Cutting Through the Noise

“The Earth has music for those who listen”… a quote I learned in my final hours in Costa Rica from one of the many kind, deeply connected locals I had the chance to meet.

Its exact source is unknown, which feels a bit like it may just be a whisper from Mother Earth herself.

Falling asleep each night & waking up each morning to a symphony of sounds – beginning first with the bellows of howler monkeys, followed by waves of cicadas chirping, & reaching a full forte as a chorus of birds come in right on cue. 

At first, falling asleep was hard. 

I was on the ground floor of my cabin. There were no windows, only screens, & I was surrounded by a lush, dense jungle.

When anything went bump in the night, I would be wide awake in an instant. 

As the retreat progressed, I felt myself more & more at ease – familiar – with the jungle. 

The walls between “self” & la selva merged.

A sense of peace moved in.

These past 5+ months, I’ve found it hard to write or share anything creative that hasn’t been about Palestine.

One of my favorite poems from a Palestinian poet sums it up well: 

Well, I spent a week in the jungle hearing the birds. Tending to my inner well.

We all have unique ways in which we can offer our gifts in service to healing the world. 

Mine is through my voice. Spoken, written, sung. 

Back in 2021, at the conclusion of my inner journey through the Purpose Guides Institute program, I embarked on a soul quest. 

The soul quest, for brevity’s sake, is a 24 hour wilderness immersion & abridged, intercultural interpretation of Indigenous vision quests. 

I found a sit spot on my dear brother Aaron’s land & had a profound experience diving inwards. More on that in another newsletter!

What emerged was my soul’s name: Songbird Singing the Winds of Change. 

It made sense to me then — which may be a little esoteric for most people — but it really clicked for me in these past few weeks.

For so many years, I have shrunk my voice.

Which is ironic as someone who has spent the better part of 13 years undergoing classical opera vocal training. 

But after being bullied as a little kiddo & my bullies doubled down on me harder after singing at the talent show on the last day of school (6th grade! Awful!)... I held back. 

I didn’t let myself fully shine, nor be witnessed fully. 

Even when family members would ask me to sing, I would cower.

This being the girl who has zero issue singing full blast in a choir or in formal musical settings. But me? Alone? Singing? Nauseating.

In Costa Rica, my beloved sister Sue, who facilitated our incredible week-long yoga & meditation retreat, suggested we sing together sometime soon. After all, we both love chanting & have remarkably similar Spotify playlists. 

What I didn’t realize is that she wanted me to lead us in song during our meditation practice. The next morning.

It was deeply uncomfortable, then all at once, deeply healing.

The song I chose to share was a chant that I’ve been doing in my kundalini yoga practice for years: a combination of the song “Ocean” by Mirabai Ceiba followed by the Siri Gaitri Mantra.

Early in our week together, this became a practice in allowing my gifts to shine as an offering of service to others.

Something in me shifted as I felt my voice received with love, warmth, and gratitude. 

Upon returning home, I stepped back into advocacy work from a renewed, grounded, & centered place.

That week, there was a protest march to Bethlehem City Hall, an interfaith vigil held for the people of Palestine, & remarks made during city hall both in favor & against a ceasefire resolution. 

I had no intention of speaking that night. But something came over me.

I walked calmly to the sign up sheet & wrote my name down. As I sat down waiting for that evening’s session to begin, I began to write.

When I got to the microphone, not only did I speak… but I shared my poetry. 

I even sang the Mi Shebeirach on the floor of Bethlehem City Council – which for all my non-Jews is a song that is often sung in a mix of English & Hebrew as a prayer for healing towards the end of synagogue service. 

And for my Jewish friends here, yes, it was the Debbie Friedman version we all know.

It didn’t matter that my voice trembled at times as I choked back tears.

It didn’t matter that my singing wasn’t perfect (f*cking Virgos, we’re chronic perfectionists).

What mattered was that I showed up. I spoke. I sang.

I shared my voice & added it to the chorus of voices singing a brighter tomorrow into being.

And guess what?

It cut through the noise. 

While the rest of the night was a back & forth between the Pro-Palestinian human rights delegation & the Pro-Israel bunch who were there somehow equivocating a ceasefire with anti-semitism…

(which for the record, not anti-semitic to demand a ceasefire !!! )

I got applause and dare I say HUGS from both sides who were present that night.

I believe that the song that lives in the heart of humanity is a song of compassion.

We just sometimes need help remembering to listen. 

Copying the text from my remarks at City Council at the end of this newsletter, if you’re curious.

Thanks for tuning in. Wishing you a blessed spring equinox!

Some questions I am exploring that I’d invite you to journal through as we move into spring:

1. What seeds am I planting?

2. What makes me feel most alive? What sparks my growth? What hinders it?

3. What is asking to be born through me at this time?

Go smile at some daffodils & call your representatives to demand a permanent ceasefire. :)

If you can, please consider making a donation to World Central Kitchen to help provide meals to families in Gaza. $70 provides 51 meals.

With gratitude & oh so much love,

Nadine

Remarks at Bethlehem City Council Meeting – March 5th, 2024

Good evening, my name is Nadine Clopton. I am a resident of Bethlehem & I am a proud member of the Jewish community. 

I am here to ask the city council to pass a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire.

Standing in solidarity with my Palestinian cousins in their quest for liberation is not antithetical to my Judaism, but rather because of it. 

My Judaism is one that is rooted in compassion… in the value of “tikkun olam”…repair of the world.

Violence begets more violence. Pain begets more pain. 

To my Jewish cousins here, I see your pain & feel it. I honor it. I grieve the lives of the hostages lost & still held captive in Gaza just as you do.

But compassion is not a one sided ordeal. It is possible to hold the pain of both our people in our hearts. We are cousins, after all.

Around the dinner table, we overfeed one another and show love in the same ways. Our cultures share more similarities than differences.

I grieve the 30,000 Gazan civilians slaughtered by US made bombs & the right wing Israeli regime. The children who have undergone amputations with no anesthesia. 

The families who have been wiped off the map. I grieve the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without due process of law.

Calling for the Israeli government to be held accountable for their abhorrent war crimes is not anti-semitic. 

Perpetuating the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians only makes Jews more unsafe. 

Calling for a PERMANENT ceasefire is NOT anti-semitic. It is a doorway.

When our grandchildren look back at this time… will we have been silent? Or will we speak up in the face of genocide & ecocide? Will we stand up in support of justice & preserving human life?

Let us end the cycles of violence here. There is no military solution. May we be led by COMPASSION.

Drawing inspiration from Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul,  who said:

“In order for me to write poetry that isn't political, I must listen to the birds… and in order to hear the birds, the warplanes must be silent” 

I will share a poem of my own, as poetry has become my way of processing. 

(Side note: you’ll recognize this poem if you read my last newsletter)

To close, I’ll share a song that I invite anyone who knows it to sing with me:

Mi shebeirach avoteinu
M'kor hab'racha l'imoteinu
May the source of strength,
Who blessed the ones before us,
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing,and let us say, Amen.

Mi shebeirach imoteinu
M'kor habrachah l'avoteinu
Bless those in need of healing with r'fuah sh'leimah, the renewal of body, the renewal of spirit, & let us say amen