YOU GOTTA BELIEVE: A DEDICATION TO 9/11

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE: A DEDICATION TO 9/11

This week, I have been thinking a lot about 9/11, the horrors of that day, the suffering thoughts and acts that led to the crisis and the suffering in so many that followed the crash. I have also been reflecting upon the way music connects, heals, inspires and touches people. Sound can expand, amplify and support human potentiality or be a vehicle for energies that destroy life.

Since today marks the ten-year anniversary of the tragic fall of the twin towers, I feel I need to acknowledge this memorial before digging more deeply into the question that I was asked this week. Interestingly, the question relates to the power of art to heal or destroy and how to discern when the energy behind a piece is in support of the evolutionary flow or not. It is a topic very close to my soul-home, and one that ties in perfectly with what I felt I needed to express today.Tomorrow, I will post the full question and dive more deeply into the specific question. Today, I need to honour and acknowledge 9/11 through my own experience of songwriting and singing.

Witnessing the twin towers fall was an experience for me of tremendous tragedy that also birthed a song of hope and possibility. That thought still brings pause to my mind. Why did something so horrific spawn a song called “You Gotta Believe”? What arose from my soul, after having seen the towers fall in real time, was not aggression and hatred, but hope and the call for connection. The experience reinforced for me the power of music to heal. It could also be a messenger of hope and love to uplift those that heard it.

The song that was born for me the day the twin towers fell was a reflection of my soul experience of the tragedy. Consciously, I would not have said the words found in my lyrics (below). At the time, if I was asked how I felt, all I would have been able to share was shock, anger and fear. But behind those reactive thoughts, my inner knowing had a different message. My rooted focus deep down in the midst of horror was on the goodness of life. My soul was anchored in the notion that we must believe, despite the presence of revenge, hate and evil, in human potentiality and our capacity to love.

Song writing, like any art form, is a mysterious process. For me, it is a sort of creative free fall based on letting go of control and the knowing mind while opening in trust to a mystical possibility of interconnection. What arises from the process is for me never known, but a respectful unfolding of the voice of the soul. It does not necessarily express my personality, but is an opportunity to tap into a zone where we are all connected. The way it is expressed is a reflection of my personality, the style of music, the choice of words. But deeper, it is as though doors temporarily open to a sacred space where we are all one. I can peer into it for a moment, breathe in the beauty to then bring back and share through an expressive exhale the splendor and expansion of it all.

The 9/11 tragedy obviously changed the city of New York, not only physically, but at a soul level. I lived there for some time before 9/11 and often felt on edge, tense and jumpy. There was a dominant, tribal law, a pulsating bass note that seemed to throb below the streets and emanate through the city. To me, it was intensely non-negotiable. It felt harsh and invoked an attitude of the survival of the fittest, a bestial, aggressive energy that said seize or be seized.

After 9/11, the city was brought to its knees. In the brokenness, horror and shock, something opened.  I found people more raw, real and vulnerable. Connection, community, honesty, sincerity, kindness, care and love were like diamonds that had been excavated in the blast from the human soul. They were sparkling and could be seen and shared, brought to the light through the impact of the crash. Tragedy has a way of cracking open our ego to reveal a more humble self.
The day the towers were hit, I unknowingly was working on a piano riff at my parents’ home. My creative flow was interrupted by my father who came running down to the main floor to let me know I needed to stop what I was doing and go upstairs to see the TV.

Shocked, horrified, I could not believe my eyes. Still shaking, the dust of the buildings not yet settled, I went back to the piano with all the emotion swirling about, the piano riff still fresh in my mind. What came out almost immediately was this song, “You Gotta Believe”. I had the honour to sing it for the city of New York some time later at the world famous Madison Square Garden.

Even when I sing it today, I still shake. You may not see, but I did in the video I share here. What you do not see in the video is that after the video camera was turned off, I cried. Singing it, thinking of those that died, those who suffer from violent crimes, brought me right back to the images I saw when the twin towers fell. I also thought of my dad who is now gone and felt grateful for the zest for life he taught me. These are the lyrics from “You Gotta Believe”:

If this moment were your very last, how would you want it to be?
What do you need to do to be at peace? Do you need to make that apology?
There’s no better time than this moment we now have
To live the way that you want to be.
What will be in your heart when you leave?
You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel!
You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real!
You gotta believe! You gotta believe!

Would you want to go in the midst of fear or having a temper tantrum?
Do you want to wait until it’s too late To say you could’ve or you would’ve or you should’ve been?
Are you brave enough to look within? It’s easier to point out others' sins
Than to see where we each have erred, how we could have shared, how we could’ve cared.
You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel!
You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real!
You gotta believe! You gotta believe!

Life’s a wake up call how we’re all afraid to fall without the love we all need.
What will it take, more raising the stakes, for your eyes to fully see, for your heart to remember its divinity?
You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel!
You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real!
You gotta believe! You gotta believe!

May we all believe in the goodness of life. May we all feel love. May we learn from these tragic reminders of our human frailty and live each day with fullness, gratitude and honour. Our human magnificence is a gift we are called to cherish, not take for granted. Our time on Earth is to be celebrated, not squandered mindlessly.

Yes, horrors happen. Sadly at this time in our human evolution, such atrocities exist. But greater than those who choose to live in the dark and act in suffering is the potential for human greatness and good. Those who live by suffering teach us to choose differently. When we look with humility, we can see through them that we choose not to hate, but to love, not to attack, but to understand, not to destroy, but to create. We each have a choice. It is in the way we face adversity that reveals our true self.

Parvati
(More to follow tomorrow)

Ask Parvati 26: Follow Your Bliss - Part 5: Priorities, Focus and the Unexpected

PART 5: PRIORITIES, FOCUS AND THE UNEXPECTED

(Continued from Facing Adversity)

When the twin towers fell in 2001, I was at the piano working on a melody and song idea. At that time, I was living at my parents’ house. My dad was upstairs watching TV. He came running down the stairs, shaken by what he was seeing on TV. “Come and see! It’s staggering!” he said.

I sat there, jaw dropped, stunned by what I was watching televised in real time: the massive banking towers falling to the ground, people jumping from the windows, emergency crews in overdrive. My heart ached at the loss, the horror, the tragedy.

Flooded with emotion, I went from the TV straight back to the piano, where I wrote the song, “You Gotta Believe”, which later I was invited to perform at Madison Square Garden for the city of New York. The lyrics go like this:

If this moment were your very last, how would you want it to be?

What do you need to do to be at peace? Do you need to make that apology?

There’s no better time than this moment we now have to live the way that you want to be.

What will be in your heart when you leave?

You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel.

You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real.

You gotta believe. You gotta believe.

Would you want to go in the midst of fear or having a temper tantrum?

Would you want to wait until it’s too late to say you could’ve, or you would’ve or you should’ve been?

Are you brave enough to look within? It’s easier to point out other’s sins

Than to see where we each have erred, how we could have cared, how we could’ve shared.

You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel.

You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real.

You gotta believe. You gotta believe.

Life’s a wake up call, how we’re all afraid to fall without the love we all need.

What will it take, more raising the stakes for your eyes to fully see, for your heart to remember its divinity?

You gotta believe in the good of life and what you feel.

You gotta believe in the power of love and what is real.

You gotta believe. You gotta believe.
© Parvati Devi, 2001

My heart still goes out to all those who lost in the tragedy and to those who rose to the challenge and grew stronger through it. We never know what life will bring, but we know we must live fully. We know that fear and doubt hold us back from the courage to leap into the unknown, let go of the familiar and try something new.

We also know that sooner or later, even when we have embraced that which feels expansive, rooted and vital for us, we will face setbacks. When we are faced with adversity, if we are to live the hero’s journey and follow our bliss, we need to remain rooted on what is real, on the truth of interconnection and on basic goodness.

Our soul is connected to everything. In this way, the goodness of life is beyond the ups and downs, the pain and suffering we create and experience. There is a force beyond it all that I call the golden thread, guiding us through the messes we create and the hurt we can feel.

Life will test us. Especially then, we need to stay true to your vision. We learn through adversity to put the things that are most important as our highest priority. Most of us can get caught up in the nitty-gritty, rather than putting the scary stuff, the challenging stuff first. “Oh, I will get to that later” we tell ourselves, in an elusive attempt to curb our fears. But when does later come? How long are we willing to wait? What is the cost of waiting? It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we are growing and doing ok, when in fact, we are hiding and not challenging ourselves to meet our highest potential. All of a sudden you wake up and ten years have flown by.

Following our bliss requires discernment, constant vigilance, keen focus and commitment to honouring the call of our unique inner voice. The universe supports our greatest joy. We must be willing to remain focused on such while we face the ups and downs of life. Staying focused and being prepared to meet the unexpected are part of the hero’s journey and following your bliss.

(Continues tomorrow with Today Is The Day)