It is not always
the villains out there that bring us our sorrows. Quite many of our sorrows are
our own creations.
Back in the 1970s
the illustrious pop group, ABBA, sang about Chiquitita’s sorrows. “You’re
enchained by your own sorrow,” the song went. Chiquitita was always sure of
herself. But now she is a broken person. The song counsels Chiquitita to accept
life’s inevitable heartaches and the scars left by them. She should dance again
as she used to do and the pain will end.
Chiquitita dear,
It aches my heart
to see you depressed especially because you are a buoyant personality by
nature. You liked to fly like the butterfly savouring the honey in each flower
on the way. And you thought that you were entitled to all the honey in flowers.
You seemed to assume that the flowers secreted honey just for you.
You were the
centre of the universe in your own weltanschauung. Ah, that’s a big word I have
used. I don’t like big words. But you do. You did, at least. You loved all the
big things in life. Big words and big theories. They made you feel great. Live
life queen-size was your motto. You were a queen, no doubt. People showed deference
to you. Do you know why they did that, however? You deluded yourself into
thinking that you were as great as you pretended to be and others granted you
to be. It was just pretence both ways. Self-delusion on your part and
condescension on theirs.
You were
intelligent enough to know all that. Yet you chose to be blind to the reality.
Rather, it was not your choice. You were rendered helpless by your
self-loathing. You hated yourself for I know not what. You are intelligent,
more so than most people I know. You are pretty and any man would turn his gaze
once more to look at you. You sing like an impassioned rebel and dance like a
whirling dervish. Yet you loathed yourself for I know not what.
You were
discontented. With yourself and the world around you. You thought the other
people as silly creatures who did nothing more than eat, mate, and sleep. You
hated life for its inevitable filth. You couldn’t accept even the sweat and
shit of human beings, let alone their greed and envy and lust and all that
stuff which make up the creatures called homo sapiens. You held yourself and
others in a divine contempt.
You thought you
deserved to be a goddess.
Now you are a
broken person. The bubble of greatness that you had blown up around you has
crumbled. You see how commonplace a person you are. Just another Mary, Rita, or
Samantha. You will learn to accept yourself, Chiquitita, dear, as you are. You
will then see your real beauty. And you will love it too.
You will turn your
attention from yourself to the world outside. You will admire the beauty of the
flowers as they offer their honey to you in celestial chalices. You will add a
new music to the caressing breeze and the rippling stream. You will sing once
more like you never did before. Your new dance will mesmerise the best among
the dervishes.
You have learnt to
own your feelings. You have learnt not to blame others for whatever has
happened though they all have their own roles in the catastrophe that befell
you. It’s no use blaming others or even yourself. Blaming never achieves
anything. You need to own up and take charge of yourself. Take responsibility
for what has happened. And move on. Act and not regret. Sing and dance.
Your song doesn’t
have to be perfect. Nor your dance. Let the song jar at times as it will. Let
the dance wobble. Sing you must and dance you must. You are your song,
Chiquitita. Your are your dance. How can you be not yourself?
PS. You can listen
to ABBA’s Chiquitita song here.
PPS. This is powered by Blogchatter’s #BlogchatterA2Z Challenge.
Read the previous
chapters of this endeavour:
A for Absurdity
B for Bandwagon Effect
Coming up on
Monday: D for Delusions
I have mixed feelings about this song - trust me, I love the number itself. I sadly also have horrifying memories of making a fool of myself singing this in school totally off-key for our group song... oh, the embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteIt remains such a melodious tune though. And the lyrics do have a strong impact on your heart, especially when you're down.
It has continued to be one of my fav songs. Last whole year it was the ringtone of my phone. I would have continued to keep it unless other people were not getting tired of it!
DeleteChiquitita is me to some extent.
Beautiful and endearing post. I especially loved the last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it.
DeleteYou're chained by your own sorrow. Sigh. Such words of wisdom. And since I have read Hamlet, I have constantly thought about how we are never taught to handle our grief.
ReplyDeleteIndeed handling our grief is an art which some never learn. Hamlet is an apt example.
DeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDelete🙏
DeleteLet the song jar for once and let the dance wobble... Nothing needs to be perfect... Neither she nor the world outside... Nor the pretence nor the acceptance. And once she reaches there... She will find life easy to live without loathing any bit of it. Beautiful post Sir.
ReplyDelete🙏
DeleteThank you.
Without loathing. That's it.
What an absolutely mesmerizing post sir. This has been a favourite song and I still listen to it often. Your post did absolute justice to the spirit of the song.
ReplyDeleteThanks a ton. The song remains one of my favs too.
DeleteThis post was such a such a powerful message, to own up oneself with all flaws and hinderances. " You are chained by your own sorrow" surely resonated very personally. Loved the song as well. Thank you for sharing this with us Sir.
ReplyDeleteIt's a song that has stayed with me for decades. Though I have come to terms with my personal catastrophes, Chiquitita still consoles me.
Delete