Jude Collings
a loving, loved wife
a loyal, loved friend
a nurturing, loved mother
a caring, loved school teacher
a passionate, loved White Chapel Jak follower…
Jude Collings
a truly amazing young lady who we were incredibly lucky and grateful to meet…
Jude Collings
a shining ray of deliciously warm light and love who has, after a long and courageous fight, succumbed to the terminal cancer that invaded her body…
Meeting people. This is naturally a huge part of what we do and it has grown into a segment of our music life that we honestly, whole heartedly love. Each and every week we are gifted with time, conversations and insights into the stories of the most wonderful souls of Aotearoa. Each and every human we meet enriches our lives that bit more. Jude Collings is someone special. Someone who very generously chose to share some of her precious little remaining time on earth with us and whilst doing so, shared so openly, intimately and lovingly that the impact was huge and shall never be forgotten by any of us.
From the outset, we knew that Jude was going to be someone significant to us even before meeting her. This was based on the huge amount of contact we received from various people around the country detailing their love for this amazing friend and whanau member who was inbound to a WCJ show, despite the finality and proximity of her terminal diagnosis. Seeing the amount of loving, determined contact we received, the surprise trips from friends afar to be with Jude and the sheer amount of protective aroha expressed by everyone who reached out to us was cause to be prepared for something special. Jude turned out to be every bit of that special we expected and then some.
“Stars don’t shine because they want o be seen; they shine because they are stars.” - Alexander den Heijer
Nurses talk sometimes of how privileged they are to share the latter stages of another persons journey. This is something that can be difficult to fathom when we think about dealing with someones departure, the sadness and associated fears but the time that Jude very generously shared with us taught us a little bit about that perspective. Understanding that this beautiful soul had very little time left in our world and that she would choose to spend some of that with us in the first instance feels like an immeasurable gift. No amount of money can buy that one irreplaceable thing. ..someones time.
Whilst meeting her and sharing a small amount of this precious, precious remaining life was an emotional experience, it also became a gift of sheer beauty. Despite all that she had been through and still had to face, Jude held herself with shining grace. She expressed nothing but gratitude for all of the people, experiences and aroha in her life and the time she has had. She spoke openly of her life, it’s imminent end and her journey with cancer and through all of this the strongest feelings conveyed were those of love and gratitude. The sheer courage and intimacy of all that she shared and the overwhelming sense of aroha as she spoke, was something invaluable. A beautiful gift. As nurses say, an absolute privilege.
‘The time to do what is right is always right’ - Martin Luther King
Our shows have grown in size and continue to do so. We love that they do. As they grow and the spaces that we play in fill up with more and more people our dream and focus is that every White Chapel Jak show should be a safe, welcoming space for everyone. EVERYONE. The world is currently fraught with enough challenges and we would absolutely love our shows to be a collective haven where people (as we are all the same and just that…people) can relax and enjoy being themselves safely and without fear of judgement or conflict even if only for a little while. We promise to give everything we have to this dream at each and every show and we are confident this is possible no matter how large the event. But the shows are growing in size and we do need some help.
And so we ask YOU faithful, supporter and reader for your help with creating a loving environment for all whenever share some cherished time together.
When a show is full, space is tight and there might be a stranger next to you. Let’s all take a brief moment and remember that this stranger, our fellow human being next to you has a life, a story, love and suffering of their own. They could be someone in a situation like that of Jude Collings. They could be a whanau member or a friend of someone in a similar position and this is their night, their moment to let their hair down and simply feel good for a little while. Regardless, we are all present for the same reason. To share some treasured time, some music, some laughter and love. This is irrespective of gender, race, sexuality, age or appearance. We are all humans bound together with too little time and that time should be spent loving one another. Jude was able to express this love in the face of the utmost confronting of situations. Despite her three and a half year battle, sixty six courses of chemo treatment to be followed with a short terminal diagnosis, Jude lived. She gave of herself, she danced, laughed and cried but most of all…she loved. Wholely, honestly and without fear and so perhaps, we should be inspired to learn to express a little more love in the smallest of situations and gestures. Don’t see the stranger next to you with the crazy dance moves, see the PERSON next to you, see their story, see their light and maybe try a smile, a hello or possibly even invite some conversation. Who knows, we may just get to share some very precious time with an incredible soul like Jude and have our lives that bit more enriched. At worst, we take steps towards creating a safe, loving environment for everyone. Now wouldn’t that be something special!?
Jude Collings
A star, our star. Now twinkling with all the other shimmering stars in the sky sharing their light with the world because that’s what stars do. They shine bright in the darkest of skies for us all because they are stars. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing with us your time, your grace, your courage and your light. We thank you for showing us how to love in the face of absolute adversity. This is an immeasurable gift that we shall cherish and do our absolute best to share in your honour.
Let’s all start sharing that gift together…
we can start right now…
with the person next to us…
Thank you Jude
Shine on
