The Sounds of Change...

I was sitting on the stoop.

Wow.

That word throws me back to the days when we lived in Brooklyn.  An amazing neighborhood. One way street, two streets up from the harbor. Our kids were young. We were young. Down the block or over a few lived opportunity galore; bagels, pizza, Chinese food, parks, aquarium, botanical garden, zoo. The City (Manhattan for those of you that think when someone says, "The City," its referring to LA :)  ) was just the crossing of a bridge or the going through the tunnel and it was there. That magnificent sky line, the FDR, the parks, the museums, Times Square. I can close my eyes and be back there in a heart beat. 

I was young. Did I mention that? I was young.

Hungry to learn. Wanting mentors. Wanting people to speak into my life.  Never to speak for me per se, but to speak into my life, to help guide me, to give me opportunities; honestly to ride behind their wake and not have to drive. Maybe that's a part of being young. Maybe its a necessity at certain ages.  Maybe.  Maybe if the mentors care more about the person then they care about growing their project, their ego, their thing.  I've met some of those people. 

How do you know the difference? Sometimes you can't. Sometimes it is actually in the ending, in the parting where you will see.  I have been with those and worked side by side day and night on conferences, events, projects. Spending so much time together, one thinks there is friendship there. In some communities relationship and job lines get blurry.  I let them get blurry.  I own that.  Even when, maybe especially when it is ministry, I wished I had get those lines straighter.  Projects are projects and events are events. Life is a whole other realm.  If you are perceived as the project or on the other side a key note speaker, there are roles to be played and things to be done.  When they are done.... they are done.

Boundaries. 
I didn't learn about them soon enough.
I'm glad I am learning about them now. 

It isn't that we can't have people that walk with us, we just can't have people that walk for us... While you might bawk at that idea and yell, "I don't do that." I didn't think I did that either.  It is hard to look at. It is hard to acknowledge. We really do want "Moses," to go into the scary places alone and bring out the chewed contents for us to then have, as if we were baby birds waiting in a nest.. never wanting to fly.

When  that shifts in a person, lots break loose. Within the person, within the community around the person.  I  am aware of what previous mentors of mine felt about tattoos, felt about yoga, felt about many things. I abided by them. When someone didn't, aka a dear friend got tattoos, I saw the most unchrist like behavior.  I'm not sorry.  I think Christ would say it doesn't matter what you put in or on your flesh, what matters is your heart. I saw a lot that was wrong in the name of law and conformity. I saw a lot of people not thinking for themselves. Buying hook, line and sinker into  the quid pro quo of the institution, else be thrown out.. thrown away.

Too many people stuffing their own thoughts, their own voices. Too many people contorting their life as to fit into the narrow perimeters set down by others. Recently it came to my attention that a client of mine for yoga therapy was told not to work with me. Not because I lack proficiency at what I do or anything like that, simply because I do yoga. This modality was bringing freedom to said person.  Said person was in conflict.  It is this person's conflict to work out. I can not work that out for them. 

Living Mangaliso is about Restoration, Discovery, Exploration, Expression, and Explosion.  Finding restoration into the places where harm occurred. Discovery and it's journey into who you are; your preferences, your passions, your desires.  Exploration, stepping into those places. Seeing which are really a part of you and which are residue from others that needs to be washed off.  Finding YOUR voice, the song that vibrates forth from YOUR life equals expression! Through all that process, we are then brought to the place that we explode into and take over our own lives. We explode into our own lives and out into the world.  That is the Living Mangaliso.  You are the amazement. Not because someone tells you you are, but because you learn that its the truth for you!


Back to me sitting on the stoop.  A child of mine was processing life.  She was processing how comments were being made about me and yoga. She was processing the source of the comments. She was processing how people were talking about her parents.  She was struggling with faith.

This human being, while my daughter, is a phenomenal human being. While I'm her mother, it doesn't take long when talking to her for anyone to realize that.  This one afternoon, as I was letting the warmth of the sun cascade over my tired body; she came down and sat next to me.  There were two songs she wanted to share with me. The first was sweet. The second has changed my life.  Leave it to a fifteen year old to be able to see things clearly. 

I love this song. It's true. There will always be people who will knock down. Let them. They can't really knock you down. Keep standing your ground. Keep Recovering. Keep Discovering. Keep Exploring. Keep Expressing. Keep Exploding.  Keeping Living. Keep Living Mangaliso.

 Lyrics to Sounds of Change (Click Title to Hear Song)

I see you've been chasing your monsters
And they've been driving you bonkers
Just blinded with drunken launches
Of lights and blowin they conscience
If you really want to juxtapose
And take a darker color with a blush of rose
And then you put it in your ink and watch it grow
Your mind is always open when your eyes are closed
Because your blind to color and your blind to greed
Blind to all the things you don't need
Then you find a minor and then you plant a seed
Then you nourish it a little and let it free

You're building it up
They're breaking it down
Want to give up
Keep holding your ground
You're turning it up
They're deaf to the sound
Oh the sound, the sound of change

Here and now, the horns are playing
The victory sound, I live in the now
The sky is my home, and I live in the clouds
Now or never, bound forever
Making the change, making it better
I live for this shit, I love the pain
It's part if the journey, it's part of the game
I've been alone in the dark and the rain
I've seen the end and I wasn't afraid
I've been in tears and I wasn't ashamed
I hear a sound and the sound that I'm hearing is change

You're building it up
They're breaking it down
Want to give up
Keep holding your ground
You're turning it up
They're deaf to the sound
Oh the sound, the sound of change

You're building it up
They're breaking it down
Want to give up
Keep holding your ground
You're turning it up
They're deaf to the sound
Oh the sound, the sound of change

Well they try to put hands on my ears
Ooh the sound
In my heart I'm still hearing it clear
Ooh the sound
Tell me why do they fear what is real
Ooh the sound
You can't stop what is already here
Ooh the sound

You're building it up
They're breaking it down
Want to give up
Keep holding your ground
You're turning it up
They're deaf to the sound
Oh the sound, the sound of change

You're building it up
They're breaking it down
Want to give up
Keep holding your ground
You're turning it up
They're deaf to the sound
Oh the sound, the sound of change

Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh the sound, the sound of change

Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh oh oh oh oh
Ooh the sound, the sound of change