“Love reaches out. That is the essence of love. Love is our longing for deep connection. A search for connection is at the heart of all spiritual traditions and practices. The spiritual journey is a pathway into the depths of our being and also a journey of transcending the stifling confines of the self. Profound spiritual experiences are experiences of union – with others and ultimately with the great mystery of life. We are profoundly and fundamentally relational creatures.”- Rev. Peter Morales, President of the UUA, Standing on the Side of Love Sunday Feb 9th
"Stories wait for endings, but songs are brave things bold enough to sing when all they know is darkness..." - Jamie Tworkowski, To Write Love On Her Arms
In high school, I dealt with several ex-friends who were suicidal and/or self-injurious and I almost followed in their footsteps once, but was prevented from it because of my faith and a guardian angel.
Later, in college, I discovered To Write Love On Her Arms, a nondenominational but Christian-influenced nonprofit organization that uses music to say it's okay to be honest, hurt, scared, stuck, suffering from depression, suffering from addiction. A group that uses music to move people because songs go to the dark places and sing out, they don't care about endings the way stories do. Songs are more or less about living in the moment, no matter what moment it is. Whether it's a moment of pain, or a moment of joy or some bittersweet combination of both.
I love To Write Love On Her Arms's affiliate bands and their message because I like to know that stories like mine and my ex-friends are told in songs that these are the stories that need to be heard. That we aren't alone and that music moves through pain, sorrow and joy and that hope and recovery are truly possible things.
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