Instagram story viewer> @themindofsol> Posts

Donovan Alexander Beck

@themindofsol

56.2K

followers

4728

following

Author of “Sunbreak: Notes on Hope”
Head of Content for @thelighthousecampus
📍NYC

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

1 Year In @thelighthousecampus

Needless to say it’s been a wild time. Thankful beyond measure. Still don’t really know what I’m doing but I’m doing it for the artists.

Some favorite moments so far ->

@salomonligthelm doc coming soon…

Seeing a campus go from a half finished pencil factory into a full fledge production space.

The many many things we’ve hosted from Live from the Lightouse

Getting to show my family the Venice campus

“It’s a lot nicer than I expected” - my mom

In the first month getting to follow and work with @willsmith on the launch of Pole to Pole for @natgeo

The playground for creativity

This is a much longer story but this dream team of creatives that believed in the idea of the lighthouse & swooped in with less than 72hrs notice for our opening festival

Being “an artist for artists”

The theater becoming a home

Every moment shared on this rooftop

The calm before the storm of “let’s do this.” by @themindofsol

319

34

14 days ago

The world tries to remind us of its despair often. But yet there is still so much hope out there. I was left thinking about this recently while joining my friends @thescatterjoyproject for a creative retreat in Austin.

The artists are still working, the good people are still out there doing good work. I refuse to belief that despair is all we are left with.

Filmed: @thelighthousecampus
Track: @1stvows

#spokenwordpoetry #mentalhealth #author #hope taken in Brooklyn, New York by @themindofsol

870

56

6 months ago

Treat instagram like instagram again.

Been a wild time lately.

-live in NYC now.
-Still making art. Just different now
-Need to write more
-got a tattoo (final line in Sunbreak)
-surrounded by some of the best people.
-figuring out what I want to do here more and more each day.

Dare the daring dreams. ☀️ taken in Brooklyn, New York by @themindofsol

187

7

8 months ago

What a year. 26 rotations later.

I wrote a letter about it on substack but here are some small moments from this big year.💛☀️ by @themindofsol

317

24

10 months ago

To @andreagibson , thank you.

I don’t think I have enough time, or even the right words, to fully describe the impact Andrea has had on me and on so many poets writing today.

I often think back to something a professor once told me: “To write is to become immortal. Our voices are fleeting, but with pen and paper, we find ourselves solid.” And while I believe her, deeply, I also believe that in our most fleeting forms, it is something holy to still be able to cherish those who are no longer with us.

Poetry found me, far more than I found it. I was 15, sitting in a bedroom in Southern California, when I clicked on a YouTube video of Andrea performing The Madness Vase. I didn’t know it then, but that moment would begin a snowball that would carry me toward my first book, and then my second all with that poem etched permanently in the back of my mind. (To those who have heard me ramble about it, I love you.)

Poets like Andrea are the kind of force that breathes life into our work, and keeps breathing, long after the poem ends.

P.S. Apologies for the dog hair. It’s been nice being back home in California for a few days, watching my family’s dog. taken in Los Angeles, California by @themindofsol

251

10

a year ago

Moments and reminders recently

Don’t Forget the Living.
Don’t Forget the Home.
Don’t Forget the Art.
Don’t Forget the Purpose.

Don’t Forget the Lighthouse.
They’ll Show You the Path.

Moments recently.
Still Here,
Still figuring it out. taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @themindofsol

202

8

a year ago

IC Speaks is about to set the stage on fire with a poetry slam like no other. 🔥 Raw emotion, unfiltered truth, and a lineup of poets that’ll have you on your feet all night. Leading the charge—Donovan Beck and IC Speaks—ready to elevate spoken word to its rightful place at the heart of the festival. This isn’t just poetry—it’s an experience, a movement, a vibe that will leave you speechless and inspired. Get ready for a night of powerful storytelling and electric energy. ✨🎤

📍Location: Iowa Conservatory

#ICSpeaks #PoetrySlam #SpokenWord #PowerfulStories #ElectricEnergy taken in Iowa Conservatory by @themindofsol

120

5

2 years ago

Sunbreak: Notes on Hope by @themindofsol is OUT NOW! Available wherever you shop books!🌤️ by @themindofsol

3

6

2 years ago

I wish I had more to say. But the most I can do is write this as a thank you. Sunbreak: Notes on Hope releases to the world in a few hours.

I wish I had done more—that I had shared more about it with you. That I knew how to be a better author, one who emphatically shares their work without fear. Part of me wishes I could pull the plug and give it just another week to do better. But it is here, and it can’t just stay as a Word document on my computer anymore.

Up until now, this book was mine—just over three years of my heart and time placed into finding, thinking, and building its stories. But as of tomorrow morning, this book is yours. Its 160 pages, its stories of how we find hope in the face of despair—they are yours now, not just mine.

I really wish I could tell you that I haven’t spent the past few weeks scared of tomorrow. That I was more excited than fearful. But I can say this: thank you. Thank you for allowing me the space, the time, and the ability to tell stories that I care about. To make a book that feels entirely authentic. And to feel safe enough to be honest about it all on the internet.

I write this to you from my basement apartment in Boston, Massachusetts. And at 10:30 at night, the most I can say is…

“The sun will break, and we will feel warmth again.” taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @themindofsol

258

31

2 years ago

In 15 days, one of the most challenging and complex projects of my life officially releases into the world. Sunbreak: Notes on Hope—my second book. A 160-page collection of poems and short essays about the aftermath of despair. Hope. Capital “H” Hope.

When I set out to write this book, I was still in Los Angeles, navigating the confusion of a post-COVID world and a newfound life as a social media creator. Little did I know that this book would become a deep dive into parts of myself, my art, and my outlook on life that I never expected. I quickly learned that to write a book about hope, you can’t just think about hope. You have to become intimately close—curious even—about despair. You have to acknowledge its existence, both in the world and in your own life.

I made a lot of mistakes in the process of this book. Missed deadlines, sleepless nights, panic attacks. But ultimately, in 15 days, something that I am both equally proud of and terrified by will no longer be just mine. It is no longer a Word document and an Excel file on my computer. It is real. A physical thing offered up to the world.

I am honored to share Sunbreak with you all in 15 days. I don’t know what happens from here, but for now, all I can say is—

“The sun will break, and we will feel warmth again.”

Sunbreak: Notes on Hope is available for pre-order now: taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @themindofsol

368

13

2 years ago

Sunbreak comes out in a few weeks. That is a strange, scary and exciting sentence to say. This book and the life I’ve lived in the process of making it has been so complex. Ironically enough so is Hope. It is something that has to not only exist with despair but at the same time fight against it. I spent last 2+ years thinking about stories of hope in the face of everything going on in the world. And now in the final weeks from the book officially being out, both online and in-stores(which is also insane to say) I want to keep hearing more stories of hope. Leave a comment below or submit your stories of hope to the mailbox, I’ll be reading them, sharing a few, cherishing them all and maybe one day building them into something special.

Sunbreak is available to pre-order now and will be offically out in the world on March 11, 2025. I’m excited, scared, thankful and horrified all in the same breathe. But, the sun will break and we will feel warmth again. This is my book but it is also yours.

@andrewsmcmeel @simonandschuster @pepperbooksliterary thank you for all of the support in making this possible.

Sent with love,
Donovan Beck taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @themindofsol

675

38

2 years ago

03.11.2025 - Sunbreak: Notes on Hope. A poets reflections on the aftermath of despair. This poem, this book, this whole journey is special to me. I moved to Boston a little over a year ago with the same type of intention as nearly everything I’ve done in my life, blindly and unaware of what was ahead. But I like to hope I’m a better person because of it. Sunbreak is the culmination of so much of my learning over the past 3+ years. It is the book I hope people think of when they think of my work. I can’t wait to share it with you ☀️💛 @andrewsmcmeel

#spokenwordpoetry #mentalhealth #author taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @themindofsol

874

59

2 years ago