A sacred song

our first Tuesday newsletter 😬

Y’all, I forgot to send a newsletter AGAIN this week! These 3-day weekends really do a number on my concept of time, which isn’t all that sharp to begin with. So, here we are at 10:15 on Tuesday night, talking about a piece of sacred music I’ve had on repeat lately. I do not have the energetic stamina to even look at my copy of The Artist’s Way right now. We’ll get back on the horse next week, if I remember. The horse may also be out to pasture for a while. Who knows.

Ok, music!

My dear friend Karina showed me the music video of Punjabi hit “Tu Jhoom” a few weeks ago. The singing, dancing, and arrangement continues to give me full body chills and bring tears to my eyes each time I listen to it. Even before I looked up the lyrics in English, I felt the essence of the performers’ message. The lyrics are sung by Pakistani singers Naseebo Lal and Abida Parveen. The title, “Tu Jhoom,” means “to swirl,” referencing Sufi ecstatic dancing. Sufism, the mystical expression of Islam, uses whirling dance as a means of transcending the form to find the divine within by engaging in deep listening to one’s inner being. The dancer turns as the earth turns around the sun, in a dance with the universe.

I highly recommend watching the music video all the way through without subtitles, then again with. You’ll feel the music’s meaning without knowing the words.

I have embraced all hardships while staying unfazed

I have embraced all hardships while staying unfazed

I have fought all my struggles to finally find solace

The joys and the sorrows of this life are mine to endure

This I to myself assure

Why delve into what is beyond my control

This philosophy is my heart’s greatest cure

Transcend into a greater realm to discover the soul’s gem

Just swirl, swirl, swirl

Forgetting my being, in a trance I go

Lending words to my heart, I let my feelings flow

All the adulation from this world still does not resolve my woes

If all my wishes were to come true, what would be left in the world to do?

My destiny is beyond my control, this I let my heart know

Transcend above me, beyond what the eye can see

Just swirl, swirl, swirl

I have found contentment in my being

I have risen above the status I am deemed

Worldly pleasures do not elate me

I have now fathomed the word of Thee

Why strive to grasp beyond reach, why let unattainable desires unleash

When the secret to true bliss is to embrace yourself wholeheartedly

I am truly worthy of myself, why should I shy away from me

All the adulation of this world still does not bring me glee

What you are destined to get will find a way to you, do not fret

Why delve into what is beyond your control?

This philosophy will make you whole

Transcend into a greater realm to discover the soul’s gem

Forgetting my being, in a trance I go

I’m entranced

Forgetting my being, in a trance I go

So immersed I am that nothing else remains

Transcend above self

I am content with who I am

The insight

The fortunate one who is bestowed with the insight into Thy realm

Providence’s favor on him

Then why should he not in providence’s favor dwell

Transcend into a greater realm to discover the soul’s gem

Just swirl, swirl swirl

Until next week,

Elizabeth