Dislocation

Happy New Year!

I trust you had a good Christmas season. Happy New Year! 

As we welcome this new year, a theme keeps coming up in my mind that I’d like to reflect on.   ‘Dislocation,’ simply explained, is the state of being displaced from that which is familiar. It is a state of disorientation where nothing seems to make sense. It can either be physical and/or psychological.  Physical dislocation may involve being displaced by conflict in your country, and now living in an internally displaced people’s camp (IDP), or it may even involve fleeing the only country you have known and surviving as refugees in foreign lands. I was reminded during Christmas of the child Jesus and his family who had to flee their homeland to escape a blood-thirsty king. Please offer your thoughts and prayers for many in similar situations today. And may they be guided back to their homes.

Psychological dislocation can be due to various personal factors such sudden career loss due to layoffs or even retirement from a job to which has one’s identity has been inextricably tied. Ironically, for some, it happens because they feel tied to a job which holds no interest but to which they can’t see any more promising options. Dislocation also comes as a result of loss of relationships, whether having to let-go or being let go.

We see and experience dislocation in different ways. But beyond the angst, the ambivalence and the disorientation synonymous with dislocation, there is light at the end of the tunnel, hope of finding your way, of finding stability – hope of a bright future.

‘The Storm’ from my ‘Light II’ album recalls my experience being caught in a storm and lost. This experience seemed to last like an eternity but somehow I was miraculously saved and found my way back home.  Enjoy this track and share!  Happy New Year! 

The Path of Peace

Dear Friend,

It is a cold, grey day, 1st of day of March. I am looking out through my window at the bald trees as I pen this short note. I would like to share with you, ‘Desolation’ from the album Light I which was released in July 2017. It was composed after I had personally witnessed the destruction of a once harmonious and thriving community after armed conflict broke out. It reminded me then and even now of how violence can easily replace sustained dialogue. 

As you listen, wherever you are in the world, please whisper a prayer for peace.  

Peace!

Nathan 

Nothing New

Hello Friend

I trust that this greeting meets you well as we individually and corporately navigate these challenging times, such as mourning the loss of important people or figures in our lives.

Perhaps a day in nature, watching the mysteries of the skies in the night (the aurora Borealis this week in the northern hemisphere, for example), doing a kind deed, time for reflection, prayer, talking with a friend or even a total stranger might be that ‘sweet spot’ you need today? Or might it even be overcoming fear and hesitation to receive that shot in the arm?

I would like to share with you the track ‘Nothing New’ from ‘Light II’ which I composed after being in one of these ‘sweet spots’.

I hope you enjoy it

Nathan

https://nathanelawa.bandcamp.com/track/nothing-new

NATHANELAWA.BANDCAMP.COM

Nothing New, by Nathan Elawa

from the album Light II