To perfectly put into words the feelings towards a tragedy such as that in Manchester is an impossible feat.
It hurts me to write about this as much as I’m sure it hurts to read about it. However, it would be more of an injustice to remain silent, to avoid the conversation and allow the incident to weaken us.
As I, along with the rest of the world, still struggle to truly comprehend the destruction of a place of utter peace, where young people flocked for the nights of their lives and to bask in the glory of music, we must come together rather than allowing terror to push us apart. We must mourn and grieve and cry and wish for a better world, but we must also stand strong, as friends, as family, as music-lovers, as good-hearted people with eyes filled with love, not blinded by hate.
Though nothing can make light of an event as terrible and selfish as such, what has brought me the slightest sense of peace is this: In their final moments, they were the happiest versions of themselves. They were on top of the world, watching their favorite artist generate an environment free of negativity of any sort.
Concerts are a place of serenity, of love, of everything good, and to have something as beautiful as that targeted is heartbreaking. Numerous artists have fought against allowing the safe-place and wholesome atmosphere of live music to be tarnished by an act of hate.
Harry Styles, whose hometown is a short distance from Manchester, turned his concert in Mexico into a short acoustic set with a moment of silence to remember the victims and their families. “We have a choice every single day we wake up of what you can put in the world, and I ask you to please choose love every single day,” he said.
His words spoke to me, simply because they were words of love, and what is most needed in the world everyday, especially during a time like this, is love. Love, with everything you are, with everything you can, with the strength to overpower any hate within your path. Love, love, love, love, love.
If I could quadruple the love in my heart and single-handedly use it to rid the entire world of hate, I would do it in a heartbeat. But it as a people, different and yet one in the same, that we will triumph. We must help each other in the healing process and confide in our love of freedom, joy and humanity. For many, this is done through the connectivity of music.
In the same way music can bring people together, music can heal. We can never repair the damages, but we should not do is allow this to let us live in fear, because to live in fear is to lose the fight. When knocked down, we will rise, stronger than ever.
Numerous artists have fought against allowing the safe-place and healing process of music to be tarnished by an act of hate. Ariana Grande fans around the world have organized meet-ups to show their respects for those lost, such as one where pink balloons, now a symbol of love and joy, were released.
In the darkest of times, music and the community it manifests is a light that may be dimmed but never fully put out.
As I struggled with what to write, my mind repeatedly took me to part of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acceptance sonnet at the Tony Awards. I believe it is a message that perfectly expresses everything we should strive for.
“Now fill the world with music, love and pride,” he said.
And that’s exactly what we will do, together.