December 23, 2020
Thoughts pull us back to the past; places, people, possibilities, encounters, relationships. Images come to mind of places and people that are no longer. and we long...we long for the feeling, hold on to that feeling. A song, a word, takes us back, and we relive the moment...
We are young again, there is an innocence, an innocence that you lost long ago. What did it feel like to be full of hope, full of faith, the future lay before you, you were young and life was limitless possibilities. Dreams could not be contained, the world was endless.
Suddenly it feels like Paradise Lost, and you wonder, can't I go back? I want to hear that voice one more time, I want to feel that touch just one more time. I want to look into those eyes just one more time, I want to be lost in the moment...
I soar on the sound of the guitar solo and thank God for the music that can carry us away and take us back. Hold on to that feeling.
We want to return to Paradise, because that is what it was. We were invincible, you could hit us with your Best Shot and we would never flinch. We believed, everything was so real. Love was real. Every cause we believed in was pure and real. We were real.
Return to Paradise, what is it that I miss so much? What is it that tugs at my heart and takes me back, I dream of a girl that I used to know, I close my eyes and she slips away. What is it?
Perhaps it is the purity that we miss and yearn for. We hear that old song play and we begin dreaming, it is more than a feeling. There is something there...but what is it?
We could take our time, we had time, and perhaps now it seems that with each day time is slipping away. We need to hold on to that feeling, we must never stop believing, we must return to the Paradise to realize that we can still have Paradise. We need new dreams, for Hope is a good thing. We need dreams and hope to feel alive. We need to believe.
Yes, time has shaken us, life has hit us hard, we lost many friends, we lost faith in many things we believed in, we have seen the true ugliness of society and been betrayed and hurt. Perhaps that is what we miss most, the purity and innocence. We want to Return to Paradise. We want passion, excitement, we want to live again, to experience life to the fullest again. We want to be Alive!
So I am going back to my past to reclaim my future. I want to feel alive, I want to fight for a cause, I want to believe that I can make a difference. I want to fulfil the promise.
So pick your guitar, dust it off and play again. Play like thousands of people are listening and shouting your name. Stay forever young. Learn a new language, play a new song, get in shape, learn a martial art. Take control of your life, hear those promises in the dark and make them come true. Return to Paradise, return to your hope, to feel alive, age is no limit when you have something to fight for, something you believe in. Prance around on stage like you are Jumping Jack Flash, Bring me back to life.
We have to keep on, keep on going forward, take that old car and drive it as far as it goes, take those old songs and let them inspire us to write new ones. We have to keep on loving those who have gone to the beyond, keep them alive in our hearts, and keep on living. We have to fly again, never lose that feeling, dig deep inside and find that power again. It is time for us to fly.
We have to look around and see the Paradise we have, we can't lose this moment, we are surrounded by so many blessings, and we have to grab them before they or us slip away. We have today, we have tonight, why don't we stay.
We need to open a new door, we need to feel the hope, we need to rediscover the magic, Return to Paradise to reclaim our magic. We need to Hold the Line, make our stand and say I am still here and I am a force of life to contend with. The long hair may be gone, but the glitter in the heart still shines, for those whom we lost, for those whom we love, hold the line. We still have the time.
This is a song of hope. I am returning to Paradise.