Do you know what it feels like, to look around one day and be unable to tell the truth from lies? What it’s like, to direct your gaze inward and ask yourself: “What is my truth?”, and be unable to find the answer? To be sure you have a beautiful voice but discover nothing but a bewildering silence inside of you. Perhaps, this silence is similar to the one that inhabits a bottomless chasm amidst a distant rugged terrain, or to the one that hovers in a deep forest at its darkest hour…or rather, it is akin to the silence that comes hand in hand with being numb. To discover that you are numb is to discover you have something to say; to suddenly get a hold of a memory of you walking by the riverside a lifetime ago, freely singing a song that is heard by many… But you forgot the words and you forgot the tune. You are searching and not finding a single trace of the dear melody. All you have is dim memories, as if your voice was alive in another life, in a parallel universe, or  solely in your imagination. You pause in silence. It will take a very long time, possibly your entire life, but you give your word – you will find a way to revive your  voice – you will sing the song of life again. 

As you embark on your journey, you discover that the fierce desire to express your voice and the confining forces coexist in you, leaving you feeling powerless. However, this mere awareness of an ongoing battle gives you hope, gives you the vision of a mirriad possible futures that are nothing like the present. How will you find the way? How will you break the chains confining your voice? 

You will travel across the seven seas, you will traverse the mountains and wander through dense ancient forests by day and night. You will let your body be embraced by the waters of deepest oceans and tallest waterfalls. You will gaze into the sky one day and intensely feel your presence on this earth in the vastness of the unknown. You will hear the sounds of gentle wind as you roam through the unfamiliar desolate landscape. The wind will keep whispering and you will sense the breath of the earth. You will pause and fall into a sudden slumber; in your dream you will hear your own heartbeat. You will not know your boundaries in your sleep – you will be as vast as the sky beyond perceivable horizons, you will be as deep as the ocean that once embraced you. You will be awakened by a warbler’s song and you will marwell at the foliage playing with the glittering sunlight. You will be drawn to travel further into the wilderness. Upon walking long miles, you suddenly hear a familiar melody coming from an unknown source – could that be the wind whispering again? Could that be the beat of your own heart echoing outside of you? Could that be the memory of a warbler’s song coming alive? 

As you become more and more aware of this profoundly familiar, beautiful melody, you will be urged to follow its enchanting sound until you fully recognize this sacred song, until you hear the sounds of flute and lyre entwined with the music of the wind and echoing your own heart beat. You will dance to this unending charming melody and your dance will be weaved into the song as are the sounds of rushing rivers, as is the gentle song of a warbler, as is the memory of your mother’s lullaby. You will dance until your presence becomes as bright and unconquerable as the rainbow crowning the skies above your head. You will know that you are free and your voice is powerful. You will dance and you will sing as your journey goes on for hundreds of miles until you reach the place you called home. You will want to let your song be heard by all. 

You will reach the riverside at the rise of the dawn. You remember a sense of aliveness this river lavished you with as you were growing up. You remember the fruits this land lovingly nourished you with as you learnt to dance. You are gazing intensely into the distance as the fog dissipates but once the scenery gets clearer, you become appalled…to find the landscapes around you resemble nothing you had known of them before. The rivers are red and the earth is ashes. The melody of lyre and flute is nowhere to be heard, pain and fear swathed the land. Chains of hatred and greed encircle your birthplace… How can you possibly sing of life and freedom? How can you possibly dare to dance? You can no longer retreat back into the wilderness either. You will step forward…your chest will be filled with pain. You are still alive, you still have no boundaries, but at the same time, you are now part of what you see  – this mortifying landscape is drawing you in. You turn your gaze inward and you hear the familiar rhythm of the melody; the melody that healed you is now calling you to rise, it is calling you to sing, it is calling you to fight. 

You will sing your song again and this song will turn into a fire, and its flames will turn into a sword. As your song gets louder you will discover that you are not alone, you are joined by many, who know of fear and pain, who know the value of life, who know what it is like to be face to face with death. Their voices will sing and the melodies of lyre and flute will be heard in the air again, louder than ever before. This song will pierce the silence that has encompassed your homeland and your sword will pierce the darkness as you keep marching forward. Soon you will fall into a deep slumber, or maybe it will be your death. In your dream you will hear the warbler’s song and you will see the deep blue waters of the rivers running across your homeland. You will see that your fire is still burning and unfamiliar faces keep their gazes fixed on it. Their eyes are dry but the earth under their feet is soaked in their tears. A prayer for peace lives in their hearts. The pure and unconfined music of flute and lyre gently floats around them and they begin to sing. The are the ones who can tell the truth from lies. They are the ones who will plant the gardens and protect the fire. They will teach their children to nourish the gardens of the land that will forever remember tears. They will teach their children to share the fruit whether it is abundant or scarce, to dance to the sounds of flute, and to carry the fire, so that the sacred song of life and peace weaves joyously further, uniting every heart’s radiant pulsation into an infinitely transforming, miraculous tapestry that life truly is.