've also learned about the destruction that the savior complex led us to. In the new ways of living that we are creating, communities will form the foundations of change, but the work begins with us individually. When we are clear about our own path, we can contribute wholeheartedly to causes that impact us locally, where we can root ourselves in relationships with people who appreciate our creative abilities and help us shape them.
While writing and releasing the book, I kept encountering research that spoke to something deeply ancestral. Individuals we now call queer once held roles of authority, wisdom, and spiritual grounding. Some of this knowledge was lost or stolen during the transatlantic slave trade. Connecting with my ancestors helped me listen to their whispers and continue the work of creating a harmonious world around me, just as they did in the past. As I listened to my ancestors, they revealed memories still alive in the collective body—Yoruba griots who carried history through spoken word and music, androgynous guides whom communities trusted for spiritual insight, storytellers who held the culture together, and queer elders and royalty that led empires.
Many of us queer people have been told that we are wrong simply for existing. Yet our people have existed for centuries as honored members of society, carriers of myth, memory, and meaning. As I continue to follow the pathways and creativity opens up more, it helps me to recognize the deep desire to carry this lineage forward.
Last week, I DJ’d with my friend Big Ladam at Rádio Quântica here in Lisbon. We spent hours vibing, laughing, and nerding out over music. Everyone jokes that “everyone is a DJ,” but my intention is different. I don't want to just play music—I want to tell stories. I want to shift the atmosphere of a room. I want to help people dance themselves back into their bodies. I want movement to be liberation. I want sound to be medicine.
Music kept me grounded while writing my book. It was therapy when my mind felt tired. It helped me to gain clarity when my next steps felt uncertain. Music freed me. That is its nature. It was music—not religion—that led me into spirituality. A tempo can shift your breath, a tone can soften your chest, and a key change can redirect your entire emotional landscape.
My body, heart, and spirit feel united in a way that I haven’t experienced before, and that's all that matters. I'm grateful that I don't have to fight with any part of myself, wondering if it's too much or too little, feeling like I have imposter syndrome, or worrying about how anyone will see or not see my intentions shine through. Most know that I come from a lineage of powerful spiritual leaders, teachers, and counselors, and throughout my life, I didn't see a clear pathway of how I fit into this. Yes, I've always been a mystic, and I love sharing experiences with other curious and intuitive people, but I've been a late bloomer in almost every aspect of life. Now the pieces are starting to make sense.
In a way...I feel like I'm creating some kind of church without walls...not in the traditional sense. Church without walls itself is a fairly abstract concept. I mean community, though—not affiliated with any religious institution. In my church experience, music and dance go hand in hand. I was speaking with a friend during a break while out dancing with Alfred over the weekend, and they told me of their upbringing in a religious family. We shared that music was our connection with spirituality. A hot take...I think if the church, especially the black church, just opened their churches on Sunday to music and praise dancing for two hours on Sunday without preaching, prayers, or rituals or formality, it would free so many people, but who am I :)
For some, it might seem like a sudden direction, but music has always been part of my life. I studied it. I hear it deeply. I never imagined DJing, yet the path opened with something as simple as asking friends to contribute songs to my birthday playlist. I didn’t know then that this was the spark that would lead up to the recent changes in my life. At the beginning of November, I had the urge to begin delving into the technicalities of DJing, what equipment I needed, and what other resources I needed to start. I began to make little mixes, and I was able to see and listen to music in a new way. In gaining confidence, I began to talk about what I was doing with others. What shifted the direction was when I was asked whether I wanted to DJ for real. The way that creativity surprises and leads to understanding myself more, I made it a habit to say yes to not only the things that challenge me, but also things that are in line with the things that I love.
DJing is now part of my creative repertoire. I’ll be honest—I don’t fully know where this creative energy is guiding me next. So far, it has led me to fashion, unexpected collaborations with other creative people, more writing, and new ways of facilitating meditation. It continues to open doors I didn’t even know existed. My only task is to stay open, listen deeply, and follow the sound. I'm doing it all.
Going forward, much of my creative work will flow through the name @theauragrio—to honor my ancestors, to tell stories, to shape experiences, to create a peaceful energy and atmosphere around me that helps people feel comfortable with themselves. Most don’t need people to tell them which way to go. Just support or maybe a hand to help them step over the threshold of change and let go of the parts of themselves that prevent them from being authentically themselves.
I’ll have a new radio show, Panaural, on Radio Quantica coming out beginning 9 December 6-8p p.m. Lisbon time (18-20h), which will include a short talk, a meditation, as well as an inspirational house set and an opportunity to shake your ass a little. I'll use the framework from my book, AURA: Accepting, Understanding, Refecting, and Acting, to talk about the many ways we can participate in change because change is not something we like to practice regularly...at least our brains are not wired that way. Change is needed now more than ever, and it’s an opportunity for us to free ourselves together and have some fun in the process. I'll post links to watch live wherever I can, and I'll also post the DJ set to listen to on the ride home from work or while doing tasks around the house. I intend to give you a soundtrack to listen to for Saturday morning chores! I'll post the links below to watch live.
Your creativity will transform what we are living through into something meaningful and sustainable; however, if you choose to walk the creative path, expect change. Expect evolution. Expect to release what blocks the flow—unhealed wounds, old beliefs, fears, exhaustion. Creativity will shine light on what has been buried, so your process must include rest, care, and support.
If you are not currently working with your creativity because of fear, hesitation, or lack of confidence, I invite you to begin the journey. You can start with my book A.U.R.A.: The Algorithm of Peace or one of the self-guided courses. I also encourage you (especially if you are local but it is open to all) to join Understanding Love 22, a community of people reclaiming their creativity to make changes in their world. If you need mental health support, please reach out—I will gladly help connect you with professionals aligned with your needs.
Do not let the weight of the world discourage you from creating. This is a moment that calls for boldness. This is a moment that calls for vision. You do not have to do this alone.
Dream Big, Organize Well, and Love Often.
Love,
Oliver aka The AuraGrio
Watch Panaural Live:
Listen to Panaural Live and Replay
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