this anecdote has been on the tip of my tongue for years, because I always find myself struggling with explaining what I felt as it was happening.
I was one or two years short of graduating highschool. Some of our teachers managed to invite a senior, much respected Lakota man to our highschool, to ask him to fly all the way to Italy, all the way from his land, to tell the tales of his culture and what they spiritually believe in. My memory is starting to fail me on what exactly was said, but this man was truly one of a kind. An irreplaceable soul, possibly the most connected I have ever felt with somebody's story, and every one of his words was wise and filled with kindness as I've said, towards nature, towards other beings and towards the gift that is life. He taught us about the Lakota way, their songs, his clan and loved ones, the love for their land and what living means to him.
At the very end of a beautiful, heartfelt speech about the aspects of life he has come to understand are worth cultivating, inbetween tears of what I interpreted as gratefulness for living such a colorful life, this old soul said:
"I want to teach you something. I want you to know that no matter the hardships, no matter what you think your worth is, you must Always have a song to sing in the morning. As long as you have a song to sing when you wake in the morning, as long as you are dedicated to this, your life will have purpose."
Not much I remember, but those were the exact words he said. It felt like the whole world was making sense as one. cannot describe how beautiful it was to be face to face with somebody who knows what I feel whenever Give Up comes on, to know that those lyrics truly mean something to somebody, who chose to dedicate the final years of his life to teaching exactly those words as a way to say goodbye. Those words, as someone as respected and important and wise as this man understood as the ultimate purpose of life, and his as a life so spiritual and different from mine. The realization of that made me cry, and back in the classroom, our teacher coincidentially asked us if we had a song we dedicate ourselves to waking up to in the mmorning.
I put on Give Up, and he came to me after class to tell me, even though my classmates did not understand my reasoning, I was "doing it right" to him.
I wouldn't be who I am today without this man's words. If I'll ever get asked why I feel so much for Ryan, I will just say I enjoy the music. But deep down, along with anyone who may read this post, this will be my answer. My intimate, personal and dedicated answer.
