This week’s song is “How’s The Heart?” by Nightwish off their new album Human Nature (which is AMAZING). I chose it for three reasons.
1.) It’s awesome- Go, Floor! Her vocals are at a new level!
2.) How’s the heart sums up our shared American experience over the past four years. In a regime devoid of every decency- how is your humanity faring?
3.) One word: paean : a song of praise or triumph. Leave it to a bunch of Finns to choose one of the most amazing words in the English language. I am ready to sing, to roar, to scream a paean.
Have you been asleep, in shock, stuck in stasis? It’s okay. I forgive you. I know that sounds condescending, sanctimonious, smug. Who am I to forgive you? Nobody. But I’m forgiving myself, so I figure, while I’m at it… I forgive you, too. Forgiveness. We all need it.
There is a saying that I truly believe and I buy into 100%. Because it’s true…
“Everyone is fighting fighting battles that you can’t see.”
Let that sentence sink in for a moment. Breathe. Let it permeate your every being.
Everyone.
Everyone struggles.
Everyone struggles everyday.
And EVERYONE battles an enemy or a problem that the rest of us cannot see.
No matter how together someone seems, no matter how happy and confident, everyone has their battles, their insecurities. We are all defined by the weaknesses that we shed and move beyond.
And that’s okay.
It’s been almost THREE years since I did a blog post. It’s been four years since my first novel was published. I could site a million excuses. I have written two more books since then, but the current malaise has left me frozen. It’s been difficult to write, difficult to market, difficult to create.
Then I realized. Welcome to the upside down. This is our new reality.
Get. Over. It.
Put on your big girl panties and woman up. Everybody hurts. Everyone is working through this. Tell stories and take people away to a happier world. Take them to a place of your own making and choosing. Show them goodness, decency, and honor, for in our current America… that might be hard to find.
It’s been three years… so, how’s the heart? How’s your heart? How have you weathered the years? I’d love to hear from you. I’ve missed you, but honestly, friends. I’ve had my own shit storms these past years. Fodder for another blog.
I’m back. I’ve dusted off the cobwebs. Said good bye to my convenient excuses, my enabling excuses. How’s the heart?
Come on in, the fire’s warm, dull the blade and dance some more.
How’s your heart?
We see a mother with no child
We meet a stranger poor, exiled
How`s the heart while it still beats?
Asks a no-one
Another John Doe
Sorrow hides well in your shell
A fellow man with hurt to spare
Dear one
Here I am to share the fear
An act of kindness
Without an amen
How`s the heart
Underneath the silence?
How`s the one
Drowning in the mire?
Let us sound a human paean
Come in, the fire`s warm
Burn the rope and dance some more
We met where the cliff greets the sea
Shared a story, took the leap
Rose up rooted, hid a note
You know where
You`ve been there
Now there`s one who came from me
A child of light, another tale
Dear one
Night will come but not to stay
Why?
The answer`s in the
Fair winds my love
Fly towards the calm
Fly utterly lost
Towards a beating heart
How is that heart
Underneath the silence?
How is the one
Drowning in the mire?
Let us sound a human paean
Come on in, the fire`s warm
Dull the blade and dance some more
This post was written by Erika Gardner. She’s a native Californian, lifelong lover of fantastical adventures, and a dedicated Whovian. If you enjoyed it, please sign up to receive updates on www.erikagardner.com Or you can follow Erika on Twitter @Erika_Gardner, “Like” her Facebook page Erika Gardner- Writer and Storyteller.Or check out her contributions to the BBB Blog. Erika’s debut novel, The Dragon in The Garden can be found at Tirgearr Publishing.