Fully Engaged by Clara Prinston
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve wrapped up our 2026 Documentary Songwriting project, Journeys of Home, in collaboration with the Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants. As I reflect on our songwriting sessions and our concerts, I’m reminded that it is an honor and a gift to fully enter into someone’s story– to hear it, sit with it, learn from it, turn it into a song, and share it with the public. Something holy happens when you become fully engaged with someone’s story as they share the intimate details of their humanity. And it’s only in this posture of full engagement that our bodies become attuned to that of another person, and suddenly, we’re being invited to sympathize, to empathize, and dare I say resonate with the person across from us!
Journeys of Home at Visible Voice Books
In our debut concert of Journeys of Home, Sharon Hughes, the director of the Hope Center reminded us during the panel discussion that we have all been touched by an immigration story to some degree. Even those who perhaps have never left their home country! And with that in mind, one may ask the question, “How could I resonate with an immigration story if I’m neither a refugee nor an immigrant?”
Panel discussion at The Hope Center
The beautiful thing about music & storytelling is that it elicits from within us the power to connect: to connect with ourselves, to connect with the listeners around us, and to connect with the storytellers. This power to connect stands in direct contradiction to our culture's tendency to prioritize division and isolation. Here at Renovare, we aim to cultivate opportunities to connect across differences, and we’re so grateful for the ways that this DocSong project promoted points of connection for everyone involved! Whether it was for our storytellers connecting with each other through the shared experience of telling their stories, or for our audience members being given the opportunity to connect as allies and friends for our refugee and immigrant neighbors—we’re here for all of it!
So, if you’re still asking how you could resonate with an immigration story, I invite you to consider the emotions you’ve felt today. Have you experienced anxiety, fear, joy, or gratitude? Maybe you’ve experienced all four of these emotions today! These are the points of connection that surpass language, race, creed, or nationality. And it’s only with a posture of full engagement (a softened heart helps, too) that we are able to offer empathy to those around us, regardless of our differences. We are called to a peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace that promotes love, brotherhood, and a generosity of spirit.
May we all continue to find points of connection in our lives, with those around us, and with those whom we would least expect.
Debut of Journeys of Home at The Hope Center