Music is a portal to experiencing love. The right song can transport your being to another place and before you know it you realize you are dancing, laughing, even crying. I bet most people have a song associated with a memory that is filled with love. Traditionally, many even begin their marriages with a “first dance” and spend copious amounts of time picking just the right song that captures the moment perfectly.
Before we get to highway driving with Ed Sheeran, a little background. I have a lot of Piscean energy illuminated in my chart right now so I have been really enjoying music—which is unusual for me. A lot of times I find myself driving in silence. One of my good friends even pokes fun at me for it. I listen to music with my body so I often don’t know artists, lyrics or even genres. I find that music can be really overwhelming, so the situation has to be perfect for me to want to open myself up to music. As we get to know ourselves better, even something as simple as understanding how we listen to music, we can understand our purpose more intimately to live to our full potential.
It is my daughter who has recently taught me that there is more than one way to listen to music. She listens with just her head. She always wants to know the title and words—it used to drive me crazy. I’d say, “It doesn’t matter just listen. Bring it into your heart and belly to listen.” She’d get so frustrated. I’ve since stopped trying to get her to experience music in the way I do. It wasn’t until I obliged her mind with all the information it needed that she started to enjoy music. And truth be told, when I allowed my mind into the experience, I too started to enjoy music more—it is less intense.
This small switch has been one of the most loving things I have done for us. Seeing us as individuals and honoring our differences even in the small way of listening to music empowers us and, as a bonus, music has become fun and playful. It allows us a shared experience that fills both of our cups and shows her I love her exactly the way she is. We roll the windows down and crank it so that when each song starts, I have to turn my head and yell the title to her. Many times, when we get home, she’ll ask me to write the song titles down for her. It makes me smile knowing that her little mind is spinning thinking about what she’s experienced. Someday, she’ll ask me about what her heart and belly have to do with listening to music and I’ll {low-key} jump for joy, and we’ll play with music in a different way together. But until then I’ll give her all the information she needs to love music her way.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I found myself in a glorious moment alone in the car with windows down on the highway, but I was sobbing driving down the road—I’d been triggered by the music playing. Because my daughter has taught me how to listen to music in a new way, I’d let my mind hear the words and then I brought them into my body and I’d started a healing reaction. A little shook that Ed Sheeran could have such impact, I haven’t been able to let the song, What do I Know? go yet; although, it hasn’t made me cry again just smile.
In some ways the song is spot on about love and how it can literally change the world in a moment but in other ways it misses the mark. It says, “You know we are made up of love and hate but both of them are balanced on a razor blade.” I disagree. We are ONLY made up of love, and we can always find out way back to it. Hate doesn’t live in balance with love. We are always, even unknowingly, trying to fill ourselves with love—it doesn’t need to be balanced with hate and its certainly not an either-or situation. But this doesn’t stop me from loving the song right now—I’m sure in a few weeks I’ll be sick of it and ready for a new one.
I invite you to look for love in new places, like how you listen to music with your family or respond to triggers. No matter what you may feel, you are worthy of experiencing all the love in the universe. Experiencing love will help guide you on your path to understanding your purpose as it illuminates your soul.
XoMariah
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