Mixed Media | Hollow Me
Stephanie King | Thursday, April 21, 2011 Our mixed media features this month includes two contributions by Stephanie King. (Stephanie Eden, as a musician). Both her song lyrics for Hollow Me and the recording of I Have Never Left You from her recent album All That I Am tie in with our themed series on doubt. We are grateful for permission to share a track from her album and warmly recommend taking a closer listen. -Editor.
These are the lyrics to a song I wrote this past October while carving pumpkins with my children. It is inspired by a sermon given by Jonathan Rose a number of years ago on exinanition (the process of being emptied out).
Hollow Me
One October a pumpkin grew
Full of seeds and thoughts
She said I don't wanna be one of those
That sits around and rots
Pick me now cause I wanna be
Like other pumpkins I've seen
With a picture and a warming light
For the kids on Halloween
But the other pumpkins warned her
It's a process you can't handle
Being scraped and carved right to the flesh
Till you're cleaned out for a candle
Hollow me hollow me hollow me
And make me shine
Make me shine
The pumpkin she was determined
Her fate was in decoration
But with the first stab of the knife she thought
Time for reconsideration
They were right she thought I'd be better off
As a pie or on the vine
Why wasn't I satisfied as a big orange squash
Why did I want to shine?
But the carvers hands were gentle
And she could sense the jubilation
As he held her and he made his plans
In great anticipation
Hollow me hollow me hollow me
and make me shine
make me shine
As he began to scrape inside she found
To her seeds she was attached
She was afraid without all her junk inside
She'd be more likely to get smashed
But she noticed too a feeling
Of freedom as she was emptied
All the space and possibilities
Like holding light instead of seeds
Though she never had felt pain
As a pumpkin on the vine
The pain could not come close to how
Good it felt to shine
Hollow me hollow me hollow me
and make me shine
follow me follow me follow
if you wanna shine
make me shine
I Have Never Left You
Stephanie King
Stephanie King is married to Carl King and the mother of two children, Phoenix and Serena. She is a singer/songwriter and has been at various times a doula, yoga instructor, and an assistant in Montessori and Waldorf kindergartens. She believes her most important work for the world and for her own spiritual growth is that of motherhood.Wondering about the inspiration for this article? Look up the New Church, which is based on the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Reader Comments (3)
I really like this, Stephanie! I can really relate to the imagery of the pumpkin saying, "Hollow me," but when the process actually begins, she's like, "Wait—did I really ask for this? This is kinda scary and painful!" Been there. :) But it all does work out beautifully in the end. Thanks again for terrific, poignant lyrics. At our house, we listen to your "All That I Am" CD quite often, and love it.
Wonderful Steph!!! It was an incredible sermon it was and what a fabulous rendition in this song. LOVE YOU! The pain can not come close to how good it feels to shine........ that will stay with me...
Wow! I'll never think of pumpkin carving the same way again. I have actually long thoroughly disliked pumpkin carving as a meaningless, messy tradition, which I did with our kids only so they could do what other kids were doing. Now I really look forward to carving a pumpkin next year.