This book was written at exactly the right moment, in these months when connection can be so difficult, in these months when connection should be the priority, holding together, but where things seem to be separating us from each other. Kae Tempest explains how she connects as an artist through creativity, giving herself out to people through her songs and poetry. But connection can be different for each of us. It can happen through talking to a stranger, baking a cake, knitting a jumper for someone. It’s just about reaching out of ourselves to find others. I saw Kae Tempest at the Alhambra on the 25th of November 2019 and loved her spoken word performance. This book is the prolongation of her, I felt the same truth and honesty in her words.
“Along the journey I have come up against a lot of people who just don’t get it. In the past, I understood them as being ‘closed’ people, completely switched off. I used to get frustrated with these people, angry at a lack of ‘consciousness’. If I could only ‘reach’ them, I was sure that I could change their minds’. But now, thankfully, I see things differently. I see that every single person is affected by the violence of existence in different ways, and that people carry their burdens however they can. People suffer a great deal, and ideally they must process their traumas in order to reach some kind of peace. But what if your situation is too intense and you can’t get a moment’s respite? People respond differently to things. People have different things to respond to. I am no one to judge how someone has come to a conclusion. I am no one to judge what conclusions someone has come to. I do not want to change minds any more. I just want to connect.”