The ONLY December holiday that matters is December 8th, tbh.
Every year, on the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder, strangers become family and sing around the Imagine mosaic in Strawberry Fields, across the street from where John breathed his last. I look forward to this day all year long.
This year was especially difficult, given the depression struggles that have brought me down HARD and the current state of the world. I was really nervous going in, but of course, the crowd did not disappoint.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNxr0zVD2x7/?taken-by=meghansara
I made new friends, sang old songs, and when the sun went down and the park got FREEZING, I found a spot near the fringes to dance and belt out “I Saw Her Standing There” with gusto.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNxrMWvDASn/?taken-by=meghansara
Don’t judge me, I forgot that the high note is really hard to hit.
Last year, my favorite song to sing with the crowd was “Help!” so this year, I was determined to capture the amazing harmonies. You can hear me screaming here, of course: flat of chest and of pitch (HAW HAW). Oh and bonus incredible sunset over the park.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNxrlSFDfy2/?taken-by=meghansara
Outside of Burning Man, this is the closest thing to a religious experience I think I have. Think that sounds bizarre? I mean, it’s a ceremony that anyone can join in with, a community sharing a like-minded ideal that welcomes everyone. It’s kind of better than religion, if you ask me. Just bring yourself and any lyrics you can remember (doesn’t even matter if you end up singing the 3rd verse of “Lady Madonna” second, then doubling back to sing the 2nd verse third, which oops hey it happens but at least we all made the same mistake together ok). I wish I could have stayed all night, but my frozen feet started to hurt too much to even dance (NO! GASP!). As with every year, I’ll treasure these videos and watch them whenever I need a reminder of something wonderful existing in this world – seriously, I have soooo many videos like this on my phone and I watch them all year ’round. Oh here’s my post from 2013, and 2014, and my favorite video from last year:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNzQAFpgqf-/?taken-by=meghansara
Leave a Reply