What the World needs now.

This is about how I feel right now. The world needs a group hug. Words escape me and I feel hollow inside. I know, this to shall pass…I suppose (sigh). I am confounded and saddened by all of the judgement and anger amongst each other on social media and in the world. I guess because I know how difficult it is to change deeply ingrained viewpoints and fundamental values. We each have a unique path and private story that has made us who we are today, and a lot of these memories, experiences and moments become a part of us at such a young and impressionable age we often don’t remember why.

It just is.

Whatever these beliefs are we continue to share them with our children, our children’s children and so it goes. The values, judgements, bias, love, all of it.

Why do these tragedies happen? Well the answers are all over the internet. Pick the one that one fits nicely with your life and beliefs. I assure you it is there. I have read so many facts, opinions, statistics and I certainly haven’t found the right answer for me. It’s so much larger than I have the ability to wrap my brain and heart around.

Here is what I do believe wholeheartedly:

If we encouraged each other more than discouraged each other.

If we love each other more than fear one another.

If we stop, listen, gain some perspective with the opposing side and be ok to respectfully disagree.

To acknowledge our differences and understand I’m not here to change you, vice versa…but be respectful.

I think when we begin toacknowledge our differences and compromise rather than create a larger divide and separation, that is when positive change happens. 

Yes, the world has a lot of evil and hate.m, but with Pandora’s box open, perhaps we do this instead:

Look in each other’s eyes and really see the other person – their strength, beauty, passion, faults, insecurities and the life that we don’t know. We have m

All of it. Unconditional, boundless love.

Say “I see you. I see hurt, I see love, I see connection and mostly I see a need to be accepted.” Our ego plays a huge role in our lives. Here is a comforting thought: We all have this ego voice in our head. We are human. Think of it as batteries included, but here is the bigger voice… We are humanity, therefore, we will prevail, stronger, more mindful and with more compassion. We have a choice. Let’s choose to love and being ok with not having all the answers.

My answers might not be your answers. Maybe it’s as simple as reaching out to acknowledge another human for the sake of humanity.

Hug and look at the other person and say “I SEE YOU.”

Wow… It is truly profound. Human connection. Humanity. Try it and see.

Peace, love, respect,

Melissa

Boom Boom Boom

What can I say when nothing needs to be said.
I feel it in my heart
I hear it in my head.
Boom Boom Boom.
I am not sure how else to explain my sudden calling, that woke me up in the middle of the night to Boom Boom Boom.
I woke up to this part of a song that I have not heard in a very long time. I really can’t recall the last time that I heard it, but I remember that I loved it. This early morning awakening were the parts of a song I could not fully identify:
“I could not believe the information
My heart going boom boom boom
Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home.”
So at 3 in the morning, normally feeling groggy and incoherent, I sat up, wide eyed, my heart was going boom boom boom. I remember thinking, I have got to find the name of this song! It was nagging at me like the nostalgic smell you remember from your childhood that you can’t recall.
Boom boom boom just kept repeating it in my mind. Let me just say, I knew that it represented something more than just another song, but I didn’t know how or why it was different. Now most people that know me know that I am a music/lyric lover. With that said, there really isn’t a song in my repertoire that does not carry some emotional significance. However, I have never had a song wake me up so suddenly to a boom boom boom in my head and heart. So I had to delve a little deeper.
What am I eluding to you might be wondering?
First listen to the song as you read the lyrics

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
[I] just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
“Son, ” he said “Grab your things,
I’ve come to take you home.”

To keepin’ silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho’ my life was in a rut
“Till I thought of what I’d say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
“Hey” he said “Grab your things
I’ve come to take you home.”

When illusion spin her net
I’m never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don’t need a replacement
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
“Hey” I said “You can keep my things,
they’ve come to take me home.”

This song came out in 1977. I couldn’t believe it is that old! Well, maybe not old, but it is a classic! So after hearing it for the first time in years, it was as if I was being reunited with a long lost friend or memory, I was lost for words. It spoke to me like no other song and the timing is spot on! This song has been an awakening and what better time to have one than at 3 am in the morning? Peter Gabriel, the artist who created this moving ballad almost 40 years ago says the meaning of this song is “It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get… It’s about letting go.” BOOM.
At the end of the day, I know what I want to do, but I am never one to do anything quickly. It is very frustrating, because I want things done quickly, but it is not how I am wired.
For example:
I did not want to come out of my mom’s womb (three weeks late to be exact) and I pouted for the next 5-10 years. My brothers might think I have never recovered.
I was a late walker.
I was held back in elementary school.
I can be socially awkward.
I can be apprehensive in establishing long term relationships.
I am painfully slow to get into water. Side note – NEVER PUSH ME IN!
Anyway, you get the point…
And I might want to clarify that I am not saying that I am ready, but I am tip-toeing… to the ready, just ever so slowly. I am trusting in the timing and universe. I am a believer that the universe gives you what you need. However… I am just now open to receiving it.
I see it. I feel it. I hear it.
Boom boom boom.
Who said 40 was old when I am just now starting to figure it out?

Little by little. Boom boom boom. Listen, Breathe, Repeat,

Again and always 

Melissa