DIFFERENT SHIPS, SAME BOAT - Songs for the Soul of America
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APRIL 1, 2024 RELEASE | Signed by Author | 210 pages, 5.5"x11" | No shipping charge for pickup from Words Matter in Staunton, VA (click "pickup" at checkout)
How do we save America from itself? How can we use the forces of good for real change? How do we transcend the comfort and seeming safety of our tribal loyalties to embrace the value of the “different,” the “other?” To treat all life, including the Earth itself, with dignity and respect? Expand economic self-interest into collective thriving? Transform past and present hurt into hope and healing, and empathy into reparative action? Is there a unitive power that could soften our interactions and help to cure our divisiveness—whatever our persuasions and affiliations? Inspired by the events of our time and the works of visionaries such as Valarie Kaur, Parker J. Palmer, Van Jones, Mark Nepo, Kaitlin B. Curtice, Amanda Gorman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others, Different Ships, Same Boat seeks answers to these and more.
Reflecting the tributaries of Terah's work as an author, poet and lyric writer, Different Ships employs song lyrics and commentaries to call out the personal and societal hurts that have long been shredding America’s soul—while inviting each of us, in our unique ways, to help cultivate more humaneness in our humanity at every level of life. Because who we each are, so our society becomes.
Excerpt...
From the Preface: "...Different Ships is my expression of two broad feeling strokes: a deep concern for what seems to be an increasing loss of humaneness in our relatings with each other—and yet, in stark contrast to that, the remarkable times when our humaneness is on display in full and exponential force. What do I mean by “humane?” A dictionary defines it as “…tenderness…compassion…acting in a manner that causes the least harm to people or animals.” I use the word to mean, simply, the expression of heart between and among us—and especially, heart-in-action. And so, this work is essentially about the individual and collective forces that challenge, diminish, shut down—and also inspire, cultivate and proliferate—heart in our humanity. ...As we come more and more to realize that hurt doesn’t belong only to one, but to all, that's when the humaneness in our humanity comes forward. This is when we begin to hope—and as we hope, we open ourselves to the possibility for healing and the betterment we long for."
Reviews...
"Different Ships is more than a book; it’s an odyssey. A journey of heart, soul and song that challenges, comforts and catalyzes. As profound as it is poetic, it will resonate with those who are drawn to deeper understandings of humanity's interconnected tapestry. The book is also rich in references, drawing from a wellspring of visionary thinkers, authors, poets, and musicians, and creating a landscape of diverse influences that complement the lyrics as well as the commentaries. The lyrics are raw and gut-wrenching in moments, poignant and cathartic in others. Ultimately the collection is a clarion call for heart-seeing. A plea for humanity to look beyond the biases and prejudices that divide us, urging us to peer into the very soul of our fellow beings to welcome the symphony of our differences while recognizing the singular heartbeat that unites us all."
--Didi Lund, BrightBug Marketing
"Different Ships unflinchingly confronts the deep scars on America’s soul which underlie and perpetuate our societal woundedness. In an era marked by so many different truths and discords, the messages here are like homing beacons, lighting the ways in which we can each bring who we are to create a better America. Having served the U.S. Navy for 34 years, this book stirred me to reflect on my career and contemplate my own role in the collective healing process. I’d love to see a world where militaries are no longer necessary. A world where we see our sameness and value the opportunities of our differences. Imagine what we could accomplish together if we mind our hearts—the ones within us and between us!"
--Emily Harman, Certified Professional Coach
Retired U.S. Navy Commander and Senior Executive
Retired U.S. Navy Commander and Senior Executive
"With Different Ships, Same Boat, Terah Cox has accomplished something rare. Her stories, in lyric form, about the human condition in all its variety, are stark, tender, sometimes heartbreaking. Remarkably, with each story she includes an insightful and affecting commentary revealing the ideas and inspirations that fuel her art—a fascinating peek behind the curtain of her creativity. Rarer still, she has gifted us a voice of sanity and even a possible path out of our national wilderness. I believe she has hit on something important."
--Thomas Wagner,
Emmy Award winning writer and composer
Emmy Award winning writer and composer
"I found Different Ships to be engaging and deeply moving. The stories the lyrics tell, especially in the ‘Hurt’ section of the book, are real and true and speak to deep issues across a wide spectrum of America’s humanity. Utterly unique and compelling, the whole book has the feel of a poetic reporting—powerful, raw in places...a kind of dogged pursuit of an existential ‘solution’ beyond our unreliable truths. I haven’t come across anything that speaks so eloquently to our American moment, and is yet so timeless. This work is truly a body of wisdom…as a book, a songbook, or even a potential piece of theater. Brava Terah!"
--Arnie Roman, Multi-platinum songwriter,
musical theater lyricist, composer and librettist
musical theater lyricist, composer and librettist
"Ronald Rolheiser, one of today's great spiritual writers and teachers, tells us that to be a prophet is to challenge the status quo and, paradoxically, also offer a deeper consolation by taking a vow of love over alienation—essentially an appeal to our ‘better angels.’ If this be the case, then Terah Cox is surely a prophet for our times. With a series of lyrics and commentaries which navigate the reader through a hurting America to a vision of hope and healing, Different Ships, Same Boat proclaims that if we make that vow to love, then this heroic voyage can ultimately free us from our self-defeating behaviors of exclusion and intolerance and deliver us to a state of grace in which dignity and mercy prevail for all. Who wouldn't want to live in that world?"
--Amy Zachary, LCSW, MA Psychotherapist
and Certified Spiritual Director
and Certified Spiritual Director
"Different Ships, Same Boat is a raw and insightful look into how we perpetuate harm among ourselves through apathy, exclusivity, power and powerlessness, greed, and so much more—and also how goodness, caring and compassion save us from ourselves again and again. Having known Terah for years, I know how much the subjects woven through the lyrics have been close to her heart. Capturing the full emotional range humans are capable of, the stories throughout invite us to deepen our awareness and open ourselves to a more inclusive caring for both self and other—even when the other is seemingly a stranger and very different from us. This work was so obviously conceived in love, and love is ultimately what it offers."
--Stacie Florer, Artist
