For aspiring writer of prose, poetry, philosophy and film, Gordon Collins has sought to discover some inner strength from the raw materials of life’s difficulties. He has always perceived the world from a deep and sensitive place within him and even as a child was often overwhelmed with such seeing to the point of spiritual and emotional shutdown. His first book, ‘Sons of Thunder’(2012) is a gritty novel, set in Glasgow and inspired from his own life experience about the upward struggle of children growing up in a tense environment of fear and shame.
The setting of the book is one where the beauty and innocent seed of a child’s soul finds itself compelled to grow in the dark soil of a home broken by violence, addiction and poverty. Although the novel deals with some raw issues, the deeper message and theme is that there is true hope and that the love we seek in life is not just a dream, but a reality. Spiritual beauty exists in the midst of our most broken, vulnerable and fragile humanity.
“There is far more than meets the eye,
in the worlds which exist within a city.
The soul is a door which can open into manifold worlds of mind and spirit; worlds of darkness and light, some of horror and of joy; worlds of dreams, visions, intuitions and the infinite imaginations of a child…”
( from ‘Sons of Thunder’ Prologue )
Gordon has always intuitively ‘known' a gentle, inner silence and a still, small voice even in the midst of an emotionally noisy and spiritually chaotic world. Yet, his connection to, and awareness of this voice was almost engulfed in his younger years. This connection returned unexpectedly but joyfully in his early adult life, when the vast landscape of the ancient Scottish mountains, and a growing awareness of an eternal Presence which placed intrinsic value on all beings, evoked in him a journey of discovery and love.
Gordon’s second book, ‘The Paradoxical Life: from anxiety to bliss’ began as a calligraphy project to express the sense of integration or connection through which his own consciousness was growing. The book explores the narrative and themes of the ancient Vedic text, ‘The Bhagavad Gita’, from a standpoint which allows both an Eastern and Western perspective and application. Having studied Western philosophy and literature academically, and exploring various aspects of Eastern spirituality in both its practice and philosophy, Gordon came to view the questions of our identity:
“Who, or what are we essentially?” and
“What is it to be human?” as helpful signposts which can point us to the ultimate space of freedom, happiness and well-being. He holds that the road to this spacious ‘place’ is fundamentally one of surrender and letting go of our deeply embedded attachments and identifications. Again, a joyous adventure with many challenges: a paradoxical life.
Mirroring his view on Life’s vastness, richness and variety, Gordon’s creative writing has also branched from prose fiction and non-fiction into poetry and film-making. His first poetry book, ‘Restoration and Redemption’ explores the wide world of spiritual experience from our human position as an emotional and physical creature with pain, longings, hopes and dreams. Gordon feels that poetry arises spontaneously from the struggle to find unity with ourselves, others and our own evolving conception of the Ground of Being.
His second poetry book, ‘The Thin Veil’ moves away slightly, although never completely, from the emotionality of subjective perception to the Simplicity and Stillness of ‘knowing’ the Reality which is simultaneously within, beyond and before mind and matter. This set of poems explore the notion that to ‘know’ is ‘to be’ which is not about information but of having awareness or intuition of some Source of Life in us. This life is our essential, communal existence, the origin of our collective consciousness which binds us together.
Gordon’s most recent poetry book, ‘Beautiful Connection’ continues his paradigm that to be human is to be a being whose very nature is to be in soulful, spiritual and physical relationship with ourselves, others and Nature. The idea that there is an essential unity of Being which connects all things is once again threaded through this work.
His newly formed website and creative brand, www.univocity.co.uk implies and seeks to promote this unicity of being and its manifold voices. As an English teacher for over 20 years, Gordon loved poetry as the most beautiful and condensed form of language which is meant to be heard and felt and not just read. In order to illuminate this poetic experience as one of heart and not of mind alone, he developed ‘Beautiful Connection’ into an audiobook with accompanying music from artist Exit-Omni. The result is a beautiful sentiment with a loving sound intended to reach and help the process of healing in our fragile souls.
Gordon has many upcoming film and writing projects and continues to try in his own small way to share this message of unity, connection and healing through his various creative mediums and creative charity www.reelpeoplescotland.com . He does this in ways which are forms of ‘spirituality’ or love in action. Spirituality and creativity are, to him, shared experiences which express and nurture not only our bliss but the brokenness of our lives. There is light in midst of the darkness.
