# Putting the Being Back in the Human Being: A Spoken Word Poem | Sian Flanagan | TEDxWest Vancouver Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BEWJQxNrg0 Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/3BEWJQxNrg0 Generated: 2026-01-15T20:01:35.089+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview The spoken word poem argues that modern society conditions humans to operate from the calculating head rather than the feeling heart, leading to a disconnection from true vitality and self, and advocates for consciously choosing to live from the heart's inner wisdom to reclaim authentic being. **Key Points:** - The speaker contrasts living by the head (to-do lists, logic, achievement) versus living by the heart (feeling, intuition, vitality). - Modern societal pressures, like constant notifications and the need to perform, create a "hollow" existence, reducing life to a sterile, measurable surface. - The speaker recounts a personal experience of hitting 'rock bottom' due to this disconnection, characterized by guilt, shame, and feeling trapped like an animal in a snare. - Key concepts introduced include reclaiming the 'royal' essence of being, moving from head-centric actions to heart-centric feelings, and using imagination as a crucial tool. - The speaker challenges the audience to ask, "How are you doing?" expecting the automatic, surface-level response, "Good," instead of the authentic answer about their true feeling state. - The solution involves consciously choosing to align the mind and heart, allowing the innate vitality and wisdom within to guide actions rather than societal expectations or logic alone. - The presentation uses evocative visual metaphors, including a spinning clock representing time draining away, a barren landscape, and eventually, a vibrant, blooming heart. ![Screenshot at 00:14: The speaker, Sian Flanagan, begins her spoken word performance on the TEDx stage dressed dramatically in a white corset and flowing skirt, immediately setting a theatrical and emotionally charged tone for her reflection on societal conditioning versus authentic feeling.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-00-14.jpg) **Context:** This TEDxWest Vancouver talk, presented as a spoken word poem by Sian Flanagan, explores the tension between intellectual/logical living ("the head") and intuitive/emotional living ("the heart"). The speaker uses vivid, often dramatic, imagery—such as a white dress stained with red marks, a collapsing structure, and a soul trapped in a fox trap—to illustrate the emotional toll of constantly prioritizing productivity and external validation over internal feeling and authentic being. The narrative builds toward a call for personal reawakening by choosing heart-centered awareness. ## Detailed Analysis The speaker delivers a passionate spoken word piece urging a return to feeling over function, titled "Putting the Being Back in the Human Being." She starts by describing the daily routine dictated by the head: to-do lists, meetings, and pitches, which feel "dreary" and lead to a feeling of being "deeply missing." This relentless focus on external tasks and quantifiable achievements results in a disconnection from genuine feeling and vitality, trapping the individual in a "sterile surface" existence. She shares a moment of crisis where she hit rock bottom, feeling weighted down by guilt and shame, as if caught in a snare, her mitochondrial energy squeezed by anger. The speaker contrasts the societal norm of asking "How are you doing?" and accepting the automatic "Good" response, versus genuinely asking, "How is your being?" She challenges the audience's tendency to compartmentalize and rationalize life instead of experiencing it vibrantly. Visual aids underscore her points: a spinning clock symbolizes time being sucked away; an image of a figure walking toward a light represents seeking external goals; and later, an image of a blooming heart surrounded by nature symbolizes the essence that must be reclaimed. The core message is that true sovereignty and liberation come from allowing the heart's wisdom to guide us, leading to an embodied existence where mind, body, and heart are synchronized, allowing the innate spark of life to heal wounds and express itself with grace. ### Introduction to the Conflict - Days start with to-do lists and elevator pitches, leading to a feeling of being hollow and deeply missing, requiring constant rehearsal of conformity to networked society's demands. ### The Crisis Point - Speaker describes hitting "Cole's pit"—mining her way through pain, guilt, and shame, feeling like an animal trapped in a snare, disconnected from the natural world and hammered by external noise. ### The False Narrative - Society forces us to live one-sidedly, valuing logic and science over feeling, leading to the compartmentalization and dismemberment of the self, where the heart's truth is ignored in favor of a polished façade. ### The Call to Reawaken - The solution involves choosing to listen to the heart's whisper, which speaks of inherent sovereignty, and reclaiming the essence of being by walking from the head to the heart. ### The Path Forward - The speaker urges the audience to ask how their being is doing, rather than how they are doing, to reclaim the vital spark within, which heals wounds and restores wholeness, concluding with an image of the Earth and a flourishing heart. ![Screenshot at 00:03: Title card displaying "TEDx West Vancouver" alongside the word "Re.Awaken" superimposed over a sunset lighthouse scene, setting the theme of awakening.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-00-03.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:28: A stark black and white visual of a lone silhouette walking across a textured, undulating landscape toward a bright light under an archway of streaming lines, illustrating the feeling of being lost or focused on a singular, distant goal.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-00-28.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:43: A highly stylized black and white image of a massive, ancient-looking tree with spreading roots against a circular, concentric pattern in the night sky, symbolizing deep roots or foundational truth.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-00-43.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:48: A black and white visual of a clock face where the center is a swirling vortex, representing time being distorted or consumed by the internal state.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-01-48.jpg) ![Screenshot at 07:55: A vivid, high-contrast image of a realistic human heart covered in moss and flowers, with a keyhole carved into it, set against a starry night sky, symbolizing the vital, emotional core needing to be unlocked.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/3BEWJQxNrg0/00-07-55.jpg)