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December 13, 2005

Giving Song to One's Pain

I read recently that at tsunami relief camps in Indonesia there are contests being run by the Indonesian Red Cross and modeled loosely after the ''American Idol'' television show. Children who survived last year's Indian Ocean tsunami are being encouraged to express themselves to others through song or poetry. The thinking is that by expressing themselves a child can draw on the inner strengths that every child has, and this is an important step toward normalcy. A person who helped develop the program say, ''We always work with teaching the idea that 'I have something. I can do something, and I am something'' (The Christian Science Monitor, ''In tsunami relief camps, kids sing their hearts out,'' De. 9, 2005).

She adds: ''Children can perform something, and when they build their internal resources, they can do something more. Because of this disaster, children have lost parents or teachers, they have lost their inner resources. So we hope this helps them to rebuild their own resources.''
Perhaps there is something to this. I remember when my brother was dying of AIDS, I tried to find some comfort by writing words of hope to get me through the days of seeing him so ill. These eventually became my book, ''LifeLines.'' The same when my sister was ill, I began writing about an imaginary world where people could fly or dance on the moon or walk on a bridge of rainbows, and this became my ''Make Beliefs'' book -- I wanted to imagine a better world for my sister. And after both my brother and mother died, and I lost a job which I had loved very much, I began writing prayers and hopeful thoughts and these became ''The Little Book of Joy,'' a book of prayer and meditation. I had to search within me for strength and comfort as well as search for God to get me through the times. Writing down the prayers and hopes gave me grounding at a time when I felt my world was falling apart.
So maybe what they are doing with the children in the Indonesia refugee camps, to get them to find the songs and poetry within them, to give voice to all the deep, strong feelings within them, makes very good sense.
These poor children. May God love them and cherish them.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Have you found the song or poetry to voice within you to deal with the things that trouble you? Please share them with us.

Posted by billz at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

Some Personal Wisdom from digifern

Today we received a message from digifern who responded to the questions on this site's Tell Your Life Stories page. Here is what digifern said:

What I Want: my imaginary friend to come to life

Tiny Miracles in My Life: my brain, my love, and my kindness

Worth Fighting For: my friends and family

Something I Want to Go On Forever: my brain

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What do you want? What are the tiny miracles in your life? What's worth fighting for? What would you like to go on forever and ever? Please share with us, and we'll post your responses

Posted by billz at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)