Monday, February 14, 2011

"...none but ourselves can free our minds..."



What the song and the post have to do with each other is not clear. I just know they arrived, presenting themselves as a package deal, and who am I to question?

Upon first examination, the dream disturbed me. It was after 7 in the morning, in Southern California latitudes, and the sun had not risen. My son was a school boy, his father and I taking him on unknown streets in unnatural dark. Then I realized it was not the missing sun that troubled me but the fact that not one other person even noticed. And when I mentioned the anomaly, they shrugged, appearing to assume it would arrive at some point or, their body language implied, it was no big deal.

Just how big does the problem have to be? If the sun failed to rise this morning, and Lady Gaga arrived on stage at the Grammy Awards last night in a large egg, which would get the coverage? I am weary of being trivialized to death.

I am no oracle but I sense there are changes afoot. Global events do not happen in a vacuum. We are connected to each other and, therefore, to political, social and natural events that are born and grow thousands of miles from us. When I am still, I swear there is a mild wind that blows across my skin. Its origin is not local, its temperature and hint of fragrance, matters of curiosity.

The nearest I can come to saying how this all feels is that I, we, are being called to stand closer together and extend ourselves in love. I wouldn't even put these words into print, were it not for a community of writers whose blogs dissolve barriers. Not one of them would be indifferent to an unrisen sun. They know and tell of barometric fluctuations, interior and external. And I will guess that at least one of them can tell me why Redemption Song was chosen as today's anthem.

20 comments:

37paddington said...

I see the connection between the song and the dream. The song is challenging us to see that we are in darkness, and to work towards the light. It's a powerful metaphor for what is happening on the other side of the world, and in our own hearts as well. I love that you feel so keenly the subtle fluctuations in the planet's energy. And yes, there is a blessed community here, writers who read with open hearts and emancipated minds and yes, also with love. This is a beautiful post. Even though it begins in the darkness of the dream, the light is on its way.

wv: veresse. reminds me of veracity

Sultan said...

It is nice to hear Bob Marley songs. He was certainly a guy who believed in peace and the rights of the downtrodden.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Angella - I felt certain that one of you would see the connection that I couldn't quite grasp. I'm so glad you looked. Thank you. This post has pulled me back to listen to the song over and over and cry each time.

There are so many ways in which we may rise to new awareness, to new levels of freedom. It feels as though the light IS on the way. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Laoch - And we are fortunate that his son is able and willing to keep his words alive. The time is yet to come when we don't need such songs.

Antares Cryptos said...

"tired of being trivialized to death". I know, I know.;)

As to changes, we all sense them, but some prefer to live in denial. There has always been a resistance to change, but as a pessimistic optimist I see the breaking down of barriers in a positive light.

RachelVB said...

I forgot my headphones at work today so will have to listen later tonight. But I will say that I went up to the Griffith Observatory on an unusually clear day in Los Angeles and saw the sun there. Not in the way we normally see it, but from the eye of a telescope projecting the orb in all its white heat. It was midday. Through the lens the atmosphere waved like heat. It's amazing to me how it doesn't burn up or get tired of lose the energy to keep bubbling and spitting and blasting ribbons of whatever elements it's made of.
And only the day before I sat on my brother's couch, in his window and let the sun sit on my back and warm me. I hadn't felt warm in so long. This is what it's really doing up there. Incredible: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/images/content/96377main_traceloop1jpg.jpg

Anonymous said...

We all feel it in our bones.

and then be reminded of the power of trivial things like blogs and twitter to enable us to connect when maybe many of us have forgotten how to do it for real.

we all feel it in our bones.

Robert the Skeptic said...

I live in Oregon. If the sun didn't come up, we wouldn't notice it for two months, minimum!

Marylinn Kelly said...

Antares Cryptos - I, too, see the breaking down of barriers as progress. Maintaining a state of denial takes an awful lot of energy which could be put to much better use.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Rachel - Thank you for the link...I will look tomorrow when my mind has not skidded to a halt. I did expect people here to notice sun's absence. Silly me. It is a marvel, is it not?

Marylinn Kelly said...

Denise - I trust you, that we all feel it. I suppose the difference comes in whether it is acknowledged or not. What times, what gifts, these tools of connection.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Robert - As I suspected, which is why I mentioned that it was So. Cal. Could be Finland or Alaska and the dream would have made no sense. I thought Oregon had a bit more sun than that, but then it has such a variety of climates. I may be too sun-dependent for places other than here.

Unknown said...

Hello my lyrical friend...yet again you have inspired me to realize hope is afoot and we are looking at global steps taken with courage for peace and freedom..either in our living rooms or the streets of Cairo..we hold what is most precious to magnify the dawning of a new era...thank you once again...
Marta

Kass said...

Great post.

I think so many of us heed the call here in blogland.

I agree, somethings afoot. There's a sense of edginess I wish I could put my finger on...or several fingers wrapped around a pen.

Radish King said...

I love this song to death and have been whispering it to myself since I happily found it here a pulsing lovely valentine.

The nearest I can come to saying how this all feels is that I, we, are being called to stand closer together and extend ourselves in love.

Marylinn, I believe this is true. I also believe it's our next evolutionary step that being away from technology and the trivial. I wish I could do it. I don't really know how to stand closer and extend myself in love not really. I continually fail except in tiny instances that appear and fade. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to learn.

love,
Rebecca

Marylinn Kelly said...

Marta - There is hope, on the wider stage and in our separate lives, freeing ourselves of false beliefs. Emancipation. Thank you. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Kass - Thank you. I sense the call is answered here, lives through which spirit runs strong. The words to tell of it, though, seem reluctant to show themselves. I trust they will come.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Rebecca - I'm so glad you and the song found each other. It played all through my dreams and my days after posting it. I have another version on the CD of the post-9/11 Concert for Heroes and have played it for years to lift me in low moments.

The picture of you that beams, that blasts from the lines of your blog is one of love, flat-out, spontaneous and real. Tiny instances, opportunities seized for a flashing second, are the measure of it. We all appear and fade, then bloom again in another part of the forest (an early favorite, Rima the Bird Girl in "Green Mansions"). We learn together. Love, Marylinn

Donna B. said...

You write like a poet...I would love to read some of your poetry because your way of expressing yourself is so powerful.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Donna - To date, what I have is prose. I am creeping up on poetry slowly, so as not to scare it off. When there is anything that feels right, I will likely be brazen and post it here. And thank you.