Return to Believe

Give yourself to feelings

Be open to intuition

Don't hesitate, don't question

Accepting to live

Nothing can stop the wheel of life

It always keeps you coming back

To be born again

To grow again

To believe again

To believe again.

-- "Volver a Creer", Yanni (with José José) (interpreted)

As always, it's time to close up the year (almost) with a song that encapsulates the impressions of my Pokémon experiences this year, and possibly that of others as well. I've only heard this song this year, but from what I can understand about the song, it seems quite appropriate for this year where nothing seems to go right or many things have been taken away due to the current situation in the world. All that seems to be a prompt for any person to "return to believe", an interpretation of the title of the song I quoted above, and as the title of this post.

This song is actually pretty magical. Last April, I noted that Yanni is mostly known for his instrumental works, but sometimes he conceives vocal pieces with different vocalists. The song is actually a vocal version of one of his hallmark instrumental pieces, "Reflections of Passion", with renowned Spanish language singer José José; this post can be considered to refer to that too. As the story goes, the singer had lost his voice, but for Yanni, he was able to sing again, and this is the song that he sung. In a way, this is one of his "last hurrahs", as a few years back, he died from illness. That tale in itself is wonderful if nothing else and has quite a bit of relevance with the message of the song.

The words of the song, according to interpretations, are about living (and loving) for today and being introspective about the moments of life. It encourages people to keep on living as life goes on, perhaps in the same way that the upcoming anniversary tagline prompts Trainers to go on with their training. In a way, the song harkens back to the title of the original instrumental piece as above, in that life is the result of passions reflected by those who live and love. It is perhaps this situation that the singer realized and, in doing so, found his voice for one more time before he had to depart. And in this current (Pokémon) life, it becomes especially pertinent.

The above bit about Trainers keeping on training remains appropriate in this regard. What is also appropriate is finding oneself when things have been lost or gone awry as with this year, as with the absence of events or competitions, limited live entertainment, and drastically changed ways of life. Even I have not been immune to these or the effects from these, and I fear that I am or may be in for quite a few more things that are lost or go awry, Pokémon or otherwise. But life goes on, and I have to go on as well. With luck, I will be able to find myself in whatever things I do, and make all the happy returns as stated in the part quoted above. Others can do the same too.

So much has been taken away and so much has been lost as well, especially over the course of this year, and even involving Pokémon affairs. For some people, it has to be a sad thing, and to some extent I can feel their sadness as much as I feel mine. But if life is a reflection of passion, then it's worthwhile to keep on living - in my case as well as that of other Pokémon fans, to do the things we usually do with adaptations where necessary. In the meantime, we may as well make that "return to believe" for what will become better in the next year and beyond.

One year ago: (Extra-)Ordinary Days

Two years ago: One Day, in Life

Three years ago: When I See You Again