Our Agreements
By Alexandra Antoine and Brandon Wyatt
Alexandra Antoine and Brandon Wyatt “met” while Alexandra was presenting some of Brandon’s work alongside her own with a fellow colleague in Galesburg, Illinois in 2018. Brandon is currently serving a 42-year sentence at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, and Alexandra is a transplant to Chicago from Orlando, Florida. Several handwritten letters, dozens of phone calls, and hundreds of emails later, they decided to create a blog together. Using Gary Zukav’s book The Seat of the Soul, Brandon and Alexandra created a 42-card deck with questions and prompts alongside a blog documenting their process. Brandon writes: “As you take a peek into our conversations in this blog, we ask that you personally reflect on the themes and how they exist within your own being. Our project isn’t a plea for anyone’s sympathy, as we have an understanding that neither of us is a victim, and we’re not aiming to start the next campaign! We’re simply asking each other to go deeper internally and sharing our thoughts with the rest of the world, honoring each individual as a creative force.”
Activated
An introduction from co-creator Alexandra Antoine
Our Agreements explores the ways in which we all agree to show up in the world everyday to create what we perceive as our values, rules, and regulations. Our guiding statement is: “As we strive for what we want, we must ask ourselves if we are embodying it.”
Listen to an introduction to Our Agreements from co-creator Alexandra Antoine
Our project is rooted in the ideas within Gary Zukav’s book The Seat of the Soul, which we are using as our study tool along with our personal reflections. It is divided into four components: (1) Intro: SEEING; (2) Creation: BEING; (3) Responsibility: DOING; and (4) Power: LIVING, which correspond with the chapters in Zukav’s book. We began a 16-week book club between the two of us in January 2021 and remain in weekly communication about what we are learning, which we’ve interpreted into prompts for ourselves and the wider public.
At a time when jails and prisons are being questioned and we’re asking, “Why prisons?”, we would like to push beyond that and ask: “What are we embodying that allows for spaces like these to exist in our cities?” The latter question strives to get away from blame and judgment directed at one particular person or institution but for a moment turns our energies inward, which are then reflected back onto the world around us. In the midst of our book club I have traveled to Galesburg and visited the Public Library and Historical Society to do research on the city, its history, as well as the larger role Hill Correctional Center plays in its daily operations.
Read and listen to excerpts from Our Agreements.
Chapter 1: Evolution
Evolution as Freedom. What role does my own evolution play in our freedom? Before our larger communities, social groups and countries can evolve we have to go within...
Chapter 3: Reverence
Speaking of Our Agreements, particularly to this week’s chapter on REVERENCE which is my favorite so far as well, I wanna ask you a couple questions...
Chapter 15: Power
This POWER chapter was truly a weighty chapter, particularly in the realm of being aware and firm in aligning with your soul. On p. 210 Gary talks about how we are only as powerful as for which we stand...
Chapter 16: Trust
So this idea that we had a sacred agreement with the universe before incarnating into this earthly realm is something beautiful to grasp...
Visit the blog
Read and listen to all 16 installments in Alexandra and Brandon's study and reflection series on the Our Agreements blog.
As you read and listen to Alexandra and Brandon’s reflections, take time to browse this series of reflections from the artists.
Alexandra Antoine
Alexandra Antoine and Brandon Wyatt “met” while Alexandra was presenting some of Brandon's work alongside her own with a fellow colleague in Galesburg, Illinois in 2018. Brandon is currently serving a 42-year sentence at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, and Alexandra is a transplant to Chicago from Orlando, Florida. Several handwritten letters, dozens of phone calls, and hundreds of emails later, they decided to create a blog together. Using Gary Zukav's book The Seat of the Soul, Brandon and Alexandra created a 42-card deck with questions and prompts alongside a blog documenting their process. Brandon writes: "As you take a peek into our conversations in this blog, we ask that you personally reflect on the themes and how they exist within your own being. Our project isn’t a plea for anyone’s sympathy, as we have an understanding that neither of us is a victim, and we're not aiming to start the next campaign! We’re simply asking each other to go deeper internally and sharing our thoughts with the rest of the world, honoring each individual as a creative force."
View BioBrandon Wyatt
Brandon Wyatt
Alexandra Antoine and Brandon Wyatt “met” while Alexandra was presenting some of Brandon's work alongside her own with a fellow colleague in Galesburg, Illinois in 2018. Brandon is currently serving a 42-year sentence at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, and Alexandra is a transplant to Chicago from Orlando, Florida. Several handwritten letters, dozens of phone calls, and hundreds of emails later, they decided to create a blog together. Using Gary Zukav's book The Seat of the Soul, Brandon and Alexandra created a 42-card deck with questions and prompts alongside a blog documenting their process. Brandon writes: "As you take a peek into our conversations in this blog, we ask that you personally reflect on the themes and how they exist within your own being. Our project isn’t a plea for anyone’s sympathy, as we have an understanding that neither of us is a victim, and we're not aiming to start the next campaign! We’re simply asking each other to go deeper internally and sharing our thoughts with the rest of the world, honoring each individual as a creative force."
View Bio
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