It all started when I really listened to a song I’d heard many times before. That song? Express Yourself, by Charles Wright, which suddenly just made so much sense to me. Not just as a good song but as good life advice. To paraphrase: “Express yourself/ Whatever you do/ Do it good/ It’s not what you look like When you’re doin what you’re doin/ It’s what you’re doin when you’re doing what you look like you’re doing/ Express yourself/ Some people have everything/ And other people don’t/ But everything don’t mean a thing/ If it aint the thing you want.” And when it’s all sung with infectious energy, well, there you go. Around this same time, I was reminded of another song I love, Take Warning, by Billy Dyce. He sings, “Do good, let your light shine bright, let your light shine right, respect your fellow man as you should.”

This is an idea I like a lot, the idea that we all have a light that shines that’s like nobody else’s light. Our own strange light. It can feel dim sometimes, when we’re tired or discouraged. It can even feel pointless or dangerous to let it shine, with the world going the way it is. Billy Dyce also sings that the evil that men do lives after them, and in the world we live in today, it increasingly feels as though many (mostly) men are busy being as evil as they can as often as they can. It feels as though a person might be punished or hurt if their light shines differently or if they express themselves differently, or if they tell the truth as they see it. But that’s why it’s more important than ever to let our light shine bright, to express ourselves, to shout the message we need to, sing the song we need to, make the art we need to, and find comfort where we can — find the light and warmth that shines down for us and nourishes us and gives us hope. As Fela says, “Let’s eat together like we used to eat/ Let’s plan together like we used to plan/ Sing together like we used to sing/ Dance together like we used to dance/ United we stand, divided we fall/ You know what I mean/ I hope you do.” I hope you do.

So let your light shine bright, let your voice ring out, and let your message be as clear as you can make it.