Music

Reminded of Gratitude

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It’s still early this morning, and I sit in my favorite journaling spot by the front windows as I always do.

I’m not feeling 100% – just one of those mornings one needs to take a little extra time to breathe, and let the day unfold gently.

The sun is rising slowly, brightly illuminating the left side of the porch posts outside; birds are singing their celebration of a new day, and I am listening to this music, so calming with the water running in the background –

Despite the fact that I am feeling pretty far from where I’d like to be at this precise moment, and am not even sure where exactly that is, I also realize that there are thousands, maybe millions, of people who would give anything to be sitting where I am right now …

… to be able to sit calmly and safely; and have the ability to push the day back just a bit before actually starting it; to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the sun slowly lighten the sky. We can forget how much better off we are in our own little lives than so many people in the world. Especially now.

I humbly and gratefully accept all the good I have right now, and trust that my life is unfolding exactly as it should be, no matter how that may feel at any given moment. Even a gentle morning is a gift, and a reminder of abundance. And so it is.

The Song that Makes You Cry – #3

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What’s the song that touches you deeply – for any reason?  Love, friendship, nature, animals – you name it. That one song that, when you hear it, you are always moved.

Here’s one of mine – a collaboration between two legends – pop musician, Ed Sheeran, and revered tenor, Andrea Bocelli. Truly, I love this whole video – Ed visiting Andrea in his home studio in Italy, surrounded by Bocelli’s family, and recording Perfect Symphony in both English and Italian.

The camaraderie and respect towards each other are so touching, as is Ed Sheeran’s innocent awe watching Andrea Bocelli turn Perfect into something else entirely. I always tear up when Bocelli hits certain notes, and again, when they sing together.

Music has such power to move us. How about you? Your song?

The Song that Makes You Cry – #2

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Do you have a song that moves you with only the voice or the instruments themselves? Forget the lyrics and any emotional attachment for the moment … just what you hear from a voice or instrument(s).

The vocal in this song, Epiphany, sung by Jin of BTS, is so hauntingly beautiful, that just the beginning notes set off a quickening in me and an anticipationm of tears.

The lyrics (English translation in CC), are also beautiful – a song about the importance of coming to love oneself in order to be truly able to love another. But Jin’s vocals/tone are what move me, all on their own.

Do you have a song that moves you like this?

BTS is a South Korean “boy” band of seven young men with phenomenal musical talent and a devoted global following. Their music is generally defined as K-pop, but also includes pop, hip hop, rap, and R&B.

Photo thanks: vahapdmr/Pexels @nextgrafik

The Song that Makes You Cry – #1

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I think just about everyone has a song that brings tears to their eyes. Don’t you?

Such a song often calls to mind an intense memory or feeling for someone we love or have loved. But maybe not.  

What about the song that has your eyes filling up and you have no idea why?

This song, Remedy, by The Ambientalist, touches something within me with the very first few chords of the guitar. Every time. But I have no memory associated with this song whatsoever. It just came to me one day, and stopped me in my tracks emotionally.

Do you have a song that does this and you have no idea why? Let us know and feel free to provide a link.

I’m going to do a couple more posts like this on the different ways music affects us as it does. Stay tuned …

Music Makes It Better

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Music is a constant in my life. It’s one of the true and reliable consistencies that lifts me up, makes me smile, makes me cry, makes me feel. Always, feel.

This morning was one of those times that music both lifted me up and moved me deeply. We don’t always know why a particular song touches us at any particular time, but I find that it sometimes reaches inside us to say, “Look here. There is something for you to pay attention to.”

What it was for me today was gratitude, so much gratitude, for all the good in my life. So many things are going right, regardless of anything else in the world, and one song helped me truly know that.

When I write or draw or engage in a creative activity that requires me to be fully present, I listen to music that I cannot possibly sing along to. This is often music in the Solfeggio frequencies, Japanese Lo-Fi, Gregorian chant, or something like this song, Weightless. So incredibly beautiful.

** My apologies – this song has been removed by the original uploader to YouTube. I will try and find it again. Or something of equal beauty.

And because it seems apropos, here is a cemetery angel drawing I have not yet shared.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time today creating the meme at the top to also share on IG and FB, scanning the drawing, writing this post, and creating a new header. To be honest, I have other more pressing things to do, but the music drew me in and inspired me, and following where the music leads has never steered me wrong.

Please listen and enjoy Weightless. I hope you, too, are inspired.