Music Makes the World Go Around — Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions

Do our choices of music say something about who we are, and where we are, on our soul's journey through this life?

Going a little more esoteric and in depth with this post... might not be everyone's cuppa tea, but I know some of you will get it!

Music has always served as somewhat of a "backdrop" to my existence, almost like a soundtrack of sorts. When I look back across my life, certain songs have served to "anchor memories" of very specific times and events... and they serve better than anything to "trigger" the original feelings I was having, in those moments.

From time to time, I have been taken to task for being both "too sappy" and for having a "memory library" that seems to have a lot less rage (perhaps represented by the Death Metal genre!) than people are comfortable with.

Even writing those words sends me back to "unfortunate" relationships in which I lived with something psychologists loosely speaking refer to as "denial of voice." These days, a lot of people would probably call it "gaslighting," but I dislike that term... not because it's untrue, but because it tends to get misappropriated and used to characterize virtually any behavior someone doesn't like.

A large part of the reason I abandoned "Death Metal" a long time ago — although I was very into Punk Rock for a while — has more to do with a sense of what I care to remember. Frankly, "Soul Engineers" sounds a bit kinder than "Black Mega Death."

Do I want to carry my rage around and wave it around like some pride flag, or do I want to carry around and remember those tenuous moments when everything in the universe suddenly aligned? Or, if not that, left an indelible imprint on my soul?

It's a bit like getting burned. Excruciating pain, followed by recovery and potentially an eternal scar. Perhaps the scar ends up as your personal symbol of overcoming and survival... but is it really the moment of searing pain you want to remember?

I heard this song while driving from Austin to Dallas, Texas on a gray day with occasional rain and "rumors' of tornadoes being brought up on the radio, every 15 minutes or so.

It was a moment of change. Change, in the sense that I had taken a turn in which my "expensive" university education had become dust in my rear view mirror.

I was "shedding" the mantle of family influence and expectations. I had chosen — finally — to not be beholden.

I ended up divorced, not long after...

Side note: I still think The Fixx are one of the world's most underrated bands. And guess what? They are STILL touring, after 45 years... /end side note

This was my "Leaving Texas" song... and it was not coincidental. I had it cued up on a CD as I crossed the state line into New Mexico on September 25th, 2006. I'd heard it years before, it resonated deeply with me, to the point I knew it was the sound I wanted to hear when I left.

It was another moment of change; in a time of great flux.

I was leaving behind a phase of life that had begun in January 1981 and was marked — more than anything else — by eternal "putting up with" things, people and situations that really didn't suit me, all in service of... keeping the peace; in service of doing the right thing.

But for whom?

Do we really need to throw ourselves away, in service of other people's happiness. Or even... simply to avoid their disgust and disappointment?

Maybe we all have moments in our lives that stick with us as... relationships that DIDN'T happen.

For a while — or maybe a moment — a flame burns brightly. And then? In this case, an impossible situation, crossing thousands of miles and many countries.

We don't always get what we want. And sometimes it is circumstances that see to that, rather than our conscious choices.

The challenge lies not so much in simply recognizing the truth of that, but in not allowing it to eat a permanent hole on your heart, and in your soul.

Perhaps it's particularly true when someone feels like "home."

And so, I'm going to bring this little journey to an end and play us out with something a little more current... which (as often) leaves me pondering the eternal question of whether love ever dies.

Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it does if you only think about it intellectually, but what about the imprint on your essence; on your soul? I'm not sure that's ever extinguished.

At the same time, it's not an easy place to look, because sometimes we have to face that what we see there may not be what we want... and that some choices we made were not based in love.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about you? Do certain moments in your life have a "sound?" Does it seem like your life has a soundtrack? How important is music to your well-being? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.06.05 23:08 PDT
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