There is a certain mystique about my beautiful Island home
that is hard to describe. It is a place that people love to hate and hate to
love. For reasons unknown. It gets in your blood. In your system. Then before
you know it, you are drawn in. And can’t
let go.
In 1980, just before he died, John Lennon sailed with his
young son, Sean, to Bermuda through tempestuous seas. Allegedly afraid he would not make it. His journey was
so rough. But he fought his way through the rough ocean and landed in paradise.
Legend has it John fell deeply in love with the mystique
that is Bermuda. He had not written a song in five years. But what he did not
realise was the tumultuous journey across the ocean was the beginning of his
journey to tapping into his creative juices. Opening him up to see all that he
had. And to be grateful for his abundance.The journey preparing him for the metamorphosis he was about to experience.
So much so that when he landed in Bermuda and saw colours
unlike anywhere else in the world his whole being came alive again. Legend has
it that he walked through our picturesque Botanical Gardens and came across a
tiny freesia flower called Double Fantasy and fell in love. As he examined that
flower, lyrics to songs came into his head for the first time in five years. So
much so that he wrote some of his best solo songs while on the Island. Allowing
him to compose an entire album before he died and he called that album Double
Fantasy in honour of his time in Bermuda.
Last evening my family and I attended the dedication in the
Botanical Gardens of a sculpture created by one of our finest artists, Graham Foster,
to honour John Lennon. It was a hot and muggy evening, the first day of summer showing
us just how unforgiving the summer heat in Bermuda can be. Despite the heat, people
gathered from all walks of life to honour John Lennon.
As I looked around the audience, up at the clear blue sky,
the sound of birds chirping, the smiles that spread on everyone’s faces when Graham’s
amazing sculpture was unveiled, I was reminded as John Lennon probably was all
those years before when he wandered around the very gardens we stood in last
night, “All we need is love, love, love. Love is all we really need.”
John Lennon was tragically shot in front of his apartment building but
the legacy he left behind will live on forever because he understood in his
last days that love is all we really need. Allowing himself to open like the
petals of the flower. Tapping into the succulence that lives within us all. Revealing
the man he was always meant to be. Writing without abandon.
As I walked through the gallery, reading song after song
that John composed while in Bermuda, I could feel the love pouring out of his
soul. The release and relief he felt knowing he was still capable of loving. I
could feel his energy in the room. And I knew and understood his life may have
been tragically cut down before we believed was his time but he had tapped into
the magic of his soul and had lived his last days full of love of self and
others. How many of us can say the same? Love is all we really need.
Wish to be there. Lennon lived, Lennon lives, Lennon will live.
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful
ReplyDelete