Be Still by Aisea Taimani + Minor Islands

This episode delves deep into the understanding of love, emphasizing that true love is an active practice of listening, empathy, and vulnerability. It discusses the importance of being present with others' experiences and how community can facilitate healing. 

• Love as an active practice requiring vulnerability 
• The significance of listening without needing to reply 
• Importance of self-love for authentic relational love 
• Healing through shared experiences and community 
• Exploration of therapy as a tool for emotional navigation 
• Embracing emotions and confronting discomfort 
• The role of empathy in building stronger connections 
• Promoting the value of stillness and being present 
• Discussion on deconstructing faith and love frameworks 
• Recognition of interconnectedness and community responsibility

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Chapters

• 0:08 The Power of Love and Stillness
• 7:59 Discovering Presence & Self-Compassion
• 22:03 Navigating Faith and Authenticity
• 29:14 Exploring Love Through Lyrics
• 45:30 Cultivating Transparency and Emotional Connections
• 55:58 The Power of Honest Love
• 1:00:40 Love Demands Everything
• 1:14:32 Healing Through Music and Connection
• 1:26:34 The Power of Body and Spirit
• 1:35:54 Embracing Faith, Love & Freedom
• 1:43:08 Connecting Through Music and Community

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Love is giving up on what you want to find the very thing that you need.

Speaker 1: 0:15

Love is easier said than done, but worth your everything. Love is listening without a reply, response to trying to solve your problem. Love is hearing your pain and feeling your pain. Till your pain becomes ours, I will be still. Love is more than a song you sing when your heart is full of hallelujah. Love is showing a path to a dark night Of the soul. Does something to you. Love is who I am when no one's around and still do the best that I can. Love is trusting that I am enough to become what love demands.

Speaker 1: 1:20

I will be still. I will be still. I will be still. I will be still and remember that I ain't in control. Give me peace, surpassing all that I know, and I will be still. You are safe here and now and you belong here and now and you are loved here and now and I ain't going nowhere. I'm gonna be right by your side. I will be still. I will be still and remember that I ain't in control. Give me peace, surpassing all that I know, cause I will be still. Oh, and I will be still and I will be still. I surrender all of my mind, body, heart, and all of my mind, body, heart and all of my soul. I will be still, you will be still, we will be.

Jason Amoroso: 3:53

Thank you so much for being here. It really is. I say it really is an honor to be here with you for this purpose, to have this conversation with you, for this purpose to have this conversation. I'm excited to see where it'll go and the gift of this song, be Still, and what it's meant to me, what it's meant to our Revelation Breathwork community and what it's meant to 2.77 million streams on Spotify. So clearly it's striking a chord with so many. So I just want to thank you for being here and being present with your time and your energy.

Aisea Taimani: 4:30

Yeah, thank you for reaching out and the invitation to friendship and to conversation that I think you know for me. Anytime you get to talk about something that you created, I think you yourself have a deeper appreciation for it and you have new ways that this song continues to teach you. So, yeah, thank you for that gift.

Jason Amoroso: 4:57

Yeah, let's dive in to Be Still, and I'm curious what was going on in your life, what inspired you to write be still? What was going on in your world, where that was born and birthed through you?

Aisea Taimani: 5:13

yeah, I wrote this song in 2000 and, I believe, 18, maybe 2017, but ultimately, it was definitely coming from a place of just finding myself reacting reacting online, reacting in my relationships, reacting in spaces that I usually have to lead in and maintain a level of groundedness. I found myself unraveling. Growing up in a faith community, growing up in the church, this was probably the time I also felt like the most division I've ever experienced. As well, too, not just with folks that you typically can say. Those are those people over there, whether it's politically or faith-wise. I found myself really struggling with my own family, members of my own faith community, and there's so many conversations that were being had where I found myself angry and I found myself frustrated, I found myself anxious and I started going to therapy because it was affecting the relationship I was in at that time and again, this is during the Black Lives Matter movement and just found a lot of people around me as well being so quick to react rather than around me as well, being so quick to react rather than responding. So when I started going to therapy, my therapist started just, you know, giving me some practices of how to self-regulate, how to literally be still, and you know, some of that was breathing exercise, learning how to do certain things that can bring me back to the present. You know, there's this drill that he had me do and like instantly, I was like, oh, what else do you got? You know, it was just, really. It was like first, you know what are five things. You know, let's sit, let's take a few deep breaths. What are five things that you see I was able to? Okay, I can see the wall, I can see the computer screens. What are four things that you hear? What are three things that you can feel physically with your body? What are two things that you can appreciate about someone else? And lastly, what's something you can appreciate about yourself?

Aisea Taimani: 7:59

Instantly, like a pill, I found myself no longer in this echo chamber of whatever it is that was taking away my peace, and you hear people all the time say be present, be present, be present and no one ever tells you how to do that when it feels like the world is on fire. And in a moment, you know, through really identifying where you are, right here, right now, what do you see, what do you hear, what do you feel, and also, you know what's something positive, what's something you appreciate about others, what's something you appreciate about yourself. Like, just that five-step drill did something that I've never, ever been able to do before. I've been a pastor's kid my whole life and have had a tendency of over-spiritualizing everything. If something's bad, maybe it's because God is mad, you know. If something is good, you know, maybe it's because of something I'm doing right, you know. And I just found that practice to be identifying so much more than spirituality but really giving my feelings permission to exist and really being able to have a practical five-step drill of any time I'm feeling I have to do this times with my partner, my wife Ellie. I have to do this working with human beings, congregants, at these different faith spaces that I work in. You know there's so much that happens when we just simply misunderstand one another and what's actually happening. And if we're not grounded, if we're not present, we can be really quick to jump to conclusions. So just that experience, immediately, you know, was like OK, tell me more, tell me more, was like okay, tell me more, tell me more. And you know we started just doing this work of how to self-regulate.

Aisea Taimani: 10:09

And you know, one of the things that he said that was so powerful that got me writing the song is. He said, hey, when someone is triggered because I was just processing people around me and how I can tend to their traumas or their triggers he said something that's been helpful is identifying that maybe there's a possibility in the moment when people are triggered, when I'm triggered, I need to be reminded that I'm safe. I need to be reminded that I'm safe right now, even though what I'm triggered by could have been something that happened 30 years ago, but that right now, as I'm feeling this, I'm actually safe. Right now I'm not where I was. Just a reminder that I'm loved right now. As simple as that sounds sometimes, we just need that reminder Like, hey, you're loved right now, the reminder that you belong, you actually, with all that you're feeling, you actually belong to me and you belong to this moment right now. You belong to the feelings that you have right now. They are your feelings and I affirm them and I recognize them and I see you.

Aisea Taimani: 11:30

And then, lastly, I realized self-abandonment or abandonment is something that a lot of folks don't even know that they struggle with Abandonment issues. Growing up, I never heardandonment issues. You know, growing up, I never heard abandonment issues, even the word abandonment, like when I was in my teens or, you know, my 20s. You know, there's so many terms that are coming out that I'm like man, I don't ever remember talking about that as a child. You know abandonment issues, you know. But just the ability to remind someone like, hey, I'm not going anywhere which has been something that I've had to really work on, on communicating whenever I need a breather, like how to really be able to say, hey, I'm taking a walk, but I'll be back Like the ability to let anyone know who might struggle with abandonment issues or just abandonment period, like, hey, I'll be back, I'm not my best self right now, so I need to go for a walk and then I can come back and then I can hear you better. So all these tools are tools that I was just like man. How do I remember this?

Aisea Taimani: 12:38

And throughout my life, my way, my form of journaling has been through songwriting, and that's where I wrote that. And and then a simple prompt I go to, which I think everyone should do. You know the writing prompt is is. What is love? You know love is, love is, love is. I think you know love is so simple and at the same time, is is. Yeah, it is too deep for us to ever write just one song about.

Aisea Taimani: 13:09

But in that season where I was feeling like there was so much misunderstanding and I found myself that love is actually a few things that maybe scripture, the Bible, doesn't explicitly say. But how can I say it in a way that someone in 2025 might be able to be like, yeah, that feels like love, you know. It maybe is not the traditional. Love is patient, love is kind. Maybe it's not the traditional. Love is patient, love is kind.

Aisea Taimani: 13:43

But yeah, I get down with you know love is hearing and feeling your pain till your pain is ours, like empathy, like scripture doesn't may not say you know, bar for bar this is how you practice that but just the ability. You know there's other ways that it says. You know we carry each other's burdens. You know how do we do that. Other ways that it says it you know we carry each other's burdens. You know how do we do that. First of all, we listen and and and then, and. Then we even dare to feel whatever pain that the other person is feeling, and and and. Then we are then ready to actually find a solution together or heal together, once we're hurting together too. I just love the definition or the way that someone talked about compassion when I was young. Compassion is hurting together, and sometimes we think it's just feeling bad for someone or it's providing healing, but actually, first and foremost, it's the ability to hold space to hurt alongside someone else so that the healing can be collective as well too. Alongside someone else, so that the healing can be collective as well too.

Aisea Taimani: 14:45

So that's where that song came from, and I was so grateful to be able to, you know, work with some of my favorite musicians, who are dear friends as well too. I played guitar and drums on that track, but I had my boy, jared, come and play bass, and then I had my boy, ian Santigliano, who I continue to collaborate today. I mean, I heard this cat playing at a club in San Jose and immediately I was like, how does a Filipino kid rip like John Mayer? It was just so wild to me and I ended up having him play on my live album, and then I asked him if he would consider coming into the studio and have this conversation with me, and I ended up having him play on my live album, and then I asked him if he would consider coming into the studio and have this conversation with me. So if you listen to even the way that he expresses on his guitar, he's not just like an accompanist on this we're having a dialogue and even the way that we edited that song there's a back and forth that I have with the guitar, but he plays a really vital role in really being able to communicate this spirit of being still, you know, and it's not just not moving, you know, it's more of a, it's a vibe of peace, it's fully present and it's in this.

Aisea Taimani: 16:08

I don't know, when I was writing the song, another mind was kind of influencing this, but as a Christian, I follow the way of Jesus and, you know, I draw from a lot of songs that I listened to growing up, and there's a song that goes Jesus is my savior. I shall not be moved, glory hallelujah. I shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water. I shall not be moved. Like. That song was constantly like informing, you know, I just I had the imagery of like a rushing, roaring, rapid, you, you know, and then the ability just to like I move, my move, deeply rooted, um, and so there's so many things that happened during the time I was writing the song. But you know, those were. Those were some of the main influences that helped me pen that song and and then invite other people to collab with me.

Jason Amoroso: 17:02

I just really want to acknowledge you for having the courage to seek out support when you're struggling. That's really what I'm hearing. And you said you went to therapy. I don't know if you had done therapy before that, but you recognized that you were having some challenges in your relationships and you wanted to get a deeper understanding of yourself and what was maybe under those and maybe skills and tools. And you did that and out of that support which I think a lot of men, at least culturally, probably don't do Maybe it's more and more prominent. It's definitely more prominent in California than it is maybe in other parts of the country. As far as the journal process that's one of the ways that you process Was that just something you sat down for your own benefits, Not like, hey, I'm going to write a song. It was like, hey, I'm going to journal, I'm going to write Love Is and just see what comes out. And then it turned into a song. Or at what point were you like, ooh, there's something here.

Aisea Taimani: 17:57

Just a mantra that I was taught. It's this very, very simple phrase be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. It comes from the scriptures, and so I was like man, okay, that seems very, very, it's like a meditation. How can I take this one line, make it mine and then share it? How can I create something that I actually, every time I sing this song, I'm literally inviting myself to slow down. So that's it. I just started, I grabbed my guitar.

Aisea Taimani: 18:33

I will be still, and you have to say that a few times. I can't just say that one time. I will sing that a few times and remember that I ain't in control. Give me peace that surpasses all that I know. Like this is what I believe as a human being, like there is such a thing that exists, a peace that surpasses understanding.

Aisea Taimani: 19:00

And I feel like, as an American here in Cali, I'm surrounded with people who are incredibly intelligent, and I feel like, as an American here in Cali, I'm surrounded with people who are incredibly intelligent, and oftentimes we can really depend on our intellect to get us out of a jam or to make sense of chaos, and I'm learning about this piece.

Aisea Taimani: 19:20

That's like it's actually not about figuring it out. It's about trusting that there's something greater than we can ever comprehend at work right now. That's been here, that is here, that will continue to be here, and so I just for me, it's like these are supernatural tools that I think we've been given since the beginning of time. How do we access them today? How do we access them in a form of a tune that you know, like this is? You know? Even the musical stylings of this song, you know, comes from my influences, like I started playing guitar when Mayer came out with his first album, you know, and so being able to like, speak to the time, using the sound of the time, was a challenge that I was like. This is how I want to create. I know that my sound will change in 10 years, but right now, this is what helps me be still Right now.

Jason Amoroso: 20:31

This is what helps me be still, and so I think, ultimately, you know, for me this response is something that is constantly evolving.

Jason Amoroso: 20:47

You know, when you said that your guitarist has kind of that Mayer flavor, that is what evoked in me when I first heard that riff and just like, ooh, it's so, just cuts right to the soul and it is a conversation that you're having and, uh, so just want to acknowledge that it's so good.

Jason Amoroso: 20:54

And, um, I'm curious, you mentioned that you're a preacher, son and the church and it sounds like you're still active in the church and in some way maybe you can share and that's a big foundation of how you live your life. And it sounds like this experience that you had at that time with other people and the triggers and whatever was triggering you and tough conversations or maybe they were conversations that weren't happening, but it was more just receiving information and then being affected by it. It sounds like your background and experience in the church influenced that and it also sounds like it was a way that God life spirit kind of supported you. So it wasn't directly related to the church, it was through your music, it was through the therapist, it was like all these different ways that was bringing this awareness, this healing, this knowing to you and, um, I guess I just I'm curious to hear a little bit more about how your roots in the church have impacted your journey yeah, I appreciate you asking that.

Aisea Taimani: 22:00

Um, I've, I've got a, you know. Um, I always have a tough time labeling my relationship with the church. I'll say that I'm still here because I'm still following the way of Jesus, because I'm convinced. I'm convinced that there is no other way that I found that both comforts, encourages and challenges me. Just the concept of enemy love is something that continues to convince me like, yeah, I mean, if I'm going to follow anyone, I love the way that Jesus loved. I love the people he associated with. I love the people he associated with. I love the way he challenged the powers at the time. I love the way that he expressed anger. I love the way that he expressed compassion. But, you know, over the years I realized that actually, as I really started to be more self-aware, jesus would have time for a guy like me. Jesus would have time for a guy like me and many others who've never felt like they belong or they fit in. And so I'm here because I'm convinced of the way of Jesus and I'm also here because I feel like there's a lot of damage that the church has done in, because I feel like there's a lot of damage that the church has done, and I don't even know if systematizing is even the right word, but the way that the church has organized something that I'm not entirely sure can be organized, um, has, has, has, has, has, um, yeah, just caused so much hurt and so much division. And um, I'm here because I really feel like, uh, there's, you know there's, there's people who are doing it really well and inspire me, and then there's people who I'm like hey, I think you're missing it, and so I want to be a part of the truth, telling to saying, hey, I don't necessarily think that that's the way of Jesus, but trying as best as I can, with the spirit of inclusivity and diversity, to share what I believe is good news for everyone, and so much of my songs really come from that place.

Aisea Taimani: 24:34

Sometimes I think about a conversation that I had with my mom when I first released my first record. My mom was like is your music Christian, is it gospel or is it gospel or is it worldly or is it secular? I said, mom, who decides that? You know who? Even just the fact that there's like a Christian genre, like who's the person that decided that? Can we just have that conversation, like if you would ask me what my genre is, I would place, I would try to place my genre in if there's a genre of honest authenticity. Because I really think, you know, I had the same conversation, you know, on a radio station in Tonga, the island that I'm from, and they're asking the same thing and I was like, if I made ice cream, is that Christian ice cream? You know, if I made at this table, does this make it a Christian table? Like, let's just, let's just process that a little bit?

Aisea Taimani: 25:29

And I learned years ago that where we find truth is where we find God. And so I enjoy, as artists, as a creative, how do I make these deep, I believe, theological and maybe even philosophical truths I believe theological and maybe even philosophical truths accessible to someone, to anyone, not just to someone, to anyone who may not have grown up with my faith tradition. So, yes, I'll say you know, everything that I do, if you're listening, if you're actually listening, is influenced by my spirituality, is influenced by my culture, is influenced by my heartbreak and also by my joys. Life influences my songs. It's not just my Christian influences, it's also, you know, the influences that come from my friends who are not Christian. And so I just think you know, part of my focus as a creative is accessibility, inclusivity, diversity.

Aisea Taimani: 26:33

Growing up in the Bay Area, I didn't just grow up with, you know, with one genre. It was a fusion of things and you'll hear that with all my songs. There's funk, hip hop, reggae, soul, r&b, gospel, grew up like having a deep, deep love for Rage Against the Machine. You know you'll hear some of that and some of there's. There's the energy and spirit that comes from so many influences that I hold and I and I honor and I nod to. You know we are all a product of our influences and so I think my faith, you know, will continue to be the most important thing that I talk about.

Aisea Taimani: 27:19

But how I talk about is crucial to me and so, again, when you're hearing, I Will Be Still. You know, all the things that I mentioned in that song actually come from my faith, but it's also coming from how I didn't practice my faith. There are a lot of things I said in that song that's coming from a place of, hey, love is, and I want to do that, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. So all those you know bars in that song, you know, don't just come from. Here's what I think love is. Here's also what I'm inspiring, here's what I'm challenging myself to do as well, and it doesn't just come from the Bible. It comes from school of hard knocks. I'm getting it wrong. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Jason Amoroso: 28:10

I think, in the world of the church and I'm not really involved in the world of the church I grew up in it I would say I'm more on the spiritual side of things. I'm very much a student of the way of Jesus, the Christ. For sure it's what I've devoted my life to. It sounds like you're not just a member of the church but you have a position of leadership, or at least your family did, and so it's so honest to be like, yes, I may teach these things, I may be a leader in this regard, and I'm still human.

Jason Amoroso: 28:44

I still am learning and growing and struggling, and I think that's refreshing because so many experts or leaders they try and I think it does a disservice. I think they're well intentioned but they're trying to set the example without acknowledging the side of being human and the struggles and the temptations and the mistakes. But that's how we learn and grow. So I just want to acknowledge that from you and maybe use that as a segue into exploring some of the. I'd love to go almost line by line on some of these lyrics and just hear, because obviously the lyrics came from somewhere. They came from an experience that came from a wisdom, a mistake or whatever, and if we can get into that, if you're up for it, I think that's what I'd love to do, that.

Jason Amoroso: 29:36

I'm so honored, I mean, I've never had anyone do this with me, and so this sounds like a lot of fun. So thank you. Oh my gosh, the honor is mine and I think everyone is going to be listening, so, listening, so I mean, let's, let's just start with the opening one, which is love is giving up on what you want to find the very thing that you need man, I will say that is.

Aisea Taimani: 29:57

That was the line that started. That started the song. I mean, I don't don't love working out, I don't love kale and eating vegetables, but part of my health journey, holistically, has been really being able to look at what I want and what I need. And I just started, just you know, I said this around the same time I wrote the song. It's like, man, what if I wanted what I need?

Aisea Taimani: 30:35

You know, there's this fascinating verse that is very popular, you know, to Christians the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. I never really understood that, but over the years I started to actually look at it and, just, you know, the concept of not wanting for anything I think is really fascinating. And you know, I think when you really look at that passage, it's really being able to find all that you need with God. And the truth is like I know people, I know people who find joy in simpler things, who are content. You know, you hear about this other passage. You know who are content. You hear about this other passage. I have found the secret of being content and it's the ability to actually realize that we actually have more of what we need than we might realize, and if we were just content with that, we wouldn't want so much. So that, for me, is something that I'm constantly, even as I'm starting a new year. You know, what do I want? What do I need? How do I want what I need instead of need what I want? We're in the business of growth. If we are in the business of wellness, and even the work that we're both doing.

Aisea Taimani: 32:09

I have this tattoo on my—there's a dove right here and then there's this bird cage here. So, just as an artist, I just have these reminders each day, like each day, I can choose something that moves me towards slavery or towards freedom, and it might sound a bit extreme, but the truth is life is, you know, is actually made up of a lot of small decisions that lead us to the level of freedom that we are able to live with, you know. So it just reminded me. It's like, hey, it might seem like just a small decision, but your words have power. It might just seem like a small decision, but, you know, getting some nutrients in the morning might be more important than a big breakfast with things that you probably don't necessarily need. So, yeah, that's. I can say more about that first bar. But you know, it really is the invitation to take a look at what we want and what we need. And how do we move to wanting what we need?

Jason Amoroso: 33:19

So powerful and is it okay if I share some of my experiences of these lyrics as well? I mean, maybe it's not what you intended, but I think that's probably art as it evokes something inside of the experiencer. It's like sometimes I know. For me, sometimes I don't know what I need, we don't know what we need, and it's trusting that God gives us what we need versus what we want. So sometimes I want stuff and it doesn't happen. I can either get upset about it or why this, why didn't it happen? And I really versus like just trusting that whatever I need I'll receive I'll be aware of in the moment. I think that's another really powerful. It's been a powerful experience for me for that lyric as well.

Aisea Taimani: 34:02

I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, that's, this is, this is. This is the gift of, of uh. Writing a song is being able to receive how uh, it speaks to others. So thank you for sharing that. Yeah, let's let's continue to let's keep going.

Aisea Taimani: 34:17

Uh, love is but worth, but worth your everything yeah, you know, oftentimes when you're writing, you can try to find a word that rhymes. I remember trying to do that on the second line and when, when I wrote that one, I I was like, okay, this is no longer just like trying to write a song. There's something that's happening in and through me right now because that's a really simple line. But the truth is, you know, we say I love you, we say I love you to people that we do, and sometimes we say I love you to someone who we want to love. But just a quick story.

Aisea Taimani: 35:09

I have a mentor. Her name is Sunita Mortha, and you know, when I first met her, I admired her. She was just a shepherd and mentor to a bunch of creative artists all over the world and you know, I found myself comfortable saying I love you whenever we would depart and I would just say I love you more regularly amongst other people, and I don't think I ever was doing it to try to feel closer to her than I was, but I genuinely felt that. And then one time, in front of everyone, she said, when I said I love you, she said when's my birthday? And I was like, uh, why does that matter? She's like no, really, when's my birthday? And I didn't really get it. And she was like you don't know my birthday. Okay, so next time, before you say I love, you know my birthday and the point that she was making is you time? Before you say I love you, know my birthday and the point that she was making is you know?

Aisea Taimani: 36:14

Sometimes we say I love you but we don't really know who we're saying that to and you know a form worth it. That process of knowing someone's joys and knowing someone's triggers and challenges and what are the things that you can only know by time and consistency. It's worth it. It it's worth it. That's how you arrive to loving someone is when you can say that you know them and they know you. But I think just today we we throw that, that phrase out so easily. We say I love you, mom, and I also love you know burritos, burritos, you know it's like. So it's just it's it's, it's, it's really complex, but um, yeah, that's where that bar came from. You know, initially I was trying to find something that can build off of the first line Um, like I do many songs. But as soon as that that song came, I was um. That line came, I was like man, I can't, I can't wait to have a conversation like this about it, because that bar belongs to Sunita more than my mentor.

Jason Amoroso: 37:36

Wow, and she clearly cared and loved you enough to be confrontational in that way. It's like carefrontation. Enough to say that some people would kind of not want to maybe be carefrontational in that way, and she did, which really sounds like served you in many ways.

Aisea Taimani: 37:48

Yeah, carefrontational, I'm going to have to take that.

Jason Amoroso: 37:52

Yeah, and bringing back Mayer, I recently discovered one of his songs, which has been around for a while, but Love is a Verb Like it's something that we express, it's something we bring into the world. I heard it somewhere and it stuck with me and you know, without dissecting it, it was like love doesn't exist in the world unless we bring it into the world, unless we are the ones who express it and bring it into existence through us, which I thought was a cool, just a different, another way of thinking about it. So, and it's's, it's worth your everything. You know, that's, it's total. That's what I love about that lyric as well. Thank you, let's look at the next one.

Aisea Taimani: 38:34

love is listening without a reply, response or trying to solve your problem so this is one of those lines that come from um, my, my hopes and my longing. Um, but yeah, just the relationship I was in at the time. Um, I found myself um uncomfortable with, with uh conflict and um anytime uh conversation was unresolved. And so I didn't know. I did this as often as I did, but whenever my friends or my partner at the time had anything that was challenging, I'd be quick to provide a solution, I'd be quick to provide a reason, or might even defend myself. Or if you just knew this, then you wouldn't feel that way. And again, continuing to reiterate that love is listening, not to reply, but love is listening to understand no-transcript, and that's so transformational if people really hear that and they practice it.

Jason Amoroso: 40:16

Because we're so, like you said, we hear to respond versus really just slowing down and receiving what someone's saying without needing to have a response. Or, like you said, I think, especially for men, are very solution oriented and whereas the you know, the feminine maybe is more emotional and sharing. That's like oh, I know your problem, you can't see it here, it is okay, on to the next, on to the next problem we can solve. What else can we fix and solve? And being able to slow down and really here to understand, here to care enough about another person to just see them and witness them without having to, like you've said, cerebralize it or intellectualize it or get them to see anything, to me that's such a gift of love just to see someone and witness them and hear them.

Jason Amoroso: 41:07

There are not without judgment. I mean, that's safety, right. There's not a lot of spaces that people have, even and especially sometimes in their most closest relationships. That's what we want, but sometimes those feel the most vulnerable and so such a like that alone, I mean truly. I think if everyone in the world listened to your song, this song Be Still, it would bring so much healing and peace to the world. So that's, that's one of my hopes. If we're going back to hopes, I appreciate that.

Aisea Taimani: 41:37

Yeah, even as we process, I'm like man, I'll be. I'll need to to hear that line in this song for the rest of my life. I think that's you know. There's certain things that are just reminders for life, because we are never going to arrive or never going to perfect that. So that's what I'm learning about this song. That's what I'm learning about this song. I think sometimes, you know you, you hope that a song could, could bring you to a destination and and then realize that actually, the the song is to is to actually join you on the journey. Um, because the destination isn't, isn't necessarily, uh, what the song is for.

Jason Amoroso: 42:23

How much of this song compared to other songs? As an artist, did you feel like some songs maybe like, oh, this is mine. I thought of this versus what you said. This is really coming through me and I'm just the instrument pun intended. How much of this, or all your songs that way?

Aisea Taimani: 42:42

No, I'm a very I would say collaborative artist. I'm not just a songwriter, I'm a composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist engineer, producer. So there are so many things I enjoy and so, because of that, I have dear friends who are phenomenal writers that I trust and that know me and I know them, and so I really enjoy that process. But, you know, it means a lot to me that, for the song that happened to hit, of all the work that I've created, yeah, I can say that this one's mine as far as the arrangement, as far as the lyrics goes, the composition and even just being in the studio and really being able to quarterback the whole process.

Aisea Taimani: 43:42

This one right here comes out of my own grief. This one comes out of my own failures. Actually, this one comes from still trying to be still. So there's a lot of songs that I've written that I can say, yeah, that song was for that time, for that moment. But this one is timeless in that sense of like, yeah, I still need to practice stillness, I still struggle with listening, sometimes I still have a tough time being still, you know. And so, yeah, I think, when it comes down to my connection to this song, it's because I haven't been this direct about something that I really really long and hope for.

Jason Amoroso: 44:36

All right, let's go really really long and hope for All right, let's go. Love is hearing your pain and feeling your pain until your pain becomes ours, and you kind of mentioned that earlier. But is there anything else that you want to share about that?

Aisea Taimani: 44:47

Oh for sure. You know there's so much about that word hours. You know, I think, growing up in America, I'll say even faith felt incredibly individualistic. I'll say even faith felt incredibly individualistic. You know we use these terms that I struggle with. Like you know, having Jesus being your personal savior, I was like man that feels so contrary to the way that I think we are instructed to be Like. To be a follower of the way is to be connected to community. To be, I would say to be human is to be in community, and so I'm fascinated with how individualistic we can make faith be about.

Aisea Taimani: 45:30

When you look at a question that the Jesus disciples ask him and say, hey, so how do we pray? He says, okay, first of all ours, ours, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, and it just continues to use these words. That's communicating like, hey, when you pray, when you follow the way, when you practice this spiritual life, you are to practice it together, and so I think, in being still, it deepens our capacity to actually be together. I find myself unable to be present with others when I'm in a hurry and when I'm in a rush, and so again, that line is reiterated in the verse and so again that line is reiterated in the verse it's not until your pain is mine, then where I can actually provide healing, I can provide a solution. So I just think sometimes we skip that step right. Whenever we're trying to help our friends and we're quick to provide an answer, it's like no, there's a process in case we don't know. There's a process in actually like helping one another and and and. If you're not willing to go through this process, then your solution is actually possibly more about you than it is about me, and so that's what I've had to learn like.

Aisea Taimani: 46:54

Until you know, even as we look at these justice issues, that's been happening. You know I have so many. I was serving in communities that were predominantly white and everyone was quick to you know, to suggest a workshop or suggest a book club. You know, to how to learn about. You know what's happening, the injustices that's happening in our country, and you know, for me it's like man, until we're willing to experience the pain that you know our Black brothers and sisters are experiencing, like all we have, all we have is going to be this distant, you know pill that's actually, or even just throw money at the problem.

Aisea Taimani: 47:36

It's like that's not actually providing a throw it money at the at the problem. It's like that's not actually providing a holistic and a sustainable solution. You actually could possibly be providing more, more, more damage by doing that, but until their injustices become our injustices, until their children become our children, until their kids get shot like it's our kids getting shot, we won't have a level of urgency necessary to actually bring about change. So I just think you know, if we really want to bring about change in the world, you know it's not just about providing healing and providing solutions and providing solutions. I think part of what I believe is sustainable change is to identify with the pain and the struggle that people are feeling and when their hurts become our hurts, we're actually providing a solution that's not instant, but something that hopefully is sustainable.

Jason Amoroso: 48:35

Wow, yeah, if it's happening to us, we, we're gonna do something about it, but when it happens somebody else, we're not connected to that, it's just oh, it's, it's over there, it's happening to them, it's not really not my problem. Yeah, another key line, I think in that in that one lyric is hearing your pain and feeling your pain, and so so I want to take it from the other. You're talking about like feeling, like I'm feeling your pain with you to this also, this idea of just feeling our feelings. I think a lot of people don't give themselves the space, they haven't been taught that it's okay to feel feelings, and instead they intellectualize, they like think about their feelings versus really allowing them. And that's something that comes forward for me in that lyric and just curious what your experience with that is as well no, I think you're absolutely right.

Aisea Taimani: 49:33

I mean even with my own family recently, you know.

Aisea Taimani: 49:37

I realize that even in my own family, there are people who haven't been actually given the space, the space to share their feelings. And so I think it's work that you know that we have to create space. We have to create spaces for transparency, for vulnerability, and that's part of the work that I do with my art. That's the work I do in churches. I work in churches and faith spaces, and I try to create these spaces where people can tell the truth. I love Brene Brown's quote that, you know, courage is telling your whole truth with your whole heart, and I don't always feel comfortable doing that in church spaces, and so, in my own way, whenever I get an opportunity, whenever I have a mic in my hand and the people ready to listen, you know I'll share something good from time to time, you know, and just to let everybody know, like no, this is not an act, like, I am just like you. You know, if you look at you know who I am. When no one else is looking, you know I got some things that I would like to hide as well. I've got secrets, and so I just think you know how do we create more spaces? And that's what I love about these different creative spaces, open mics, where people utilize poetry and songs to be able to be known, to practice talking about our feelings.

Aisea Taimani: 51:08

And yeah, I just think that there's a lot of work that we need to do, but I'm grateful to say that we are a lot further than when we were. When we grew up, you know how often did you hear like vulnerable, as a uh, as a virtue? You know, as a child, you know like um, I'm also learning, too, the difference between vulnerability and transparency and moving towards transparency. You know what does it mean to be seen and not just throwing yourself out there. You know, um, for the sake of other people. You know benefit. So anyways, yeah, I think my hope is that we would create more spaces where people could learn how to talk about their feelings, their thoughts and then the process, be able to really know one another.

Jason Amoroso: 52:00

So something you said I don't want to. Just we could just move on, but I don't want to move on because I think it would be so important. I think it is so important for people just to hear you say a little more about the difference between vulnerability and transparency, as you're experiencing it.

Aisea Taimani: 52:13

Yeah, I think the last five, ten years, you know, my friends have a just like an ongoing joke, you know, whenever we're all hanging out, you know I just have a tendency to say, hey, can I be vulnerable with you? And so it just became like a, like a saying that I had and I think I used that and not really knowing the way that you know the difference between vulnerability and transparency, and, yeah, I think I there's a lot of times in my life that I might have overshared, a lot of times in my life that I might have shared things that, actually, that allowed me to be judged or, you know, just things that I, you could start to really believe that your life is public and for everyone to judge and to, you know, aspire or not to be like. But I really appreciate, man, I just saw this, you know, online on somebody's IG, you know, a few weeks ago, and I was like, yeah, okay, I actually resonate with that a little bit more. But the, you know, difference between transparency and vulnerability is, like you know, sometimes vulnerability is opening yourself up to be harmed or to be criticized or to be judged, but transparency is having a little bit more agency to say I'm actually going to let you see from a place. That is like it's not just so you can attack me. I actually my transparency is hopefully for your benefit, it's not just for my benefit. This is for both of our benefit. This is for both of our benefit.

Aisea Taimani: 54:16

It's the ability to not just see the thing that I might be struggling with, but helping you see so much more than just that. Like how I arrived there, like I talked about this with my wife a few weeks ago, there was something that happened, you know, and I literally was like hey, babe, can I be transparent with you, instead of saying can I be vulnerable? And just even that posture like we're learning, like OK, this is a new practice and there's so much more than just, hey, I have something to confess. This is like hey, actually I want to share with you so much more than something I did, but I also want to share with you how I did it and why I did it. Like there's it's might be a little bit more work, but what I found is actually a lot more understanding and a lot more compassion. And almost instantly she was like oh, babe, I'm so sorry, you felt that way that you had to do that.

Aisea Taimani: 55:15

So I just think transparency is I think, my movement towards 2025, so much more than just creating spaces for people to be vulnerable. It's like, no, we're not just here to be vulnerable, but we're here to actually understand each other, not just through our grief and our pain, but also understanding, like, okay, what are some of the reasons, what are some of the stories that lead us to these different decisions? So, yeah, I'm still learning about transparency and the difference of that, but thank you for asking that.

Jason Amoroso: 55:46

Yeah, I love it. I'm going to borrow that on and just experiment with it. I'm excited for that, so I appreciate you sharing a little more Love is more than a song. You sing when your heart is full of hallelujah Behind that lyric.

Aisea Taimani: 56:03

Oh, man, I think you know, again, we can be very fair weather about when we choose to express appreciation, affirmation and love, and something that I'm practicing right now with Ellie is learning that it's in the toughest times. It's in the toughest times when we're annoyed, frustrated and maybe even angry at each other Like that is actually the most important time for us to express our love for one another and yeah, we're still working on that. But that's something that we aspire to. And you know, especially as someone who is a, I'm a psalmist. I sing praises and laments to God every Sunday and I invite other people to join me, and so so much of my upbringing was really heavy on. You know songs that are full of gratitude and praise, and you know songs with major chords that had a little bit more of a up feel to it, songs you can dance to. But I think so much of what I longed for in these spaces is the broken hallelujahs. You know songs where you can say God, where are you? You know, or God, I don't even believe in you right now. Or God, I think you're horrible, you know. I think those are things that one God can handle. But two, I think it's important, you know, if your child never looked to you and said Dad, I think this is horrible, I think you're horrible. Hey Dad, I don't understand you.

Aisea Taimani: 57:40

What kind of relationship would you have if your child wasn't honest to you about the times where life didn't make sense, the times when you were challenging your child, the times when your child just felt far from you, right? So I think love is all of it. It's not just our joy, but it's the ability to sit with defeat, to sit with pain, to sit with disappointment. Those are the times where I can honestly say I felt most loved.

Aisea Taimani: 58:10

I moved to emotion because I'm just thinking about my greatest understanding of love is actually in those moments where I didn't want to wake up the next morning and my brother would call and just say don't forget about mom, don't forget about mom and don't forget about your nieces and don't forget about all of us who would miss you so much if you were not here tomorrow. And yeah, those are the moments in my life where love was real, because no one else was singing around me, it was just me. And oftentimes we can get confused that, thinking that love is the triumph of life and the times that you expect it to, but usually when you don't expect it.

Jason Amoroso: 59:15

The broken hallelujah. Wow, wow, thank you for sharing that part of your journey. I say it's so again the the power is in the honesty, power is in the honesty, man it's in, it's in just how the realness of, of your journey and of the human journey, I think that's so needed in our world today more of these kinds of conversations. Yeah, so beautiful, thank you.

Aisea Taimani: 59:47

Thank you.

Jason Amoroso: 59:48

Love is showing up after a dark night of the soul. Does something to you.

Aisea Taimani: 59:56

Yeah, again, continuing to, to reiterate, like this verse I'm, I'm going there. You know I'm, I'm going there. There are moments where I shouldn't have stood up and led people into worship on sunday there. There are many, many sundays where I did not feel worthy to stand before God and stand before others and to sing my gratitude and sing. I need help, but I've learned I mean not just in church and not just with worship. You know, I think there it's what I tell members of my own.

Aisea Taimani: 1:00:37

You know, music collectives, worship collectives. You know that sometimes the most important days you know for you to show up is actually on a day that you don't feel like it. You know there are moments when we show up because we're here to serve and we're here to be a bridge, here to serve and we're here to be a bridge. And then there's a lot of times, if we're doing it right, that we're showing up because we need a little bit of help. And so you know, I, just with this song, you know, I really wanna emphasize the importance of not just being still but showing up, but showing up with all that you are, all that you're not. Your presence makes our community more complete.

Aisea Taimani: 1:01:22

And so for me again, that line is just coming from a place of like knowing the dangers sometimes of isolation and the echo chamber, you know of constantly like speaking negative thoughts and forgetting that actually there's more than what's happening right here, and I need someone to remind me that I'm safe. I need someone to remind me that I'm loved because I don't love myself right now. I need somebody to remind me that I'm loved because I don't love myself right now. I need somebody to remind me that I do belong, that I am recognized, that I am valued. I need someone to remind, I need someone other than myself to remind me that with a hug, with eye contact, with a simple smile, with just recognition, acknowledgement, and I need somebody to remind me that they're not going to abandon me. You know, and again, to be human is to be together and that's what that invitation is is show up, continue to show up, not just for your sake, but for others.

Jason Amoroso: 1:02:35

Man. It makes me think about a quote be kind for everyone, you know, is fighting a hard battle and we don't see that on the outside. People don't walk around saying, oh my God, I'm really depressed about this or this, so you know, we don't see. Or this person has cancer in my life. I'm struggling with this, like we don't see that. And so the power, what you're saying, if we show up one, if we're in that space, if we show up, we can actually receive that medicine in a way that maybe we don't expect. Maybe it comes in somebody holding the door open for us, or a smile or a lyric we hear when we're driving to work and we don't want to go to work at all. The power of showing up and the power of just those loving, caring, kind, small gestures can change someone's whole day and, in turn, their whole life. So, yes, the reminder is so powerful. Thank you, yeah, thank you, all right. Last one of these loves. Love is trusting that I'm enough to become what love demands that I'm enough to become what love demands.

Aisea Taimani: 1:03:43

Yeah, again, you know so much of my journey. My faith journey has been deeply impacted on the invitation, the commandment, to love God with my thinking, my feelings and then my actions, and then to love my neighbor as myself and then to love my neighbor as myself. There's three parts there, but one that I think no one ever talks about is how loving creator, loving spirit, loving myself and loving others actually means nothing if I don't first receive love and my ability to love my neighbor actually starts there. I can only give what I got, and so, for me, I've had to do quite a bit of deconstructing with my faith and reconstructing and realizing how much agency that I actually have for myself. I can say no, I can actually have more than I realize to love. I have everything that I need. I have everything that I need right now, when I have God and I'm receiving the nutrients that come from Creator God every day. Love, peace, joy, like all these things enable me to be able to make eye contact with a stranger, to be able to be patient and kind with my own family, with my own friends, with my own love of Mira. I have everything that I already need and sometimes I think we start ourself in a red. You know, I can only give once. I get this and I just think that there's a possibility. We've got that backwards. It's like, actually, like you woke up this morning, we have everything that we need already. The fact that we woke up, this is another opportunity to live, another opportunity to get it wrong so we can get it right. I think we underestimate that we are complete already.

Aisea Taimani: 1:05:45

I think for me that line, there's a lot of deconstructing that I had to do with just really feeling like I was born a sinner and I was born in the red and I was born without, and I've had to say, actually, like I don't know who started that, but no, I actually believe I'm born a blessing. I'm born a blessing and I'm born a child of God. I'm born the most high, I belong to most high, and I just think, when I get to father my son soon and very soon, part of what I hope to do is to really reiterate you are a blessing, you are a world. You can actually like resurrect someone's day, you know, by simply like being kind to them and offering people an encouraging word. You know you can heal someone simply by listening to them. Son, like really beginning, you know, like really beginning, you know setting a child up, you know, for this, uh, I don't even want to say like just out of the red. I just think there's so many ways in which my faith has blessed me, but some of the ways that it it I had to deconstruct this, this idea that we started off in red, you know, and I'm just like. These are some of the things that I'm, you know that that line comes from.

Aisea Taimani: 1:07:21

That line comes from like you actually have more than you realized and you are more than what you've been told, even by well-meaning siblings. You actually have everything you need right now to love. You don't have to wait for someone else to be kind. You don't have to wait for someone else to be kind. You don't have to wait for somebody to come into your heart to be kind. Actually, when you were born, you were created by Creator God and you have everything that you need right now, whether you said a prayer or not. So, again, from a spirit of inclusivity, from a spirit of invitation, that bar, as simple as it is, it's saying that we all have no excuses. We all have all that we need to provide what love demands. I'm going to stop preaching.

Jason Amoroso: 1:08:07

No, keep going. I mean, what a gift it is to your son that that you're his father. And I just think about a world where children grow up with this level of truth, because it is truth, this level of truth, you're not lacking anything like. You were born whole and you're here to express the fullness of that, that, that wholeness, that life force that wants to express uniquely through you. And everyone's got their own flavor, like the ice cream every, if you like ice cream. All the flavors are good, but they're all different. And so what a gift that is to him and everyone to receive that message.

Jason Amoroso: 1:08:47

So, yeah, wow, change the world right there, because so many people come from that misunderstanding of inherent lack and then they try and find what's gonna fill that and they, they try and find what's going to fill that and they could spend their whole life trying. It's in the girlfriend, it's in the partner, it's in the money, it's in the status, it's in the house, it's in whatever. And at some point they realize people realize it's not in any of those things. Holy smokes, it's been here the whole time. That awakening, uh, that's powerful before. Gotta ask this because I think when a lot of people initially think love. They think like the soft love, caring kindness, but like love being demanding, like that word demand stands out. Can you just share a little bit more about that?

Aisea Taimani: 1:09:37

I think it's more of a this is what it takes, this is what it takes like it's, it's, it's, it's, it's. Everyone can do it, but it's not easy. It's actually a demand. It's not an option, like there are certain things in life that you can live or live without. But if you want love, there are certain very, very clear things that love is. I've tried to be very, very inclusive in the way that I talked about it. I tried to be very conversational and maybe even confessional with the way that I've talked about what love is, because those are many things that I'm, that I'm not, but I'm working towards. But I try to end with the exclamation mark, with that word, because it's just like, hey, there's, there's, there's. When I say everything, it demands everything, it's worth everything.

Aisea Taimani: 1:10:33

I, I believe love and faith. You know there are certain things in life that it doesn't work unless you give your everything. I heard if your faith doesn't cost you much, it's probably worth the same, and I would say no, if it doesn't cost you everything, it's not faith. And if your love this is the problem with it is. I think sometimes we can treat love that way. It's like a little here, a little there. It's like no, no, no, no. Love is a. It's a.

Aisea Taimani: 1:11:10

I don't know I'm constantly having to deconstruct certain ways that I talk about this, but I really do. You're really trying to love, you dedicate your life to it. This is not something that, okay, I'll do a little here, I'll do a little there. I just think love is something that really demands the parts of us that maybe we're unwilling to work on, that maybe we're unwilling to work on and all the things that I've mentioned. You know, those are actually things that I'm still working on and I will be working on for the rest of my life.

Aisea Taimani: 1:12:05

Being still is something that I really I no longer have. The goal of being still. My goal is to be more still every day, to be more still, and that's advice that I got from dear friends of mine. It's like, rather than saying hey, just making a, I'm going to stop or I'm going to quit this, it's like, why don't? What if we just said I'm going to do less of that or I'm going to do more of that every day? So again, demands is just the reminder that we can't redefine what love is, no matter how many times we're trying to make sense of it. Ultimately, what love means is it's sacrificing and it's willing to give our life for our love.

Jason Amoroso: 1:12:56

So true and so powerful, you know, makes me think about that. Love's inconvenient in a lot of ways. It's very inconvenient to the ego, very inconvenient to a sense of wanting to be right, very inconvenient to the part of us that wants to make a them and an us. So there's, you know. So it's, you know, rational to judge because of this or that. It's so inconvenient in our lives and it does destroy our life, but it purifies it. It's like fire just purifies it, and so it is total revelation. Breathwork class is like you can't surrender 99, you can't save the one percent sliver for yourself, just in case it doesn't work out or just in case you don't like what life brings you. It's like you gotta, it's, it's total, and so I just love what you shared there because it's, it's been my experience and I think it's true. So, so good.

Jason Amoroso: 1:13:58

In the song Be Still, most of the song feels like you, the songwriter, I say, are speaking to us, but then when you get to the bridge, you start saying you. So it's like, oh, I'm telling this to myself, and then all of a sudden you're speaking to us and the way that I experience it is it sounds like God's speaking to myself. And then, all of a sudden, you're speaking to us and the way that I experience it is it sounds like God's speaking to me. You are safe here and now. You belong here and now. You are loved here and now and I ain't going nowhere, I'm going to be right by your side. So can you share a little bit about just that bridge? And you've shared already some of those concepts, but would love to hear a little more.

Aisea Taimani: 1:14:41

Yeah, I mean the best. The best thing I can say about it is try it next time. Try it next time to someone who's clearly triggered, try it with yourself. It's just lyrics in a song. It means absolutely nothing until you're in that place. And again, this was something that my therapist didn't just say to me, but was actually like walking me through what that meant, you know. And so I say I say words mean nothing, lyrics mean nothing.

Aisea Taimani: 1:15:28

If you're not willing to actually practice, come back to the present. That's work I get to do, that's work that I'm gonna get to do with Lyric High with my son. That's work that I need for people to say hey, whatever you're feeling, hey, I just wanna let you know like you're good. We're good right now. Like, please come back. Because I think it's a real thing that we didn't always know what was happening. When people are triggered, they're experiencing pain that they never healed from a long time ago. So I'm not a therapist, but man, that office, there's something supernatural that happened. You know their ability to bring me back simply by that drill 5-4-3-2-1, was. I just think of people who never had that tool and maybe, if they did, it would have saved them from whatever they did. Next, you know the work of belonging I mean. That's why I do what I do today, and I think if you're a human being, you know one of the most important things you can do once a week is have a group of people that you can belong to. It could be your chess club, it could be your yoga class, it could be church, it could be whatever you know, and I think it's so crucial for us as human beings to have other human beings that we can belong to, that can remind us, you know that there's things to be grateful for, and at the same time, you know you're not the only one that's going through shit right now. You know we all have stuff that you know we're battling through, and something about that, you know, is incredibly grounding Just remembering like, oh okay, that's right, I'm not the only one that's feeling this way. It doesn't make sense, but when you remember that you're not alone, hey, sometimes it gives you enough gas to be able to wake up and try again.

Aisea Taimani: 1:17:50

You were loved. How do we express that? We just talked about a bunch of different ways that love is and, again, the ability to not just say that but to truly exercise that with somebody, to truly listen to somebody. You are loved. That means absolutely nothing if you don't know how to listen, that you are loved. That means nothing if you don't know how to really listen, to understand and to exchange emotion for emotion. You know your hurt now is my hurt.

Aisea Taimani: 1:18:24

I feel you, you know there's like three these movements. You know, I see you, I acknowledge you, I hear you, I understand you. And then some, that man, my cousins, and they're like from the hood. I heard them saying a long time ago that I'm like man, like that's so much more meaning now, but they would say I feel you, I feel you, dog, like these are just things that I've heard from my community growing up that have so much more meaning, because it's not just like I see you, I acknowledge you, or I hear you, I understand where you're coming from.

Aisea Taimani: 1:18:59

A lot of times we think the solution is understanding people, but it's like no, the compassion is a lot harder. For us to truly have compassion for one another, we have to feel each other and that's something that only comes from proximity and then the ability to say, now that I feel you, now that I've experienced your pain, I'm not going to run like it's. It's. It's four bars, but I promise you like, try practicing that. It's gonna move anyone who's in your path a little bit closer, not just to you, it's going to move them closer to themselves. Hopefully it moves them closer to creator, to spirit and you know those. There's a reason why that's in the bridge and there's a reason why that's in the bridge and there's a reason why I'm saying you because, yes, I believe that that is, that is, that was. That will be God speaking over my life.

Aisea Taimani: 1:20:00

Every time I feel far, god saying, hey, like, you're safe, I got you, you belong to me, no matter what these people say. Like, I will never leave you, never forsake you. There's nothing that can separate you from my love, even though your whole life you've been told that if you just be nice, if you just be a good boy, if you just go to church, if you just say your prayers, if you just stay silent, then I will love you. But you are safe and you belong to me. No one can separate you from my love and you are loved and I will never leave you, never forsake you. Like, if you really really take those words seriously and you live like it, it'll transform your life. I believe that. I believe that, no matter what you believe with your relationship with your higher power, I just think that when you can receive that love, you'll be able to share that with somebody else. You can look at a stranger and say, hey, you're safe. Whatever you're feeling right now, you're safe because I'm here with you. Right now You're safe because I'm here with you. You're safe, I got you, you belong. Right now. We belong to each other. In this very moment you are loved. I see you, I recognize you and I'm feeling and I'm experiencing your hurt right now, in this moment, and I'm not leaving you. This moment is ours forever. So that's a prayer and hopefully you know so much more than anything we can ever attain on our own is recognizing that the gift of being still is something that draws us closer to God and closer to one another and closer to ourselves. Yes, amen, I say.

Aisea Taimani: 1:22:00

How do you define healing? Oh, man, I mean healing, very simply, is becoming well again, becoming well holistically. I think healing is I love the word shalom, which was a greeting that Jesus people would exchange to one another that, as another form of peace, be with you. But I think the way I've heard it talked about that was so fascinating is it's the way that God's shalom is the way that God intended things to be, so, the way that things were intended to be. And I believe that, yes, we might inherit and grow up with certain things that we did not, that wasn't our fault or that wasn't the intended way that we were supposed to be born with, but I do believe that healing is something that happens in the context of community. It happens by being still, it happens taking one step at a time towards wellness, towards growth time towards wellness, towards growth.

Aisea Taimani: 1:23:34

Healing is not always easy. I think it's actually incredibly challenging, but it's worth it. The journey towards wellness begins with self-awareness and being able to really name and identify what's not well. So, yeah, it's a journey that I think we're all on the path of, and my hope is that, through the practice of being still, that can be a way to kind of reflect on on on the parts of us that that need healing and then being able to to take the slow journey, slow but sure journey, towards becoming well again, becoming whole again it makes me think of a definition from a book the way of mastery, that healing is remembering who you already are, and that speaks to the wholeness.

Jason Amoroso: 1:24:34

If we're already whole, it's not like we're remembering who we already are. I really appreciate you sharing that.

Aisea Taimani: 1:24:41

Yeah, I love that. Thank you for sharing that.

Jason Amoroso: 1:24:44

So there's three things that I've heard you say that I would love for you to say a little more on, because they're like nuggets of wisdom that that that are so powerful. One was and maybe this is a relationship to your church that we've elevated worship to something cerebral, versus in the body, and so how does music and your music move people into maybe something less cerebral and bring them more into the body?

Aisea Taimani: 1:25:14

Yeah, thank you Again. In a lot of the spaces that I have found myself in, there is a high emphasis on staying up where it's safe. That's just where most people are comfortable at. But growing up in my dad's Tongan church, there was a lot of movement, there was a lot of dancing. We absolutely engaged, our whole body when we gave thanks.

Aisea Taimani: 1:25:43

It wasn't just something that we and again I try to be mindful of, just knowing that each culture, uh, has a, a way that's more natural of them being able to show um, appreciation and and and and worship um. But it's fascinating that when you go to other parts of the world, um, there's, there's, there's a lot more parts of the world, there's a lot more physical embodiment in that expression, and so I just think, for me, the way in which I practice worship is bringing these songs that come from other parts of the world, these songs that actually you can't just sing, just standing there looking at a hymnal. Some of the songs that we sing come from other parts of the world. It's a simple line Webare Yesu webare Yesu, webare Yesu, anje webare kunduhuda.

Aisea Taimani: 1:26:47

Even the melody, even the rhythm, even the lyrics, they're so simple that it's not about filling your mind with theology, it's actually a simple phrase that you meditate on and then you sing enough times to where you're no longer thinking about it. It moves from your head to your heart, to your heart, to your bodies, and it's a lot of these songs that come from again the global south to your heart, to your bodies, and it's a lot of these songs that come from again the global south. So, for me, the spaces that I work in, I bring what I like to call glocal music, which is both global and local, because they're not just from our neighbors over there, they're actually our next door neighbors, at least here in California. And, yeah, I really believe that these songs that come from other parts of the world have a lot to teach us Americans, westerners, how to, how to communicate with our bodies. You know, one of my favorite songs that we do is actually a song that my one of my best friends, Jaron, taught me. It's actually a song one of my best friends Jaron taught me. It's actually a song in American Sign Language and it's like one of the most powerful experiences.

Aisea Taimani: 1:27:58

I'm in Portola Valley. So, yeah, predominantly older and white community. That's very, very traditional. And so me bringing a song that one is not in the hymnal two is not even sung, but a song that we actually signed. This is the sign for hallelujah, this is a sign for thank you, jesus. And then I teach him Lord, we love you, and I teach these phrases and it's clearly uncomfortable, it's clearly new, but it's so fascinating because the ones who have no problem are the children and something about it, something so neutralizing, like when there's children in a room, all of a sudden the adults don't mind learning as much, but when there's no children in the room, it's like, well, why do we have to do this? There's like nobody deaf in our community, you know, when there's children in there, there's an openness to learning, there's an openness to expression, and it's wild that you know when you're children that that's not an issue. But the older you get, you get, get too cool for school. You want to be able to, like, be a little bit more composed, and I don't want to show emotion with my body. I mean it's one of the most powerful songs because when you see a group of people expressing gratitude in a language that's not um, their own um. It doesn't just connect us with God, it connects us with our neighbor who is not in the room, and that's a really transformational experience. So again, there's these songs. You know, there's even a song that's really popular over the last few years, a song with a chorus, so I throw up my hands. I forget the lyric, but it's basically inviting people to thank God.

Aisea Taimani: 1:29:59

But I always have people saying, hey, when you told people to lift their hands? I have a lot of triggers, I have a lot of PTSD from being in churches where everyone was like doing this. I'm like, yeah, yeah, me too, me too. I think that's really valid and, at the same time, I think it's something for us to really think about, you know, because when our kids are happy, they do this. Our kids are happy. Or when they need help, or when they need someone to lift them up, they do this. Our kids are happy. Or when they need help, or when they need someone to lift them up, they do this. You know, and I think these are expressions that are important for us to have as human beings as well as adults as well.

Aisea Taimani: 1:30:42

It's like we have forgotten how to lift our hands, just saying God, help I need if you're out there. If you're out there, please grab my hand, because I'm struggling right now. There's something really powerful about not just thinking that there's something really powerful. I mean, I dare you, the next time you're struggling with whatever, just go outside. I do this, I just go outside, I just pull my hand up. It's like God, if you're there, just grab my hand, the physical expression. And it's like but if you go to a black church, if you go to my daddy's church, whenever somebody connects or resonates, they'll just do this. They're like thank you God, thank you, thank you God. That's what I grew up in.

Aisea Taimani: 1:31:21

Your body's connected to your words. We don't have a problem when the Niners score. We don't have a problem when the Niners score. We don't have a problem when Curry busts a three. We're like, yes, it's like. I just want to say like, okay, that's for your sports team. Like, watch me go. You know when the Warriors are in the playoffs.

Aisea Taimani: 1:31:43

You just and that's the thing I was like, if you do this for the warriors, how about for someone who is responsible for your life? And even though, sure, you can't see them I can't see the air outside, but I can see the effects of the trees. The trees are moving right now. In the same way. It's like really connecting our bodies with our expression.

Aisea Taimani: 1:32:10

So I just think you know, when I'm a part of these communities that invite me and I'm so grateful for these different communities, specifically the communities I serve at right now in Oakland, new City Church and also Valley Press, portola Valley, I'm in two different spaces where they've invited me to curate these worship experiences, where I invite the whole self, not just their minds, not just their soul and their feelings and their spirit, but also our bodies. And so a lot of the music feels like the music that I create with Minor Islands, you know, is funk, is reggae, is gospel. And then we do some Tazay songs that are very meditative, you know, and just like breathe exercises. We do all of it. You know, there's not one style that we do. We really, really believe that God created us differently on purpose. So that's my two cents on body movement.

Jason Amoroso: 1:33:12

Oh my gosh, I say, can I read you something real quick? When you were talking about that. It's a poem that I think I would only read it because I think you would really appreciate it and it would benefit anyone who's listening. It's one of my favorites. I'll read it to you right here. I pulled it up. It's one of my favorites. I'll read it to you right here. I pulled it up.

Jason Amoroso: 1:33:29

All right, the worst thing we ever did was put God in the sky, out of reach, pulling the divinity from the leaf, sifting out the holy from our bones, insisting God isn't bursting dazzlement through everything we've made a hard commitment to see as ordinary. Stripping the sacred from everywhere to put in a cloud man elsewhere, prying closeness from your heart. The worst thing we ever did was take the dance and the song out of prayer, made it sit up and cross its legs, removed it of rejoicing, wiped clean its hips, sway its questions, its ecstatic, yowl its tears. The worst thing we ever did is pretend God isn't the easiest thing in the universe available to every soul and every breath. By Chalan Harkin.

Speaker 1: 1:34:18

Wow.

Jason Amoroso: 1:34:19

Yes, yes.

Aisea Taimani: 1:34:22

Send that to me please.

Jason Amoroso: 1:34:24

Please. I was going to email it to you after, but I was like, if we can read it, let's read it on here. Man, it's so good.

Aisea Taimani: 1:34:29

You know I'm going to email it to you after, but I was like, if we can read it, let's read it on here. Man, it's so good.

Jason Amoroso: 1:34:30

You know I'm going to have to bust that out on a Sunday morning Please please, when your story meets God's sorry when your story meets my story, we find God's story.

Aisea Taimani: 1:34:44

Yeah, no, thank you. You know it's what I've been sharing this whole time. You know there's a deep, deep call to community in the scriptures, and I'm just there. I think oftentimes our faith journey can be isolated. Our faith journey can be isolated. It's the world around us is telling us that we don't need anyone else. You have everything on your phone.

Aisea Taimani: 1:35:20

Still to this day, when I walk into a grocery store, I'm wired and I prefer just to go find someone that works there and say, hey, can you tell me where the chips are at, when all the chips are at? Just starting a conversation, you never know what they could be going through, but it's just like a thing that I just started doing years ago. And just being able to how's your day going to? Like you'll be surprised how many people ask someone who's working in the service industry like, how's your day going? Or even really being able to say thank you so much, you were so kind, like. It seems like a small thing, but for me my faith has become so much stronger and so much more fulfilling when I yeah, when I allow myself to receive and learn from strangers, from friends you know, other people's stories of faith actually enhances my faith, and so I just think again the invitation you know to, to recognize that God is in both of our stories, especially as we're about to go into these next four years. I've seen this movie already, but I really hope that we can respond a little differently as a country to recognizing and this is something that I've prayed for and really looking forward to the next four years to trying differently. You know, for people politically who may be on the opposite end, you know what would it look like for me to be able to find the sacredness in them, rather than being so quick to like you're evil, you're wrong, you're on the wrong side of history. You know, did that already, you know, and now that it's a little closer to home, I realize, okay, maybe I have some work that God needs to do and unfortunately, besides the scripture and the commandment being to love your neighbor as yourself.

Aisea Taimani: 1:37:22

For those who it wasn't clear, for Jesus says all right. For the people in the back who think I'm not talking to you, let me just make it clear Love your enemies, love your enemies, and we all know that enemies don't have to be some person in another country who's trying to take over our home. It could sometimes be somebody that's sitting right next to us in the church. It could be a family member. It could be a family member. Sometimes it could be a friend who we really feel misunderstood by, or someone who's clearly hurting us that we didn't expect. So I just think I love even just Brene Brown, her talking about the story that I'm telling myself right now. It's just really.

Aisea Taimani: 1:38:07

It's such an open way to like to be wrong. I'm learning that there's a lot of gifts in being wrong and I'm learning to appreciate being wrong because, man, if I was right, I wouldn't be who I am today. I'd be so much further than than than to who I think I was created to be, than who I am today. But that's something that my partner and I practice a lot, especially as we're getting ready to have a really important conversation with my siblings. It's like leave room to be wrong, leave room to be wrong.

Aisea Taimani: 1:38:45

There's my story, your story and the truth, and I really believe that when our stories meet, that that's more important than who's right. You know, when we are really trying to practice that commandment of loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself, it's when we are finally understanding not agreeing, but when we can see each other, when we can recognize the belovedness in our neighbor and those who we adamantly disagree with, when we can really be able to say you know, that person is still a child of God and, despite how I feel, I must honor and I must dignify them as a child of God. So, again, when my story meets your story, it's the openness of knowing that God belongs to both of our stories.

Jason Amoroso: 1:39:37

I say gosh man, thank you so much. One more, if we can go. One more. This is the last one. You've described security as something that can keep us from our full potential. That is so powerful because so many people are searching for security. What did you? What can you say more about that? Security, that is something that can keep us from our full potential.

Aisea Taimani: 1:39:59

Yeah, I'll say as a creative again, as someone who practices spirituality in the way of Jesus, I'm learning that it's very American to be stable and to be secure. That has become our main goal, and so what that has done for me is it's kept me from growing, it's kept me from actually exploring, it's kept me from learning and being willing to being wrong. You know, being secure is another form of trying to be right. You know, you're trying to be in control even. And, yeah, I'm just learning that life is actually about being free. It's not about being secure. It doesn't matter how much money you got. It doesn't matter where you were born or how old you are. We're all gonna throw that party one day where everyone's gonna show up and talk about whether you are secure or whether you are free.

Aisea Taimani: 1:41:06

So, again, I just think our lives would look drastically different if we truly lived freely Again, without fear. Freely free to love, free to serve, free to be who we were created to be. But I just I noticed, especially during the pandemic it really revealed itself how so much of our focus was on being secure and being safe, and I just don't believe that that's why we were created. It's just to be safe and to be secure. I think that's operating out of fear. And, yeah, my greatest work is when I create out of freedom, is when I'm telling the truth, the whole truth, authentically and transparent, about what I believe and and and and who I believe it with. So, yeah, I mean I can go on, but ultimately it's a really simple way of identifying if my motivation is out of fear or out of love.

Jason Amoroso: 1:42:26

Mic drop, mic drop. So where, what? What upcoming projects? Do you have anything coming in? Are you creating? Where can people find you?

Aisea Taimani: 1:42:36

Yeah, I think, honestly, um, I have a lot of projects that I'm working on right now, but, um, I, I think, right now, ultimately, um, yeah, if you want to connect with me, a lot of my work actually comes from people checking out my Instagram. So it's simply Isaiah Taimani. And then, yeah, these next few months is going to be a focus on the greatest project that I've ever been a part of, and that's project dad 2025. Um, so that's that, that's where my songs, uh, will belong. Um, I, I I'll be uh preparing for that. And then, yeah, this this summer, I'll be releasing a lot of work that I've been working on over the past few years. Um, but, ultimately, yeah, if, uh, if anyone wants to connect with me, I, usually, I, I'm pretty the work I do allows me to be able to connect with people over Zoom, over coffee, if people are in the Bay Area, and these are the kind of conversations I love having. So, yeah, ultimately, so much more than people checking out my work. Yeah, it's all online.

Aisea Taimani: 1:43:45

My band is called Minor Islands. My band is called Minor Islands. So, if you want to find my work, it's Isaiah Taimani plus Minor Islands, and the name of my band comes from the mystic Tom Smerton no one is an island, but a part of the whole. So just again, another invitation to community. Like we are the company that we keep, keep and I am because we are Ubuntu. So, yeah, please connect with me, reach out if anyone wants to continue the dialogue. But yeah, jason, I'm so grateful for the work you're doing. I'm grateful for the beginning of this friendship and many more conversations and again, if you're ever in the Bay Area, would love to break bread with you and just continue on this friendship. And to many more conversations. And again, if you're ever in the Bay Area, would love to break bread with you and just continue on this friendship.

Jason Amoroso: 1:44:35

Absolutely. Again, Isaiah, thank you so much. Be still your whole catalog, check out everything. It really just comes straight from your heart. So I want to thank you again and can't wait until we cross paths again.

Speaker 1: 1:44:51

Thank you Jason.

Jason Amoroso: 1:44:52

Dude.