The clock ticks ever so slowly as it approaches tomorrow. In this moment, time has stalled. We’ve been transported into our own world as ‘Parisian Lovers’, separated from the canonical timeline, and while we’re here, dancing with you is all I would like to do. After all, midnight approaches and we will have to say our goodbyes very soon.
Last week, I had the incredible pleasure of enjoying a local artist’s very first concert in the city we grew up in. And I was so excited to experience it live—that is, the world Joel Sunny has created with his music. To be able to transport listeners into another world by illustrating a vivid image of romance and beauty… what vision!
Dolcissimo. Espressivo. Amoroso.
Sunny’s music is special, and he is one of the few artists who has made music that deeply resonates with my soul. I imagine heaven will look like the extravagant picture he paints with his violin. It’s full of grandeur, magnificence, and unending bliss. The despair the world spurts out in their foul attitudes and callous tongues has nothing on the melodies of light he plays. And we need more of that kind of hope to pull us through.
Because I don’t want to remain in my despair. That much I know.
And there it began. I sat in the back of an old church located in the city I grew up in. The pews were filled with different types of people, all speaking with one another, waiting in anticipation to hear this talented violinist. At the front of the church stood a raised wooden stage, railings decorated by several candles adding to the magical ambience, and was framed by the old organ that loomed behind it. Coloured lights faced the stage and shone upward to create dramatic shadows behind the organ and on the ceiling. And angels flew in the sky, lighting up at the concert’s climax to the ‘Luminary’ soundtrack.
Among all the details that caught my eye, there was someone else that gave everything else a run for their money. I was captivated by the cellist and her aura. She carried a refined air about her, and her posture was of an unmatched elegance. Yet, she played the cello with remarkable passion to the point of snapping some of the hairs on her bow. I could only look at her with admiration and awe.
I hope to be a woman like her. Someone who is both passionate and graceful when she works.
All the little details of this night’s conception lit up parts of my brain that haven’t been stimulated in so long. And it reignited passions I thought had left me long ago. My eyes were open, and I realised I had been afraid. Of many things. One of which has manifested in my pursuit of security in the form of a stable job out of the fear I cannot provide for my future family. But I think there has always been a little voice in my head telling me that’s not where I’m meant to be.
I’ve always yearned for a place to belong—and I’ve found community in some of my friendships, but I haven’t quite figured out where I should be in my career. Though, there has been more than one conversation encouraging me not to settle. And as I listened to Sunny’s arrangement of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’, I sorted through other feelings that I had yet to face. I long to start a family one day, but I am also afraid I won’t be loved when I’m no longer young and beautiful. And even more so, I long for a husband who doesn’t treat me like an afterthought—like a plan that can be easily dismissed or forgotten. Someone who lives an intentional life, carrying out God’s purpose for him.
What I want is the bare minimum. Isn’t the bar so low?
Perhaps the wistful longing I have is for a somebody that may not even exist. But I should never have to convince anyone to make me a priority, and I won’t settle. So I’m thankful for Joel Sunny and JVKE’s music. It has allowed me to believe romance still exists. Yet, the thought of trusting any man with my heart still terrifies me.
Imagine listening to a soundtrack imbued with heavenly harmonies that give you the courage to face your fears like that. I can admit that I long for so much more. I want more meaningful relationships, I want more people to know about the hope that I have, and I want to create things that inspire others out of despair. And I hope that it only leads people to Christ, away from the darkness and into the light.
For we are no longer children of the night.
P.S. Happy white day.
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