Today we’d like to introduce you to David Bartholomew.
Thanks for sharing your story with us David. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The origination of The One World Flag — an international symbol of diversity; the publishing of five years of Doing It! — a Journal of Positive Living; over thirty-five years as a holistic healing practitioner; a couple of award-winning peoplementaries; all of my work and creative expressions trackback to a perfect moment on a swingset as a kid — in which everything became One — and time spent alone in the woods behind our house and hours upon hours perched in the highest trees in the neighborhood.
I was put on the path of the mystic and the “cheerleader for humanity” right out of the gate — gifted with never having (fully) lost track of my natural self or my connection in the world. Though many experiences came to test that connection, it just became clear this was a journey of adventure, discovery, service, gratitude and more. That spark never died and I came to find it my nature to help, remind, draw out of others — in every way I can — all of the joy, passion, freedom, ok-ness, and full authentic expression out of us all — along the lines of the Ram Dass quote, “We’re all just walking each other Home.”
My sense of living a life of “never wishing I would have” led me through twists, turns, forks in the road, and shorter or longer stints as — a writer, performer, Houston police officer, naval academy midshipman, Hollywood stuntman and lighting technician, traveler, photographer, workshop junkie, documentary filmmaker, just the mixed bag of experiences which continue to accrue in this life as a “hyphenate” (hence Hyphenate Productions). I have seen many things by way of each of these avocations and occupations, each of which have taught me much I might not have understood of the human condition. I have been there at the beginning and end — having helped birth a child not of my own making, to facilitation in the transition from this life to the next. In between those two poles people have trusted me to work with them to release every imaginable burden and abuse, and hopefully been inspired and encouraged in some way by my word, pictures or perhaps my willingness to be present.
In the tradition of “chop wood, carry water” I feel we are of the most value to ourselves and true to our journey as we work through all we came to experience for the highest growth of our soul. And as we achieve degrees of success in this, we become, as the slogans of the One World Flag state, space for
“Honoring the Talents, Abilities and Uniqueness in Each of Us, as Strengths that can Benefit All of Us”.
“… because we have more in common as a world than we have differences between nations [and one another].”
In this I am pretty much a Johnny One-Note: I just wish to continue to show up as the opportunity for us all to strip away anything between us and our true essence, such that we create the garden here, now. As Solomon Burke sings, “None of Us are Free, if One of Us is Chained, None of Us are Free.”
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with many healers and creatives, a lot of what might initially drive the desire to help, facilitate, inspire can come from less than desirable situations. The “wounded healer” archetype is a thing. Suffice it to say that these things teach you what matters, and I just don’t see me wanting to exert any energy or expend any resource that isn’t for the positive. That was clear very early on. I understand the sanctity of life and will champion that being recovered wherever I have permission.
My eyes were opened to injustice from the start — all of the nastiness which came to light in the sixties, when you would see the atrocities on television moreso than in today’s controlled media. Somehow I was just more awake to all of this at 4, 6, 8, and never lost it — this empathy for groups of humans being treated inhumanely. And then — having things perpetuated on you, physically — you take a stand for never wanting anyone to experience such if preventable. And I have strived to be equipped to address, alleviate and reframe this in those who come to me or my work — healingwise or creatively — trusting that relief is available.
This is a sacred trust. And it needs to be met with impeccability. Where trust has been violated, safety unimaginable, I have to stand as that possibility. In the capacity as healer/facilitator one gets matched with the people s/he is able to hold space for; and having experienced and witnessed things, I happen to be able to hold space for a lot of the most heinous abuse, ptsd, unsavory situations, and these seem to be the people who find me.
These same principles hold true for any of my creative or artistic expressions. There is just an intentionality to uplift, to present truths which cut through the illusion, to free others of disillusionment, to tease us all back to the remembering of the mystic and esoteric underpinnings of this reality.
There are those who are so entrenched in this “reality” — like a method actor immersed in a role — that they do not want to hear anything of “possibility”. The backlash which came initially to the idea of the One World Flag, at its core a symbol of tolerance, was crazy. The venom in these lengthy diatribes. At first a bit of my smartass came out and would tangle with them and it would just go on and on; but then, in following a lesson I picked up along the way, “speak to the highest in another and that is what will respond”, I would just clear myself and speak truth, heart-truth, to a place I know resided in them. And the resistance started to fall away. Of course — you have to continue to start anew each time someone in the throes of their disconnection and fear come at you each subsequent time.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
A place I believe I have achieved, through my creative work, through my sacred and healing and service work, through the One World Flag, and our former magazine DoingIt!, through all that my wife, Joan Clark, and I attempt to work in this world, is the ability to convey — direct experience of Oneness, Love, and all of us as a part of that, and to each a remembering of what of us is illusion and what is timeless.
I feel I can speak in whatever languaging a person resonates with, using whatever terms one feels most comfortable — for this Consciousness, for this web, this life force which connects us. I work to bring a deep understanding of the perfection of the path each person is on, and how permission — from Spirit, from the person him or herself — enters into any interaction with another.
Having continued to work to become “the hollow bone” I think whatever success I have achieved in this has translated over the years in people’s perception of my sincerity, authenticity, steadfastness, calming nature, heart which bleeds for the world, and all of this, as being “true”. Family and longtime friends have known me to do a lot of “out there” things over many years and see me as having never lost the grounded perspective of that Midwest, Cleveland kid.
The overall umbrella of any of this, in my case, would be that of the “urban shaman”. Yes I know the “shaman” word is overused today and a catchphrase for that “next big thing” that people might look to latch onto and have something to talk about at a dinner party. And yes I hear people voicing concerns over the idea of “cultural appropriation”. And I can say that in answer to that — call it what you will — we understand what the term shaman refers to, and it is that communal role of the elder, mystic, healer, curandera(-o), medicine person… basically a grounded figure able to help unwind the mysteries and provide some sense of counsel in the spiritual, mental/emotional and physical. This is needed in every culture. And I feel it is often most successfully conveyed by someone speaking to and working with and from the myths, mores (pronouncedˈmôrāz) and practices of the culture.
My lifelong intention to serve in any capacity on the way toward this, and over thirty-five years of experience accumulated in work in the healing and creative fields, has brought me to the point of synthesizing from all I have learned what I consider to be extremely effective methods of passing this along to others. I don’t latch onto this or any term, and it took me a long time to think of me in association with any of these kind of words — but at some point you feel you have achieved a small degree of mastery and witnessed the lifting of cares and burdens in those you have reached, and you have to describe it somehow. With respect to “artist” or “healer”, “mystic”, “shaman”, any of it — one really never sounds proper for one to call oneself. I leave it to what others feel they have gained from our time together.
As we stick with something long enough we transcend the various teachings and distill from all of our experience our unique style and expression. I believe what I am able to do in the role of writer/filmmaker/originator is to generate stories which speak to the possibilities which can free us; similarly, donning the cap of healer/facilitator, I find new ways to guide clients to the questions that raise them from victim to owner of their own experience — specifically, something like (as opposed to “Why me?”) “What is the gift, lesson, reward, opportunity for me in this current situation?”
Here, as one consents to the idea that s/he has agreed to be here, and that the universe is serving up only that which is for our highest good, we instantly shift, and our apparatus — our heart, mind, body — now amazes us with answers provided from within. This is the restoration and reclamation of our personal power, so much of which we have given out, willy-nilly, elsewhere, leading to this transition point in our lives.
This necessarily comes from the heart and a spiritual perspective of connection to one’s world — to this universe. And, as conveyed before, I can accommodate and speak in any languaging one prefers in the addressing of this study in consciousness, mindfulness, human growth, realization, actualization, these kinds of things. This is the end of the pool in which I swim.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
What is most exciting for me these days is increased collaboration with my wife, Joan Clark (www.joanclark.com), in getting out more of our his/hers/ours work intended to uplift, entertain, and which all comes from gratitude and love.
My personal focus now is on completion and release of books, both fiction and non-fiction; continuing to be able to teach my method of holistic healing of “The Story we All Share”; and expanding the mission of the One World Flag — which encourages us all to “Think Bigger!”
I feel we have an obligation to leave the trail of breadcrumbs of inspiration for others, such as was left for us… or maybe in some cases to leave that encouragement where we had none or not enough. So much of this seems to be absent now, and I feel as artists, as humans, we need to fill the void. Anything else, to me, is just a bit of a waste of precious resources.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oneworldflag.org, www.dbhealer.com
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Aengus MacNeil (www.saoirsepictures.art), Nick Krug (Lawrence Journal World – labyrinth photo).
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