SongVersation with India.Arie:

"Breakdown. Break through. Break the shell. Elevate and Fly”

 In the presence of a Grammy Award-winning celebrity, overwhelmed with excitement you scream, you want to reach out and touch them and hold their attention but you’re tucked way out in the crowd. Your screams are drowned by overly enthusiastic fans. You shake off the madness and resign to sit with gratitude. It is after all a unique opportunity. In the crowd of Washington D.C revelers you represent a small land locked East African nation, a Nilotic race who might never have this privilege - India.Arie in concert.

I first saw India on an Oprah Winfrey show in 2006. Intrigued by her natural beauty, her style and simplicity I listened as her soulful voice lifted clearly and powerfully from the bottom of her feet up on to the stage and into my living room. I liked her. Her music made me smile, it made me bob my head and feel sweetness rise from the essence of my being. I wanted to know more about her. 

Really?! You are all this excited to see me?

India.Arie; The girl and her guitar

                          

I am not my hair

I found her album Testimony: Volume I, Life & Relationship in a stack of discarded CD’s lying outside my apartment one evening; It’s been playing in my car for the last 7 years. My favorite songs include;"I choose" and "I am not my hair". In her song "Because I am a queen" from another album, she encourages girls to be confident and know who they are - queens, royalty. Once you know who you are, your perspective on life and the decisions you make change. Her messages on life, love, politics, relationships and faith take her fans to familiar places; places of happiness, of unity and heartbreak, of loss, of racial complications, of self-image and spirituality.

Her fifth album “SongVersation" themes around  heartbreak, restoration, faith and soaring with confidence.
When she opened the show with a prayer, I shifted to a comfortable position in my seat and leaned back. I knew I was in the right place, ready to have a good time. I was gratified that the woman, her music and vocals were as crisp as they sounded on my radio. She hit the low and high notes with ease. The message carried in her songs floated gently and settled on our hearts like coco butter on brown skin.  

She blended her songs with stories of their origin. When she talked about her heartbreak and how she cried inconsolably convinced life was over, it resonated with me. I recognized that place, when tears flowed at the least expected moments among strangers and friends alike.  The place where insanity became familiar and the world around just didn't get it. “Retreat”, she said.  Find that favorite place to rest, it could in nature or in the confines of your room.

On her journey to recovery she found an angel. That person who understands your pain, sticks with you through it all, never judging, simply loving and nurturing you back to sanity. That was the beginning of her break through. If you’ve been there you might recall your “angel”. If you are there right now, look around someone just might be flapping their wings and looking your way.
“The definition of family is the people who are there with you when you’re broke” India.Arie.

After hurt the instinct to protect our vulnerability is heightened. Virtual shells, fortresses and walls are erected around that little red organ pumping in our rib cages. It's easy to suspect anyone who so much as looks in our direction. It's easy to vow "Never again!". But to truly heal we need to break the shell and let life touch us. Let go of the hurt. “Be yourself” she said. You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.
“Child it's time to break the shell Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt
You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself You cannot fly until you break the shell… 
You'll be stuck on the ground until You finally break the shell"

 Do some introspection and self-evaluation, identify the triggers and strongholds that keep you down. She changed her attitude towards men, she learned to love them and let them be, in her song “brother’s keeper” she says“He's made in the image of God When he's troubled with troubles

He needs to know That his mistakes don't define his life”

She renewed her faith in God and finally felt free to profess her love for Him publicly; Saying the things she had always wanted to say but was afraid.

Single at 40 and don't have the house, car or kids that dreamed of? Well, you are in good company. We are all longing for something. Lets Elevate. Embrace life because this is the life we know.

“All my friends are having families of their own I'm still waiting for the perfect one to come
almost four decades in if I'm blessed, then I've got five more to go And this is the Life I know
Sometime it hurts like hell but I walk away with a song and a story to tell and this is the life I know"

Supernatural strength is imparted when a mother sings over her children. Let's hold them in high honor, they are our biggest fans.Those women who suffer life for their children. Who take blows for their children. Who go without for their children. Who are strong for their children. She cries for them. She stands with them. She encourages them. She prays for them.

Soar, fly. Fly high!

In a song sang by her mother, she encouraged her daughter to fly. To fly high. To fly free.

In India.Arie I saw a free woman, fully engaged in her "Now". Confident, fulfilled in who God created her to be. Loving God, Loving others and Loving self. Using her gifts to encourage and entertain.

It's gratifying to leave a concert with food for thought.

So I think about you and me, how about we spread our wings and fly too?