But mostly people who are going through a tough, dark period. Is there anyone specifically who should really listen to this song? I asked them: Are you ready to be the star of your life? Do you know that video in which Beyonce gets stuck in a fan? She just keeps singing! And her timing is still spot on, it’s totally in tune, she’s amazing! Then I just think, ‘ Wow, what if you live your life like that?’ (You can find a link to the video of Beyonce at the bottom of this article). You can also say ‘Ok, this hurts, it wasn’t a nice thing you did to me, but I’ll get better’. If you get hurt, you can react by thinking ‘Oh, I feel miserable’, but then you don’t give yourself a choice! Even though you DO have a choice. We think it’s not, but it always has to do with the value that we place on their actions. ‘If people hurt you, it’s actually always your choice. By holding onto the role of the victim, you’re letting someone else have power over you. What are we even talking about? If I keep holding onto this burden, am I being good to myself? No, not really. This happened back when I was 9 f*cking years old, I’m 33 now. People often say, ‘But Crys, surely there can’t be anything positive about sexual abuse?’ It is what it is, and I refuse to feel like a victim any longer. I am not the pieces of the dream I left behind People often think that it’s impossible to find positivity in something as horrible as sexual abuse. I would rather look at what I’ve taken from it. Using traditional psychology, people often research trauma and all of the limitations that come as a result. Sometimes you can walk around it or walk the other way. People often say ‘you should push through’, but if it were a tiger, I’d think twice before walking past it. What if the problem was a tiger? You can turn your back on it, but believe me: you can feel that it’s still there behind you. It was a confession which was impossible to recant.’ How did it help you? He confessed everything in front of my mother, stepfather, and ex. But it turned out to be a fantastic move, because it helped me win my lawsuit against him. I could’ve killed her at that moment! Being confronted with the man himself was the absolute last thing I wanted then. She replied to him: ‘Crystel is coming home soon, and I want you to come and apologise to her. ‘My mother went to my uncle, who confessed everything. I really thought ‘Oh, what am I saying?’ But there was no turning back.” What happened? He accused me of all kinds of things, to which I replied ‘ if only you knew’. I buried these feelings deeply, but in 2010, everything came out during an argument with my ex. Between the ages of 9 and 11, I was sexually abused by my uncle, and if there’s anything I’m not, it’s the things my family did. I am not the pieces of the brokenness inside The first verse makes me think of a time in my youth. Either that, or there is another way of looking at it. These state that anything that is light for you is true. I live according to the principles of Access Consciousness. The most important line from the chorus pretty much sums up how I look at life. Why is I Am Light by India.Arie your ‘Soultune’?Ĭrystel: ‘This song fits me so perfectly, I recognise myself in it completely’. Arie wrote a song that is particularly meaningful to her. She listens to a lot of jazz (Ella Fitzgerald), covers by groups like Thirdstory on YouTube, 90’s R&B (TLC), and soul (India.Arie, Erykah Badu). She loves writing music and is also a fanatic Lindy Hop dancer. Her parents’ living room has a piano, drum kit, keyboard, and more. Sometimes you even put a new hard drive in.’ She also gives transformational ‘ Right Voice For You’ workshops.Ĭrystel grew up with music. How many are open on a daily basis in your head, making you less functional? During a bar session you delete the ‘hard files’ on your computer, as it were. ‘When you have tons of tabs open on your computer, it slows to a crawl. This is accomplished through a ‘ bar session’, during which 32 pressure points are touched on the head. Access Consciousness is a method through which you can easily release thoughts, feelings, and emotions that don’t work for you. It comes as no surprise then, that I Am Light by India.Arie is her personal anthem… Meet CrystelĬrystel Poetiraij (33) is a speech therapist, vocal coach, and certified Access Consciousness Facilitator from Amsterdam. Instead, it transformed her into the shining light of her own life. A traumatic event in her youth didn’t defeat her. I’ve rarely encountered someone who carries as much positivity and wisdom with them as Crystel.