Jaime Bennington – son of Linkin Park frontman Chester – has opened up about using meditation to navigate his grief and communicate with his late father after the music legend passed away in July 2017.
Following his directorial debut for Chester’s former band Grey Daze’s ‘Soul Song’, 24-year-old Jaime opened up in a raw interview with AltPress, where he discussed the bringing his father’s memory into the vision for the music video, and how he utilised meditation to guide him through the grieving process.
“This music video is about my spiritual connection to the other side and my literal experiences with the elusive and, at times, incomprehensible presence of my father after death,” he explained to the publication. “‘Soul Song’ is about the many ways in which we come to enlightenment, into knowledge, and the many ways we fall away from it. This is my personal experience with that.”
He continued, “Spirituality has always been a divisive factor in any relationship I’ve ever witnessed. It either brings people together or breaks them apart. I’ve seen it in the global mourning of my father, in the confines of my own tribe and within myself. Whether people realise it or not, this is at the core of what we are as human beings.
“All of us are connected to this energy, to this vitality, and my efforts to accurately depict my connection to those more mysterious aspects of nature are the inspiration for the video. Hence, the heavy emphasis placed on epic landscapes, among many other things. We are many parts of a whole,” he continued.
Describing his process in creating the emotional video, Jaime said the utilising mindful meditation soon revealed itself as a way to navigate his grief over his father’s tragic death.
“I had begun this practice of mindful meditation to combat my often debilitating anxiety and depression. It started off as this thing I did every once in a while to ward off nasty thoughts, and [it] turned into something far more profound and spiritual. I came to the understanding, through mindfulness, that there is more to my reality than what I can overtly see and feel. [It’s] something I’ve always felt was true. There is energy all around us. It takes on many forms, and this music video is about my many experiences with that invisible force,” he said.
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“Now whether or not I’ve actually made amends with my father and his spirit through this practice or simply come to terms with my feelings about his death is up for debate. However, the power of such a practice is undeniable.
“Through it, I have not just spoken with him but seen him with my own two eyes. And that is what this video is about. It’s about that practice. It’s about the lasting power of memory and about taking grief at my own pace. But most importantly, it is about my exploration of the world that surrounds me,” he concluded.
Check out ‘Soul Song’ by Grey Daze:
