Ilan Cooley
Nov 182 min read
stripped down
I can honestly say this is the best I’ve ever been. I can step forward with confidence, radiance, and clarity.
All my life I have been told I am an old soul. For as long as I can remember, words have welled up inside of me, waiting to be set free. We are all learning day-by-day - it is the human experience.
By sharing our experiences, I feel we can help each other grow. It is my hope that in sharing my own thoughts and feelings, there can be some love and light sent out into the world, and if it can help even one person, it is worth releasing it into the world.
Ilan Cooley shares personal experiences about finding connection and building community, with practical wisdom and
relatable insights.
With a thirty-year career set against the vibrant and exciting backdrop of the media and entertainment industry, Ilan's perspectives are drawn from working behind the scenes at some of Canada’s
biggest music festivals and travelling the world.
Sometimes isolation is a state of mind. Grief, fear, pain and loss are universal challenges, and no matter who we are, we are not exempt from such struggles. Isolation is the absence of normalcy, and it can stop us in our tracks. Whether we are dealing with mental, emotional or physical isolation, it is not easy to overcome. Thankfully, there are ways through it with persistence, perseverance and some help from the people in our lives who care about us most.
I grew up on a farm at a time when everyone within a 20 mile radius was your neighbour. If someone’s field was on fire, everyone showed up with shovels and hoes to help put it out . If someone died, everyone gathered and there would surely be a casserole dropped at a doorstep. Times have changed, and the world sometimes doesn’t feel quite as neighbourly, but I think we can get it back if we try. We all need love, support, assistance and connection and we can all do our part to build community.