Keep Love As Your Superpower

I hope Valentine’s Day brought you thoughts of love and many gifts that always come with Love (which sometimes happens even from just reflecting on it).

I have a story to share today that I’m sure will warm your heart.

This past week I had three wonderful concerts – in Redondo Beach, CA and Bakersfield, CA.

The first two were in gorgeous auditoriums, filled with excited audiences. The third one was what we call a ‘community outreach’ show. Usually, the concert associations that bring us to their area also sponsor an extra performance for schools. This is an opportunity for the students to see a professional, live performance. We LOVE doing these.

But on this day, the schools in Bakersfield were closed and we couldn’t stay an extra day. So instead for the students, we performed at a retirement community.

Sanya, Brian and I decided to dress up for the occasion and wear our sparkly gowns (and Brian his sequence jacket), even though it was an informal daytime performance. The residents gathered in the beautiful lobby around a grand piano, anticipating our show.

A few moments before showtime, I realized I couldn’t find my heels. I looked everywhere – in all the bags and all the compartments of our rental car. I’ve been on the road long enough to have packing down to a science, so this was really weird.

The night before I repacked after our show and now I couldn’t remember what exactly I did with my shoes.

I decided I must have been tired and left them at the theatre. So, I put on my sparkly dress and stayed in my ‘cowboy’ boots. They are a stylish Italian-made leather ankle boots with a nice heel, but they are worn out (like a pair of your favorite cowboy boots should be), and they certainly don’t go with a sparkly gown (as much as it was an ‘intentional’ look I was going for).

I felt odd the entire time – moving carefully so the boots wouldn’t peek under my long dress as I tried to move elegantly across the floor.

When I sang Over the Rainbow I got really emotional.

Maybe it was because I stood still the entire song (when we stand still, there is an extra emotional space that opens up).

I introduced it as my favorite song of hope, explaining that “whatever it is you might still be longing for – a healing, a few moments of tenderness, a sense of being loved – is always within your reach. We just have to open our hearts and accept it (and be willing to bend a little so we don’t miss it if it comes in a form slightly different from our vision).”

After the song ended, I pulled up my dress up a little bit, and revealed my footwear. “And I’m not even wearing my red ruby slippers. Even in these old boots, I know I have everything I need – love included. I just had to be willing to break a little and let love in,” I said with a smile.

When I paused to think, I realized the old boots felt really comforting – as if they were reminding me that Love doesn’t have to look any specific way.

Later that evening when we gathered all of our stuff to repack for the flight home, I opened a little bag with our CDs.

The shoes were sitting right there on top! The entire time I was dancing in my boots, the little bag was behind me, right under the piano.

I never thought to look there! I thought there was absolutely no reason to look in the CD bag for my shoes! If only they squeaked, I joked, to let me know they were there!

Now, take a second and consider…

Are there places (or people) in your life where you aren’t thinking to look for something you’re missing?

Are you missing Love because you ‘packed’ it away after a particularly stressful time, or a heartbreak, and now you can’t access it anymore? Or are you afraid to love again after you have lost someone without whom you couldn’t imagine your life?

Are there other ways you can tap into a feeling you’ve been craving?

For me, I am letting love in – through the same hole that losing my husband left in my heart.

And whether you are happily married, or happily single, or widowed or divorced, keep Love as your superpower 🙂

Here is a song for you. It’s one of gentlest and most tender love songs out there: Johnny Cash’s “Rose of My Heart.” It’s definitely a song one would sing wearing her old ‘cowboy’ boots… letting Love show up for her and not resisting it.

Tatiana “Tajci” Cameron is an award-winning music artist, published author, inspirational speaker, and certified transformational and spiritual life coach.

She has many passions and is dedicated to helping others while also creating an enriched life for herself and her three sons. When Tajci is not on the road performing gigs, she volunteers with local organizations dear to her heart, spends time with loved ones (often involving music!), and collaborates with other artists to bring creative projects to life.

Tajci’s most recent projects include a meditation CD, an annual retreat & sea cruise in Croatia (that she organizes and hosts), and a multimedia CD/book (Un)Broken: Songs My Father Taught Me.

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