Last week I accepted an invitation to go camping in the High Rockies region of rural Colorado. Rumor had it there would be some socially distanced, responsibly organized live music playing outdoors at the campground.
Live music is social medicine. It is one of those rare things that, since the beginning of time, has brought people together despite any differences of race, color, creed, or religion. A collective sense of comraderie and understanding permeates audiences as musicians translate their own emotional experiences and philosophical musings into sound vibrations that just soothe our souls.
The vibrations interact with the brains, nervous systems, and cells of the listeners’ bodies, causing people to tap their toes, swing their hips, pump their fists, twirl in circles, and smile at strangers for hours on end. When the music is landing in our hearts, it seems there is little need for political conversation or debate over ideals.
Live musical gatherings demonstrate how connected we all are as dynamic, intelligent, and emotional kindred spirits. What a pity that we are unable to experience much of it these days, as the world seems to become more isolated and polarized the more we sit inside of our homes, watching the agenda-based messages coming through the screens.
That being said, I had to say “yes” to an invite to an ethically produced live music experience.
Someone unique caught my eye on the last night of music and camping. She was obviously not from America. Her dark brown skin and strong accent suggested that she grew up somewhere in Africa. Her energy field radiated light and purity, and I wanted to be close enough to hear her speak.
As I neared her, an intuition came over me, sending a message from my heart and into my mind’s conscious awareness (the heart has 40,000 brain like neurons – its very own intuitive intelligence system which is observed and measured by www.heartmath.org).
My heart’s message delivered the following through immediate knowing instead of a thought process:
“In the past, you were once in the same place at the same time with this young woman.”
My heart continued to provide clarity through sensing the truth of the moment. It informed:
“You never spoke to her, nor did you actually meet back then, but you were both in the same place at the same time at the Global Youth Peace Summit in 2015.”
I continued to listen to the young woman, named Kahindo, speak to other people about her life. She explained that when she was a child in Congo, she was often awoken in the middle of the night by elders, who hurried the children into the jungle to take refuge as looters invaded their villages and burned their homes to the ground.
While exuding an unshakable love for humanity, Kahindo told the story of her past with a smile on her face. I could not detect any ounce of anger emanating from her energy field.
I had to inquire with her to see how that could be possible. How could she not be angry after experiencing such atrocities – repeatedly?
Kahindo replied, “I just have to realize that I am alive. So many of the people my age did not make it out alive back then. But I am here. I have to be grateful for that. And I have to do what I can to help the people who are facing more difficulty right now.”
Chills ran through my body. I knew I had just met – and coincidentally reunited – with a kindred spirit.
“Were you at the Global Youth Peace Summit in Austin, Texas in 2015?” I asked Kahindo.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, “Yes, I was! Were you there?”
Indeed, we had been gathered in the same place at the same time once before, because we had followed our hearts to the summit.
The Global Youth Peace Summit of 2015 had been organized by the Amala Foundation with the intention of illuminating the sameness of the human spirit – despite cultural and experiential differences.
Now, five years later, after never speaking to one another before in our lives, Kahindo and I were gathered around a campfire, tapping our toes to the strumming of blue grass string instruments, smiling at strangers, again feeling the truth of our sameness as human spirits.