Meet C. David Durkee

 

We recently connected with C. David Durkee and have shared our conversation below.

Hi C. David , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I did not start my life as an artist until I was in my late 40’s. At that time, I had made a successful career as a trial lawyer, helping people. That had brought me purpose when I was starting my career. However, as I was reaching 50, I really wanted to find something more. Something that I could give freely and expect nothing in return. A woman that I was seeing at the time had found my poetry and thought it was inspiring. She thought that if I shared my poetry, it might help someone, it might touch someone. So, with her help, I set up the Broken Poet Facebook page. I began posting my simple poems and short stories. I was humbled by the response. I would write about heart break and addiction; losing love, and starting over. However, I always tried to write with a little hope. I always tried to make sure people knew they were not alone and that the sun was always shining, no matter how dark the clouds are. One day, a family wrote to me and said that one of my poems, Morning Prayer, had connected with their father during his fight with cancer. That he adopted my poem as sort of his mantra when fighting cancer. When he died, the family put my poem, Morning Prayer, on his tombstone in Missouri. They had written me to let me know. From that day forward I knew my purpose. Write my poems, short stories and music. Share it for free. Put it out in the world, and someone thing good will happen.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

As an artist, my career has sort of been like a hurricane. It is going in a general direction, but no one has a good forecast. I have published two books. One is currently for sale on Amazon under the title, Hearts are Broken, Not just Cracked. I have written and performed music which you can stream on most streaming services. I have videos, including South Beach, Man in the Mask, Shipwrecked, 10,000 Feet in the Sky, and Christmas Eve on YouTube. I have acted in various short films and theater productions around south Florida. Most importantly, I was the racist cop in an award winning short film that won Best Short in the Miami Film Festival – a film called “Being.” However, in 2024, I really concentrated on a new podcast. It is called, “Sunday Mornings With Broken Poet.” I have tried to combine my story telling, my poetry, and my music in a one hour talk – and each week there is a theme. I describe it as a weekly podcast that explores life, love, faith, regret, miracles, sunrises and sunsets and everything in between through the original short stories, poems and music of Broken Poet. All 10 episodes should should be released by November. I am really hopeful that this medium will allow even more people to be touched with my words. If my new podcast reaches one person, and makes one life better, then all of the work will have been worth it.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

If I had to pick three qualities that has allowed me to be successful they would be self reliance, hope, and perseverance. I will take a moment and explain each of these and why each one will serve you well in this journey we call life.

If a person is self reliant, then they have nothing in their way. People often ask me why I wake up so early in the morning. I always try to explain, it is the best time of the day because there are no barriers to getting something done. No one is awake to tell you it is a bad idea. There is no traffic. You are never too tired. You never have another obligation to distract you. You don’t have a coffee or dinner date. There is nothing to get in your way. Being self reliant also eliminates barriers or obstacles that may get in your way. Be your own accountant, publicist, writer, manager, promoter, art director, IT professional, etc. Do it yourself. Be your own everything. Being self reliant can be difficult and may cause you to go outside your comfort level, but be self reliant and you will always have your hands on the wheel and you will be in control of your future. Be the man in the wilderness – with no one there to help – and you will survive the journey.

Another quality that has always been there for me – and needs to be on the shoulder of anyone who is moving forward with life – is hope. Hope that tomorrow will be better. The philosophy that no matter how dark the clouds above your head appear to be, the sun always shines on the other side. I can’t say that I have always looked at life with hope. In fact, when I was young and the path seemed needlessly hard and unforgiving, I may have even said I was somewhat of a pessimist. I drank heavy with despair. I drank to ease the pain in life, not knowing that the more I drank the more pain life would give me. However, all of this changed with one phone call. They always say, “we are all one phone call from our knees.” I received this call. All they said was that my daughter had been involved in a very serious car accident, it was on the turnpike, and she was being rushed to the hospital. I went numb. I knew one fact that they didn’t mention – she was driving an old Chrysler Sebring convertible. I knew that a person in an accident on the turnpike, going over 70 mph, in a convertible, did not have good odds. Those were the facts. I did not have hope. As my daughter’s mother and I drove towards my daughter in the Orlando area, each hour we would obtain some tidbit of news that would turn the dark clouds a little brighter, until I started to believe. I slowly allowed myself hope. In the end, my daughter had survived. It was a true miracle. A story I share, almost every day, just to remind people, never, ever give up. Always have hope. I am ashamed I gave up. Never again. Always have hope.

Finally, with hope comes perseverance. The ability to keep going. I have been down dark roads that are lined with sharp rocks and pebbles. Days that you don’t want to open your eyes, let alone function. After my divorce, and I was at my lowest. A time in which I was trying to find myself, who was I? and what was my purpose? Father, lawyer, husband, lover, friend, advocate, artist, adventurer, or dreamer or some combination. A that time in my life, blessedly, I was given free rent and board my my best friend, John. John just so happens to also be a quadriplegic. Each day when I would wake up and feel sorry for myself, I would think of John. I would remember what John has to go through just to get out of bed, and I would get up. I would put on a smile and be thankful and I would persevere. By moving forward, a little each day, with hope and with the thought of being thankful for what I had, I was able to find myself. By finding myself, I now help others. John helped me so that I can help the next person. I hope that is the way the world works.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The book I always recommend when the question is asked is, “Flowers for Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes. It tells a very important lesson. Almost like a parable. When the eye sees the world through the lens of a child or through the lens of a simple mind, one does not pay attention to the chatter in the room, one creates their own reality, and no matter how dark the room they are standing in really is, through their eye the world is a beautiful and welcoming place, full of adventure and smiles. However, if that same mind is filled with adult knowledge, morals, expectations, love, passion, betrayal, cruelty, greed, vanity, depression, sadness, regret, and all of the other facets of an intelligent mind, then one may expect that adult mind to live more fully and more completely and closer to being self actualized. However, that expectation, that an intelligent mind, is a happier mind, may just be a myth. I believe this book reminds us to try and live life simply. Don’t over analyze. Love simply and honestly. Be a good person. Don’t lie. Don’t be cruel. Life life with clarity and without all the angles. This book was way ahead of its time and the lessons are still valuable today.

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C. David Durkee

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