Guest Review - Pinktober 2009
MY PINKTOBER AH-HA MOMENT by Kat H.
On September 29-30, 2009, I had an extraordinary experience. When the Pinktober experience was first announced, there was little detail available other than that there would be a brief show of a couple of songs at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York followed by a flight on the Delta Pink Plane to Washington and a discussion panel the following day. As little bits and pieces of the"meaning" behind this experience started to emerge, I started to get the feeling that this was going to be something big, something special, something to remember. I was then fortunate to get a spot in this group on a cancellation of another member (which I will call my own sign from the universe).
At the Hard Rock in New York, we witnessed Melissa doing a radio interview and live performance for Sirius satellite radio. Melissa answered a variety of questions, but one part of this session stands out in my memory. Melissa talked of how people fear what they do not understand, and as a result, rebel against what they fear. She spoke about how we must not focus negatively on these people but instead look within ourselves and ask why it is that what others think and say bothers us; that if we are truly at peace with our own truth, we should be able to not let others' fears affect us. She suggested that we look within ourselves and ask how we are, in fact, judging our own selves when we react to others' fear. Brilliant.
After the Hard Rock, we were transported to Kennedy airport where we arrived at Gate 20 to a virtual sea of pink. When I arrived at that gate, something happened. That was the moment that I realized that we were part of something very big that night; the energy in that room was incredible and I knew I was, in that moment, a part of something really beautiful. I saw women everywhere in pink shirts, all Delta employees who are breast cancer survivors. For a moment, I actually felt guilty being part of this huge thing; I thought "why am I allowed to be here, I have not suffered this disease?" Did I really deserve to be here just because I'm a fan of Melissa Etheridge? I really did question why I was privileged to be there. I was about to find out.
The energy and the love on that plane was an energy I have never experienced. At the symposium the next morning, Melissa touched on capitalism and how we live in such a profit-driven society. When asked by a young audience member what the youth of today can do to help bring about change, Melissa talked about how she felt individual life is more important than the corporate profit margin. Corporate profit is based on what you buy; you can change the paradigm and if what you buy and the artists you support are the ones who can bring about change, that profit margin will move towards what is important and only you have the power to make that change, you just have to make the choice, individually, to be that change.
As I sat there, I thought back to the night before, standing in that sea of pink at Kennedy airport, watching all the beautiful, smiling, laughing, happy men and women celebrating life, and all of a sudden the confusion lifted, I had the answer to that question of why was I there: I was there to learn from them, I was there to learn that you can't wait for disease or a near-death experience to take action and make change in your life, I was there to take that powerful experience back with me and pay it forward in my own life. I was there to learn a lesson about life from these survivors, and I learned it, right there in that moment as I sat in that symposium, in front of Melissa, telling me that I can be the change, my ah-ha moment happened. I do a lot of volunteer work but somehow you go through the motions and sometimes the big picture of what you are doing doesn't become clear, as Dr. Vonderheide said, until sometime later when you experience a moment such as this. I now have a whole new passion for life.
Melissa, by inviting us to have this experience, created that lesson for me (and others I am sure) and I am so grateful to Melissa for teaching me that lesson through allowing me to have this incredible experience. Thank you!
