A MESSAGE OF HOPE!
by Kara Johnstad
I walk the loud concrete streets of Manhattan, step off the curb on 55th and 10th Ave and head towards Central Park.
It is Sunday morning, 10 a.m., early spring and I just finished a weekend of performing two unforgettable concerts in New York.
Full story:
My bones are tired and my spirit is elated. I walk up towards Central Park where I am to meet my family, who is gathering for the first time in years, at the Boathouse.
What to say, when there are no words to describe the anticipation, the joy, the pulling forward into things, the desire to continue, even though there is so much around us pains us? I walk up towards the park and see my mom standing on a path. It has been 3 years or more since I last saw her. She has shrunk. Gravity has moved in and she is being worn like a stone in water to a different shape. I see my sister, who is my blood and one of my closest friends, standing next to her, and we smile. She has helped me move 3 musicians and a cello across the Atlantic and coordinate two nights in this jungle of a city, so that I can bring a project I have envisioned for over 20 years back home. My dear brother will be waiting for us at the Boathouse and I can't wait to sit at the table with all of them. It has been a long journey and a hard three years without seeing them.
It is one of the most beautiful spring days I can remember. We are enjoying the sun, glancing at the trees lining the path, looking at the lovers that have already gathered on the lawns with a blanket and a book, watching the roller skaters spin to a dub beat.
We have no coats with us and carry with us only a deep space of certainty; we know each other so well yet see each other so little. We are soaking in each other's presence, soaking in this mutual happy-go-lucky feeling of a blissful slow-motion moment in life, deeply content.
These are the people who gave me wings: the traditional family values strengthened my spine so that I could always stay on course even through the most turbulent storms.
In just three hours we will all be heading out again to our respective airports and take our flights to 3 different parts of this earth. For some reason we have been scattered by the winds of life.
I have drifted off in thought and the sound of a clear child's voice rising above all the chirping of birds, and noise of ghetto blasters mingled with the clacking of horse hooves upon the road grabs my attention. My ears stretch to listen. I hear singing and voices rise in divine intricate harmonies.
My sister signals me to come and we walk to a place under a bridge, where a family choir sings, on this late Sunday morning, songs of praise and sells their CDs on a little trolley cart.
Watching this family perform BACH, it comes to mind that the name Bach, in German, actually means creek. Well, they are definitely radiating more like a big and bright stream of energy. Each member is holding a different place in the family of things. The father is steadily intoning the bass line, the mother the tenor and the children's voices fly high above, and take on the lead. My heart ripples Bach.
This whole weekend has been one of great emotion. Seeing this stunning family choir, with tones of gold and a pocketful of coins, reminds me that music is the vibrational force behind all things.
I am transported to the vanTrapp family and the last lines of Edelweiss. I used to play that scene out with my family in my head as we drove on our long trips in the car and sang EDELWEISS. I remember feeling the pain of leaving the country and watching them flee across the mountain tops of Austria and my father explaining to me the story of freedom and safety and hope. Yes, HOPE.
What does it mean to each of us, HOPE?
Where do we turn to in those moments, when night time has lowered itself into our day, pressing us into places that we never thought imaginable? When we find ourselves at a dead end and smack up against a brick wall? When there is no hope in sight?
I hear voices when I write. My whole life is not one of smells nor touch - no, my whole life is recalling voices and sounds. And now, a song from 3rd grade enters. I am in Miss Brigg's class and she sings,
Going on a bear hunt,
I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, [we parrot back]
Can't go over it, can't go over it, can't go under it, can't go under it,
Gotta go through it! ...
Hope is one of those words, like love, that gets thrown around a bit too much until we really get the chance to own it. I love French fries, I love this new sweater, I love to go dancing and yes, I love you...oh I do hope you will drop by tomorrow, would love to.
There is no difference in how we choose to say these words, until the person we deeply and dearly love is standing in front of us. Oddly enough, the first time we really get a deeper understanding of how powerful words can be, is when trouble hits. It is at these moments that we get to understand the authentic meanings of words like 'love', like 'faith', like 'trust' and like 'HOPE'.
 In those moments, when we are lying with fever and feel dizzy, when we hardly make it to the sink to get a drink of water, we learn to appreciate the loving hand that brings us a cool glass of water, so that we do not need to move across the floor but can stay lying horizontally and heal.
We hope to get well. We hope to get back to work. We hope you will understand why I had to do what I did. We hope. And life goes on, day in and day out.
We find some comfort in the normalcy of things. In the rhythm of waking to a job and pacing our day to three meals and a snack and falling asleep with someone keeping us company. If not a lover, perhaps we are holding a book in our hands.
And we think after years of practice - a flu here and there, a new job here and there, a new boyfriend or girlfriend here and there - that we are trained to take on the bigger lessons that life has to offer us.
We presume that we will be able to handle anything that comes our way. But then it hits us.
One day we wake and within one day, a mountain can crumble. Within one quick moment, we can be splattered and torn to shreds. Homes that we have built over years and enjoyed decorating and baking cakes in and raised our children in, are gone within days as we can no longer make the payments. Exciting last minute vacations in Thailand turn into nightmares, as the Tsunami hits us while we are taking our Christmas walk on the beach. We receive a call from our doctor that he would like to see us at the office to discuss the results of the tests, fear raises and we know that this is not good.
Hope and fear are not mere words or facial gestures.
They're deeply felt neurochemical stances toward our current circumstances - stances that alter our outlooks, our actions,
as well as the life paths that unfold before us Barbara Fredrickson,
a social psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of Positivity.
We wiggle and squirm and try to go back to how things were and yet we are hitting the wall. Splattered and torn. Darkness descends although it i s bright daylight. We take review of our life and can't come to grips, because we have done everything "right." We have been honest and hard working, caring and kind, and yet, there it is black on white, and there is no more song to sing. We are emptied. There is only silence that makes space for the soul talk which is to come.
And then out of nowhere, we feel an inkling of HOPE, just a tiny spark of light on the horizon. All we can do is let out a deep sigh of relief, that luckily feeds gently the flame, so that we can keep hope alive. If only to take us through this night that seems to have no end; this unbearable time when nothing in the world ma kes sense and we are in the darkest night of the soul. In these moments when one small touch can feel like drops of water falling onto cracked dry desert sands.
What is HOPE?
Where does it reside?
How can we tap into its transformational power when we are struggling and searching for our direction? How can we find comfort, encouragement and courage to face those difficult moments on the journey of life? When darkness descends we start to see very clearly which friends are the ones that reach out their hands and keep us steady when we are hitting the rapids and are about to drown. We see very clearly which people really support our true path and want the best for us, and which people are shaking their heads and telling us we should have only known.However, we do not know what it is that we are here to experience, all the time. We do know though, in the moments of despair, that there is a voice that arrives when no others seem to get through, when even the loving hands cannot seem to give us the answers. And that voice is called HOPE. Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson puts it this way,
"Hope literally opens us up. It removes the blinders of fear and despair and allows us to see the bigpicture. We become creative, unleashing our dreams for the future. This is because deep within the core of hope is the belief that things can change"
For me too, there were periods in my life, when I felt frozen in time. The outer events moving too fast out of my control and my inner rhythms slowed down almost to a halt. It was during one of these times, that I first heard the melody for Message of Hope. Nothing had gotten through to me, and yet she started to guide me on my way. This simple, yet powerful melody would show me how easy it can be, if you listen in, to rise above. |
| click for trailer |
MESSAGE OF HOPE
is a shiny beacon in a world filled with despair and agony It is a compelling song, an anthem for all who dare to hope through difficult times,
as it will touch your soul and make you want to reach for the stars The melody of MESSAGE OF HOPE had caught me right away and off guard. It deeply touched me and I was enraptured by it. I instantly knew that I had to bring it out further into the world. I contacted the composer, Fabrizio Pigliucci, and asked him to send it to me, to have it showcased on my The Essence Radio Show. Well, he did, and I started my deep journey with this song.
Eventually, Message of Hope led me to ask Fabrizio Pigliucci, what other orchestral works he might have. This led me deeper into his music, and soon after, I was to create a new dimension to his orchestral work by adding my lyrics to a melody that had haunted me for more than a year.
I became a die-hard fan of his wonderfully monumental works, and Fabrizio gifted me with his friendship and a wonderfully productive work relationship, where mutual genius, craftsmanship and creativity meet and melt effortlessly.
I am deeply honored to have been able to put pen to paper
and write the words for this song,
which I deeply believe is a masterpiece.
Since the day I first heard the very first 8 bars, I felt it lift me, carry me, and bring me through a phase of my life that had colors to it, that I can only say now, deepened and ripened me and brought me a new passion for quality of life.
Message of Hope is arriving into this world like the birth of a child on a cold winter's night in a small village. No big marketing campaigns and publicity stints, just two visionaries and friends that believe in its magnificence.
If it moves you, take care of it. Nurture it, sing it and grow with it and
pass it on to friends that might just need this melody and words to get them through times when nothing else seems to work.
Fabrizio and I would like to deeply thank an extraordinary Laura Lungu and her Concertissimo Orchestra in Rome for their presence in our lives and their ability to take black dots in white space and transform them into luscious rich music.
Thank you also to wonderful Linda Gavin - you are a wise and truly multicultural, divinely gifted designer - for creating such an outstandingly unique CD-cover and logo, which truly lives up to the message of the song.
In just a couple of days our song will be released into the world and be available at iTunes, Amazon, CD baby and other big distributors.
And, should you have hit one of those "Can't go under it, Can't go over it;
Gotta go through it-moments,
- Just for a tip -
music is one of the few things that can go THROUGH WALLS.
Much love to you, my dear friends, as we stay on this journey together.
Let's get this one to go viral.
Stay Gold,
Kara
P.S. Join us on twitter and Facebook and share with us your stories on hope. Together strong.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:
Kara Johnstad is a creative visionary, transformational catalyst and a powerful voice in the time and age of transition. She is a singer / songwriter, creator of The Essence Radio Show™, and founder of the
Voice Your Essence™ Mastery Program. If you are ready to take your voice and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription of her weekly eZine, just mail to info@karajohnstad.com
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