In this interview, Speaker A recounts a seven‑month, roughly 7,000‑mile road trip from San Francisco to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in Wappinger Falls, New York, culminating at an art‑retreat center run by visionary artists Alex Grey and his wife Allison. The conversation pivots to the role of storytelling and broader creative practices—music, comedy, poetry, visual art—in fostering community, lifting mood, and providing a protective buffer against depression and suicidal thoughts. Speaker A emphasizes that creativity is a daily, democratic act; its value lies not in fame or profit but in the personal transformation it sparks and the ripple effects it creates for audiences. The dialogue also touches on Speaker A’s own artistic background, noting a film‑school education and a love for photography, framing personal creative practice as a pathway to mental‑health resilience.
Chapters
It took us 7 months, over 7 months, to get from the Golden Gate Bridge, uh, to— in San Francisco to Wappingers Falls, New York, uh, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. So, but we kind of built that in. I mean, it was literally over 7,000 miles from beginning to end. And, and it's— it doesn't take— it doesn't say— it's not 7,000 miles from Pacific to Atlantic. If you were to get in a car and drive in a straight line, it's not that far. We just— we just did a giant W and like, let's see how many places we can go, you know? You know, we were— we were full of piss and vinegar in the beginning, and by the time we got to the end, like we were different.
Yeah, I bet you were. Yeah.
So yeah, I do, I do want to make like another point on why we, um, ended at an art retreat center and what that has to do with like suicide. So storytelling, I feel like it is a form of creativity, and we do it and we participate in it every single day. You could tell if somebody's just telling you about their day, you can tell if they're a good storyteller or not. You know, you're like, sometimes you're like, get to the point, get to the point. Other times you'll be like, get to the point, get to the point, but they've intentionally taken you on a long journey for a small cup of water, you know what I mean? So we felt that art and creativity is a monumental tool for anybody dealing with any type of mental health issues or any type of sadness or depression. That, you know, art brings us together. Think about a concert, you know, and everybody coming together. Think about like listening to any type— whether it's, whether it's a, a musical concert, whether it's a stand-up comedy, whether it's, uh, poetry or spoken word poetry readings, you know, something that gathers people together. And it can either be at like a giant venue or it can be somebody on the street and like people just crowd around. Like, art and creativity bring us together, they lift us up. And Alex Gray and his wife Allison are the artists that own, that run the Art Retreat Center, they have a similar belief in the importance of the creative power of art, not only as the artist creating but the audience who gets to witness, is that there's something magical that happens, uh, between artist and, and audience. There's like this transference, there's this exchange, uh, that can help even for like a simple moment it can help, um, elevate somebody's, uh, emotions, maybe like pull them up a little bit out of like darkness and give them a bit of happiness. So we— that was like one of the things that we preached the most is the importance of, of, uh, of art and creativity and finding for yourself what it is to be a creative person, that that's part of your journey, that you don't have to like You don't have to like garner adulation. You don't have to, you know, make a lot of money at it, but just do it for the sake of creating art and what it does for you. And also hopefully for your circle of influence. I mean, there's some people that might read this book or might even hear this conversation and we'll never know how much it changed them. So, and I think that's important in creating art is like the ripples that are— you'll never be aware of.
Yeah. So speaking, staying on, on that level right there, man, speaking of creativity, tell us a little bit about your love for photography.
So I went to film school, uh, I, I went to film school. I couldn't, you know, for the longest time— this is weird— writing was— is my dragon.
