A Jamaican’s Journey Home

Jamaica: The Jewel and the Mirror

There has always been something magnetic about Jamaica. Maybe it’s the rhythm in the air — the pulse of drums and sea, the warmth of the sun balanced by the cool humility of the mountains. It’s one of the closest Caribbean destinations to North America, yet somehow feels like an entirely different realm — a place where time breathes slower and colors seem to sing.

But behind the postcard beauty lies a truth that mirrors much of the modern world: paradise coexisting with poverty, abundance shadowed by injustice. In Negril or Montego Bay, luxury resorts rise like fortresses — places of pleasure and indulgence, where wealth gathers to forget itself. Meanwhile, outside those guarded gates, everyday people struggle to make ends meet, their lives shaped by systems that have long favored the few over the many.

In this way, Jamaica is a microcosm of the planet.Everywhere, we see the same pattern — breathtaking natural beauty paired with human-made inequality. We build walls around comfort, gates around abundance, and then wonder why the spirit feels divided.

Perhaps that’s why the recent storm — Hurricane Melissa — arrived not just as a meteorological event, but as a spiritual message. Like a great cleansing breath, nature came roaring through to remind us that imbalance cannot last forever. The wind and waves don’t distinguish between rich and poor, between villa and shack. They simply move through, equalizing what has been hoarded and forgotten.

Maybe that’s the deeper meaning of Melissa — a call to remember that the true jewel of Jamaica isn’t its beaches or its resorts, but its people. Their music, resilience, laughter, and creativity are the real treasures of the island.

If we can create harmony there — if we can heal the divide between luxury and lack, between corruption and compassion — then perhaps we can model that same transformation everywhere. Because the world, like Jamaica, is both dazzling and wounded.

And perhaps this storm — this “Melissa” — comes as a reminder, like the Allman Brothers once

sang: “Sweet Melissa”— beauty is within everyone. It’s time to live in true harmony.

Returning to the Rhythm: A Jamaican’s Journey Home

A good friend of mine was born in Jamaica. He grew up under the sun — the kind that warms you from the inside out — and spent his childhood surrounded by laughter, sea breeze, and the slow rhythm of island life.

When he was around fourteen, his family moved to the United States. The change, he told me, was like landing on another planet. The people moved fast, spoke louder, and rarely looked up long enough to notice the sky. He missed the beaches, the easy smiles, and the sound of waves. But more than that, he missed the feeling of connection — to the land, to the people, to the rhythm of life itself.

He’s been in North America for decades now, yet he often says that his heart never fully left Jamaica. He longs to return, not just for nostalgia’s sake, but because he feels something there that the modern world has forgotten — a slower, more soulful way of being.

In many ways, his story reflects what so many are feeling today. We’ve built societies full of motion but lacking meaning. We rush to achieve, consume, and accumulate — but rarely pause to breathe, to listen, to connect.

What if healing begins with returning to rhythm — the natural pulse of life that places like Jamaica still hold? The rhythm of sunrise and sunset, of ocean tides and laughter shared around a fire.

My friend’s longing isn’t just for a place; it’s for a state of being. It’s the same longing that draws people to desire to live in balance again, to feel rooted and whole.

And maybe, in a way, that’s what Jamaica itself is teaching us right now:to slow down, to listen to nature, to remember what truly matters.

Because when we find our rhythm again — the rhythm of kindness, community, and care — the whole world begins to heal. 🌍💚

Special thanks to Troy Megill — for always carrying the Island spirit wherever you flow, reminding us through your presence, laughter, and grace that the rhythm of Jamaica isn’t bound to a place. It lives in the heart, wherever love and peace are shared.

I look forward to visiting you in your tropical paradise and seeing it through your eyes. These are good times to go down and help the beautiful people of Jamaica turn their whole island into a true Healing Haven for all.