[Edited June 10, to add that sweet Mason has arrived! This morning at 6:31 A.M. Welcome beautiful grandchild, welcome with so much love and joy <3 ]

Transcription:

This is Demian Yumei from KeepingtheDream.com, I dedicate this episode to someone whose arrival I am waiting with great anticipation. 

~ ~ ~

I Promise

For My Dear Grandchild Who’s Expected to Arrive Soon,

I promise I will be your "little bit crazy" Nana.

I promise I will always believe in stuff like keeping your dream, making wishes on stars, and faires that live in flower beds… oh, and unicorns.

I promise I will never stop planting milkweeds or calling butterflies or listening to their wisdom, when they light on my glasses.

I promise when I get discouraged or see things that sadden me, I will paint words of hope like graffiti in open spaces, and bring kindness into the tender places of the heart.

I will not be quiet. I will make people turn their heads, click their tongues or avert their eyes, on the chance that someone might be inspired.

I will be noisy.

I will not tell you to be quiet when you are.

I promise I will read you stories and write stories and songs, and sing them, or leave them to be sung by others.

I will fight for you with every ounce of love I possess, for the right for you and all children to live in a world that is clean and sustainable, that’s filled with equity and love.

We have a long way to go, but you are worth the effort. Every child is.

I promise, for you, I will expand my heart and what I believe is possible. I will let good things happen. You are one of those good things.

I will help you to face what's bad and hurtful, though I would shield you from it if I could, and support you in keeping your heart open to love, always.

Most of all, I promise to learn from you, to let you teach me everything you came here to teach. I will try to be a good student.

You have such amazing cousins and big sister, your grandparents, aunts and uncles, all, who love you. And you couldn't have picked a better mommy or daddy to have you.

I didn't think it was possible that I could love more. But here you are.

This is a beautiful world we live in. With all the things that need to be healed or changed — and there’s a lot — it’s still a beautiful world. I think you coming here makes it just a bit more beautiful.

A number of years ago, I wrote and recorded a song to go with a children’s book I had written, Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes. Your Auntie Brhiannon was about 7 years old. She and her classmates sang on the recording.

The story I wrote is inspired by the teachings of Thich Naht Hanh about the interconnectedness of life. If ever there was a time to learn this truth and to honor it, it’s now. And so I want to share it with you.

I’m so glad your journey is bringing you to us. May you have a beautiful journey ahead of you, and let me end this little letter to you with my favorite blessing:

My dearest Mason, may you stay true to your journey, to the light in your heart, to who you are and who you are becoming, always.

Wo ai ni, Aishiteru, I love you.

Your Nana

LYRICS (to the song played at the end of the episode):

Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Lyrics and Melody by Demian Yumei

Arrangement and instruments by Stacey Young

I love little yellow pear…Little yellow pear tomatoes

Who benefits from you believing that to be realistic is to be negative, that holding a dream is a fantasy and giving up on it is reality? Those who would have you believe this are not your friends, they are not anyone you can trust... or listen to.

"People in power, and those who support a status quo that favors them, benefit from you lowering your sights. They steer you to filling the empty places of abandoned dreams with trinkets that they sell. But your life is worth so much more than being a scavenger’s meal."

~ Demian Yumei

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

Related links:

What is the Healing Journey?

Keeping the Dream -- What Does it Mean?

In the Middle of a Nightmare, Remember to Dream

When did being realistic become synonymous with being cynical or fatalistic. Who says having a negative, hopeless, "why try?" view on life is being realistic? To deny the potential of humanity for good isn't realistic at all. It's fatalistic, and I'm not about that. It's time to let that nightmare of a fantasy go.

"Is it realistic to dream? In a word, yes. It’s not a waste of time, because being who you genuinely are and are meant to be is not a waste of time."

Demian,

~ Keeping the Dream

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

Related links:

What is the Healing Journey?

Keeping the Dream -- What Does it Mean?

I've introduced myself in earlier episodes, but I thought you might like to know a little more detail about who Demian Yumei is. I share a bit about my background, my early years in Japan and New Mexico, what the creative process means to me and how it fits into my activism.

Creativity is central to my healing and spirituality. It's helped pull me through some of my darkest nights and gave voice to the pain I experienced and the healing I received dealing with the incestuous abuse of my childhood.

"I began writing songs in earnest two years into my healing journey that began when I was 31. Since then I’ve written a number of songs about the healing journey, and also in honor of other people who cannot speak for themselves or face reprisal if they do... Love is the message and creativity is the language through which I speak."

Demian,

~ Keeping the Dream

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

Related links:

Who I Am

What is the Healing Journey?

River of Heaven

"As a survivor of incest, I do not diminish the impact of being sexually abused as a child, but I’ve come to realize that the dynamics of covert abuse helped my father to justify and sustain his abuse.

As egregious as the sexual abuse was, it was the cover up -- the denying and the recreating of reality, the manipulation of what was into what he wanted us to believe, that inflicted the most harm."

Discovering, defining and embracing my dream is a major part of my healing journey. Facing and dealing with the impact of covert abuse is the other.

~ Demian

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

Related links:

https://keepingthedream.com/wts-series-covert-abuse/

But we’re not the only dreamers. There is another that dreams. It’s Life, Life dreaming you.

This Dream of Life, well that’s the fingerprint of your heart’s desire. It’s your spirit’s dance and your soul’s whispering. It’s the call of every human heart, and it expresses itself through you through your unique vision and inspiration.

Keeping the Dream isn't just the dreams we hold. It's about honoring the dream Life holds for us. On my healing journey I have witnessed and experienced the power of holding your dreams. I have also witnessed and experienced the desperate attempt of controlling people and entities to make you give up on them.

Maybe you know the importance of holding your dream, but have you ever thought of how important your dream is to the world? Or perhaps just how much of a love letter it is between you and Life?

~Demian

SHOWNOTES

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

Links:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

 

In the middle of this nightmare, remember to dream. Turn the energy around... 

Whatever challenges you are facing within the greater context of the world's, know that in the midst of a nightmare, you can turn it into a dream.

There is no greater time for you to hold to your dream and keep it safe than when it's most threatened. You can do this. We can do this together.

~ Demian

SHOWNOTES

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

Links:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

~  ~  ~

Body of Transcript:

For the Sake of Love: Opening Music

[Intro Omitted]

If you find yourself in the middle of a nightmare, remember to dream. It seems like we’re in the middle of a nightmare. Every day brings something to our awareness that’s just so unreal.

You want it to be, don’t you? I do. I want to wake up and say, “Oh… that was weird… but it was just a dream, a nightmare”, and then drag myself out of bed, take a pee, and get on with my day.

But that’s not going to happen. Because if this is a nightmare, we’re living it. My choice is to turn that nightmare into a dream — maybe not for the whole world, but right where I’m standing. It’s a small space. Big enough for two feet. But it’s my space and what I do in it can make a difference.

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Personal Nightmare

This global living nightmare is being talked about non-stop. The world acknowledges it… and even those who don’t, it’s becoming increasingly harder to do that. But personal living nightmares are often experienced in isolation, where people often look away.

I want you to know you are not invisible.

If you’re having difficulty dealing with your challenges right now, that’s not a reflection on you. It’s a reflection of the very real harm that dehumanizing other people can do. It’s not like you’re weak or something. Abusers may want you to believe that, but then they would.

You’re strong, even if you feel powerless to exert any kind of control over your life right now, never mind what’s going on out there.

~  ~  ~

Taking Care of Your Dream

That’s why it’s so important to take care of your dream, to keep it safe in your heart… even if you feel you can’ embrace it just yet. You need to hold on to the idea of growing and thriving, of living a life where you can be your authentic self.

Whether through an environment of malice, greed or ineptitude, you need to keep your dream alive.

That is the seed you need to protect. That is the blueprint of the house you want to build, the map that leads you out.

In the middle of this nightmare, remember to dream. Turn the energy around. Even if it’s in your own itty bitty little world, you can do this. And it’s important. If it’s important only for you, that’s enough.

But it’s not… only for you. Nothing we do is ever only for us. Everything we do affects others — our selfishness, our generosity.

Whatever kindness you afford yourself gets added to the overall energy that is part of our world.

~  ~  ~

Spreading kindness, courage and bravery

It’s not just the virus that’s spreading. There’s also kindness and courage and bravery — in vast amounts — adding to the story, humanity’s story, our story.

Claim your space to dream.

Right where you are. Right where you’re standing,

Things won’t fall back nicely into place. But they can fall into a better place, and we have a say in what that will look like. That is the way of healing. In healing from the trauma of sex abuse, I have learned that I get the last say in my life. Not my father. Not the relationships I had afterwards. But who I am now, the present moment where I am rooted and the future I am helping to define.

I don’t care how many issues you have. I don’t care how much you may have messed up in your life, because you didn’t have it together. If you are here — no matter what condition you’re in, you are a warrior.

Many who make it through this pandemic will come out traumatized. But what if you went into it already traumatized? This is the time to take good care of yourself, not to apologize for your weaknesses. Be proud of your strengths and that you are a battle tested survivor.

~ Demian

Keeping the Dream

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream

If you have to put up with sudden flareups, and words that seek to tear you down, lift yourself up with the sound of your own beautiful spirit and it’s beating heart.

Having to self-isolate with an abusive person or in an abusive situation is additional stress on an already stressful situation. You may be hearing a lot of negative messages about yourself. Remind yourself of the truth that you are a beautiful person, and you are not alone.

~ Demian

SHOWNOTES:

Copyright 2020 Demian Yumei, All Rights Reserved.

Written, narrated and produced by Demian Yumei

Songs: For the Sake of Love and Look Inside You, by Demian Yumei and Stacey Young.

LINKS:

KeepingtheDream.com

Patreon.com/keepingthedream