"Lava"

"A long long time ago, there was a volcano, living all alone in the middle of the sea. He sat above his bay watching all the couples play and wishing that he had someone too. And from his lava came this song of hope that he sang out loud, everyday for years and years. (Chorus): I have a dream I hope will come true that you're here with me and I'm here with you. I wish that the earth, sea, the sky up above, will send me someone to lava. Years of singing all alone, turned his lava into stone, until he was on the brink of extinction. But little did he know that living in the sea below, another volcano was listening to his song. Everyday she heard his tune, her lava grew and grew because she believed his song was meant for her. Now she was so ready to meet him above the sea as he sang his song of hope for the last time. (Chorus repeats) Rising from the sea below stood a lovely volcano looking all around but she could not see him. He tried to sing to let her know that she was not there alone but with no lava his song was all gone. He filled the sea with his tears and watched his dreams disappear, as she remembers what his song meant to her. (Chorus repeats). Oh they were so happy to finally meet above the sea. All together now their lava grew and grew. No longer are they all alone with aloha as their new home. And when you visit them this is what they sing- I have a dream I hope will come true that you'll grow old with me and I'll grow old with you. We thank the earth, sea, the sky we thank too. I lava you. I lava you. I lava you."

If you have a child 12 and under or like me, you are childless but went anyway to see the Disney Pixar movie Inside Out; then you saw this Pixar short right before the movie, titled Lava. For me, it was even better than the movie itself. The movie hadn't even started yet and I was already wiping tears from my face. Luckily I was sitting on a couch in a small theater and no one was right next to me, so I could easily hide it. I've listened to the song at least a dozen times, since it showed up on a radio station on my Spotify. I play it for everyone, with 2 year olds that need help calming down, being the song's biggest fans. I love it because of the message it brings. The kids love it because of the calming ukulele strumming repetitively and this lulling them to sleep. I included the lyrics at the beginning, so you know what I'm talking about, but you really need to go to YouTube and at least watch the lyrics video and hear it for the full effect. You'll get the gist of it, even though it's not the actual video, those rights haven't been released yet, since the movie is still in theaters. But I love it so much because I am that volcano. I'm the dude, the big one in the beginning of the song. I've sang my song for years and years and I've watched friend after friend pair off and go off playing together as a couple, while I stay planted in that one spot. Nothing ever changes for me. The only constant in my life is my loneliness. I've sunken down like he did, my heart turning to stone and causing me to plummet into the depths of the ocean, where no one can hear my song anymore, where I feel like I am on the brink of extinction. "But little did he know." I love the message that love can be right under your nose, like it literally was in this song. She was right there under the water listening to his song and knowing that he was singing it for her, but he couldn't see her or knew she existed. And what seemed like 2 paths crossing in the night and just missing each other by seconds, actually turned out to just be a role reversal, in that the lady volcano sang the same song he had been singing out loud to no one, only she was singing it to him this time, hoping he'd hear. And he did, he was under the water and even though I believe it would theoretically take thousands of years for a volcano to emerge from the ocean and live above the sea spewing lava, it's a nice thought that it happened right when she sang it for the first time. Even though the lifespan of a human is not anywhere near as long as the lifespan of a volcano which is more like millions of years, still I understand the lesson on waiting. 9 human years is probably equivalent to at least a few thousand in volcano years. I'm pretty sure that this Pixar short was geared to the parents and adults that are watching it, and not the children. But I'm sure there are some smart kiddos out there that got the meaning of it. Timing is everything. Patience is a virtue a lot of people have trouble with. Hope is what saves you. It's all you need. As long as you have hope, you can make it through. Just keep singing that song. You never know who is right around the corner. You never know what's in store for your tomorrow, or the next day, or the next month or the next year. Don't let 9 years of nothing tell you that it will be a lifetime of nothing. Maybe it still will be, but you don't know that for sure. All it takes is one moment, and your life can be changed for ever. I like to dream, one that I hope comes true, that I'll find you and you'll find me. And one day I'll be able to say to someone with absolute certainty that they'll say it back and mean it- I lava you. But for now I'll take saying it to Mollie my cat, who just stares at me, but who at least looks at me when I say it. And I'll definitely take with great pleasure, my godsons saying "I love you," which I got to hear them say all of their own doing, many times last weekend when I saw them. That is simply the best. To be loved by another human being, especially a child, who you have to bond with to get that kind of love, well that means everything. Absolutely everything.