Truly, Gladly, Deeply: The Healing Power Of True Love

By Kim Lesley Davidson

Just when you think you're too old and you've resigned yourself to the idea that love is not for you, along comes the love of your life and changes you forever. 

A truly heart-warming and inspiring real life story of True Love.

Two apparently different people in their early 60s, both on a spiritual quest,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kim Lesley Davidson
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645763300

Book preview

Truly Gladly Deeply

The Healing Power of True Love

Kim Lesley Davidson

© 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

Cover Design: www.thinkblinkdesign.com

A CIP record for this book is acailable from the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN: 978-0-06457633-0-0

This is a story of ‘True Love’… warts and all. It’s a true story of a naughty-boy comedian/musician who thought he couldn’t ‘do’ relationships and a good-girl singer/songwriter, and the journey we went on together with cancer.

It really happened.

And maybe you will see that truth really is stranger than fiction, that hope is alive always…even when you’ve almost given up, and that ‘True Love’ really can save us from ourselves!

Here begins the story of Kim and Hanuman…

To Gabe and Saisha...

Because apples can fall further from

the tree than you realise

Chapter One

I was an independent, retired, divorced woman, quite content living alone with my dog in a beautiful, quiet, beachside piece of paradise in the countryside. A private person…private to the point that my reserve had, in the past, been misconstrued as haughtiness. I was okay and enjoying being able to do whatever took my fancy whenever I wanted to do it. I’d brought up three kids, had a long career in education and worked two jobs. Now was my time.

Recently having moved, I was enjoying making an effort to connect with my new community through performing my songs. I was also running choir and ukulele lessons and staging musical events to raise awareness of issues that I thought needed some focus, like women’s health and wellbeing and world peace.

I had recently recorded my debut album. This was a process which took me way past the edge of my comfort zone, but I knew somehow that being on my edge was where my soul wanted me to be. My soul is very annoying that way and doesn’t take no for an answer.

I meditated for over an hour every morning and attended Dr Joe Dispenza workshops whenever I could. I was on a mission to overcome myself. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been aware of being a spirit having a physical experience in a body.

Sex with someone I loved would have been wonderful but I wasn’t content to just have a casual relationship just for the sake of regular sex. If sex were to happen it had to be with someone I loved and adored, who loved and adored me, not just ‘quite liked’ me!

And I wanted it to be sacred. So far in my 59 years that had never happened! So at this point in time there was none.

In June 2018, flying home to Byron Bay Australia from a Dr Joe Dispenza week-long event in Berlin, I was full of inspiration, scribbling notes about the concert I was planning to stage to commemorate International Peace Day on September 22 of that year.

I had long wanted to do such a thing, but didn’t quite have the details sorted. As I sat squashed in my economy seat the pieces of the puzzle seemed to magically sort themselves out. I would have four singer-songwriters perform in a round-robin format, have someone do a ‘sound healing’ with crystal singing bowls, stage a guided meditation to direct peace to a war-torn place, a la Lyn McTaggart style*, and then lead the entire audience and all the performers in a rousing song of peace in four-part harmony.

Simple!

Once home and settled I approached two lovely spiritually attuned local male Israeli singer-songwriter musicians, and an accomplished female singer-songwriter I knew, who I knew would align with the vision. I would be the fourth. The song I planned to teach the audience was a song for peace in both Hebrew and Arabic. The symbolism of a song espousing peace written in the languages of two cultures who seem at loggerheads inspired me to believe that anything was possible in creating peace.

In addition I asked the wonderful women of the seven-strong female acapella group of which I was a member if they would consider doing a song to open the whole show, and thankfully they agreed. We decided that Leonard Cohen’s Come Healing would be perfect.

The musicians all said yes so that was encouraging, and my friend who did special sound healings with haunting gongs and crystal singing bowls was also inspired by the vision and came onboard.

On the night I would lead a guided meditation to intend peace for Yemen, citing the success in this regard of the work of Lyn McTaggart. I also wanted to try to encourage people to establish Power Of Eight* groups to meet regularly to intend healing and peace for each other and the planet.

Now for the finale song…

Living in the Byron Bay shire, a sub-tropical, country beachside tourist mecca renowned for its ‘spiritual hippy’ vibe, I knew there would be plenty of like-minded people who would love to be a part of this event provided I could get them to commit. Byron people are notorious for saying they like the idea of an event, but if they don’t feel in the mood when the night comes around they simply don’t show up. I was adamant that the musicians should be paid fairly. Too many people expect musicians to donate their time and expertise to a charitable cause. We wouldn’t disrespect a nurse, a carpenter or a shop assistant in this way, so why do we do it to musicians?

The idea of having an audience who would be the final act in the show guaranteed bums on seats. To this end I set about visiting various community groups with a spiritual bent who liked to sing with the intention to publicise the event. It was also an invitation to a free teaching night, a month before the concert, when I would teach the harmony parts for the song.

One such group met in my tiny local hall on Sunday mornings, so I popped in one Sunday about six weeks before the event to spread the message. Sitting opposite me, amongst the group I noticed a man with long, dark hair, olive skin, a greying beard and kind brown eyes. Afterwards he approached me in the carpark asking if I had enough musicians for the night. I told him I did and he said he then realised that his comedy class had their performance that very same night. He wished me well and I went on my way. There was still a lot to do.

The night of the song teaching went really well. There were about 150 people who came to learn it. On the night of the concert the other musicians and I watched with a mixture of relief and excitement as the hall, which seats 220 odd people, was almost full. The performers would be paid fairly and I could pay the photographer and the videographer. It was a beautiful night of community, connection and reverence for the goodness in people’s hearts.

A few weeks went by after the concert. I had thought the man with the kind eyes might be a bit interested in me, but I hadn’t heard from him, and I wasn’t about to go chasing a man. However when I happened to put some of my artwork on Facebook the man with the kind eyes asked me if it was mine, to which I replied in the affirmative. He then did something which confirmed my suspicions… he asked if he could come over to my place and learn how to make that kind of artwork.

I squeezed him into my busy week, allowing about an hour and a half for the activity, and then politely said I had to go to another appointment.

After this he came over another day to play music with me and we talked about my peace concert. I remember playing him a song I’d just written, titled ‘Love Comes Lightly’.

The lyrics follow.

Love comes lightly.

It makes no announcement.

There is no fanfare.

In countless, small gestures…

A smile, a gentle touch, a pot of soup,

In belief that sings your song

When the words have been mislaid,

In the realisation that you wished you’d stayed,

You wish you’d stayed.

It’s the teacher and the student.

It’s laying yourself bare for the Beloved to see

In all your tattered finery,

With courage and humility.

Will you share your flaws with me?

Love is there in the smallest of things:

A hand to hold,

The twinkle of an eye.

Love comes lightly.

Love comes lightly.

Will you share your flaws with