While driving home from the gym, I asked Siri to play music by India.Arie, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known for her introspective soul-infused R&B music. She was a constant companion during what I’ve come to call my “first darkness”—a painful divorce from my first husband.
Her 2006 project Testimony Volumes 1 and 2, with songs like There’s Hope, The Heart of the Matter, Wings of Forgiveness, This Too Shall Pass, and He Heals Me, served as the soundtrack of my life at the time—grounding me, soothing me, reminding me that something brighter waited for me on the other side of the struggle.
I’d listen to it while I washed my face, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and styled my hair. l’d put it on while dropping my children off at school, then as I made my way to work, and again as I backtracked home. I played it while cooking dinner and while we ate. My children, now young adults, remember some of those songs word for word without fully appreciating why.
Listening to her music now is a humbling experience, because while I’ve fully recovered from that first darkness, we are now facing a new, more expansive one: a broad-based erosion of curiosity, care, compassion, and connectedness. Along with a literal breaking down of so much of what we thought was solid and sure.
The themes India.Arie sang about then hold true still: we are what we see, think, believe, and do. We are what we invest in. We are what we accept and what we allow.
On my way back from the gym, a song called “Tara Mangalartha Mantra” by India.Arie and Deva Premal came up in rotation. I’d never heard it before, but I loved how it sounded, and my name was in it. It may sound silly, but I take nothing for granted lately. Every moment that feels like a sign, I receive as one. If seemingly random insight crosses my path, I observe it and reflect upon it. I ask what it means to teach me.
I’ve learned that when you earnestly seek, you will not only find. You will also be found. I want to be found by good and beautiful and hopeful things. I am seeking these things everywhere, including in Meghan Sussex’s new show. 🙂
When I arrived home, I searched for the meaning of the mantra and found this explanation:
The “Tara Mangalartha Mantra” (also known as “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha”) is a powerful mantra in Tibetan Buddhism, invoking Tara, the female Buddha of compassion, for protection, liberation from suffering, and the removal of obstacles.
In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara is revered as the “Mother of all Buddhas” and a female embodiment of enlightenment, known for her compassion and ability to guide beings toward spiritual freedom.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that compassion, liberation from suffering, and removal of obstacles all feel timely and necessary.
I’ll admit that it’s not easy to keep the main thing the main thing—to not let the constant barrage of insults, greed-based decision making, and societal harm poison my spirit. I vacillate between standing on higher ground and digging it all up. Very recently, I read an article about the FBI moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for conspiracy to defraud the United States. Huh?
For anyone willing to look at this unfolding story from 30,000 feet, the moves being made feel less like saving money and more like eliminating support structures and success enablers for Americans who need them most. Objectively, it appears that those in power simply want more for themselves and less for everyone else, and while I try to hold space for multiple realities, it’s getting near impossible to see the unraveling through any other lens.
I’m not a politician. I’m just a flawed human being who believes in fairness, inclusion, love, compassion, mutual care and connection, and personal and shared responsibility. I know that my words have power and that my actions have consequences. The same is true for all of us.
At a time when we are inarguably separating at the seams, it’s crucial to decide if we will be the scissors or the needle. Will we cut apart or mend together? And how?
I’m still figuring this out, but I do know that it’s easier to destroy than it is to build. I refuse to take the easy road. There’s too much at stake.
Thank you for building with me here. Will you help by sharing this newsletter with three friends you think will appreciate it? I believe that if more of us move with intention, especially now, we might get somewhere we actually want to be.
With love,
Tara Jaye Frank
