When I hear you sing, I become a joyful song
Boundless, without limits, like the kindness of God.
Rumi ♥
When I read this quote, posted onto my Facebook wall by a massage therapist friend of mine, it made my heart swell with love and gratitude. My eyes perked up for a second like, “Oh! She sees me! I’m seen! This is the best feeling!” This sweet awe and wonder is how I feel every time I sing and someone thanks me, or hugs me, or comes to me with tears in their eyes. I feel so honored and blessed to be able to share song in such a way. It’s the biggest thrill for me, and I’m pretty sure it’s the most meaningful offering I have here on Earth (well, I like doing lots of other stuff, too).
You know this feeling – the sweetness, the connection between two souls that happens when you’re in your sweet spot and offering it to the world. You recognize it when it’s happening.
But sometimes it’s easy to wonder, “What will they think?” if I dare to prioritize this action of singing and the actions necessary to bring it into the world. “Do I really deserve to be feeling so good every day?” “Shouldn’t it be harder?”
I suspect there are a lot of you out there: Incredibly Musical Souls (IMS) who have been stuffing down their inner music for a long, long time.
If you’ve ever found yourself questioning the release of your gifts, or if you’ve been feeling really uncomfortable in your body lately, then you might need a dose of cosmic reality check.
Here’s How to Keep Singing Your Song, No Matter What They Think:
Let me clarify what I mean by “Incredibly Musical Souls.” You can be an Incredibly Musical Soul even if you lack desire to physically sing, or even if you really don’t desire to Make Music. Music is the fabric of the universe, sound is its gentle, persevering thread, and vibration is how we define that thread. You are vibration, you are sound, you are music. You are so many beautiful things all rolled into one, and music, define it as you will, is what I consider to be an expression of the inner longings of the soul – expressed somehow, somewhere, outwardly.
Basically, you’re an Incredibly Musical Soul.
So, IMS, let’s go. It’s time for you to sing your song (literally or figuratively), and here’s how to do it, no matter what they think:
1. Give yourself space to sing. Even among us classically whipped folks, this can often be the hardest thing to do. Space! Who has SPACE! Who needs SPACE! We cry. You do, and it’s up to you to make it. (First, you might need to Admit Your True Love and Restore Your Creative Genius). I still have to consciously block off time on my calendar to simply vocalize. How awkward it can feel when there’s another person in the house, or a neighbor close by…but you have to do it, otherwise the sound never escapes your body.
2. When you sing “badly”, keep singing. So often we think, ‘Nah, I don’t deserve to sing,” or “I’m not good enough to sing,” or “Nobody wants to hear me sing.” And the result of this stuffed energy is that it’s coming out in perverted, weird ways – an inflamed thumb, a tight back, clogged legs, or stiff necks. You in turn think your body is failing you, when in fact, it’s just jumping up and down saying, “Please! Pay attention to me! You must let this energy OUT!”
3. Be gentle on yourself with your voice critics.
4. Give yourself the mental freedom to imagine a different reaction from your friends.
Do you often wonder how you going to stay in “that” space – that space of beautiful creation and sweet energy glow - and if you dare to get into that space, how is the world going to react? What will they say? And your head goes on imagining all sorts of worst case scenarios? Maybe they’re throwing you off the collective bus, you’re ex-communicated from your support network, they hang you out to dry….maybe the persecution dreams come right on up again. Before you get sucked into all of that mental drama, take a cue from Osho and consider locking yourself in a room with a recorder and speak for a hour. After you capture all the gunk that’s coming out of you, you might realize how much garbage you let infect your beautiful brain. Guh! Gah! Get it out! Purge! Blech. Paaaaaahhhh. Ok, so much better.
5. Pray. But the right way.
A friend of mine is good about sitting down to pray for others at night before he goes to bed. He sits there and he prays – and he’s praying that the people who’ve been struggling around him in his life get what they want. Last night I sat down to do this and…it’s hard at first. I found my mind bouncing around to things it wanted to find wrong (with my body), distracted.
But after a few minutes I started to hone in on someone in my life and I imagined that he had the outcome he wanted. And then I imagined my girlfriend with her business thriving. And then I imagined another person healthy and happy.
Then I turned to myself and I saw myself with my business booked full, and my friends cheering me on. I imagined and took the time to feel the beautiful ripple effect of my musical offerings into the world, the delight on people’s faces, the ease in their bodies, the joy within my own body. The truth is, this is probably what’s happening anyway, but when you’re in fear, you can’t feel their positivity. You can’t access the wonderful ju-ju that’s out there rooting for you.
So get praying, but the right way, slipping yourself into the kingdom of heaven (or whatever visual works for you).
And here’s the thing with praying – what you’re seeing in your head is your prayer. If you’re seeing a negative picture, a worry or a fear, you’re in part picking up on the vibration that’s out there and you’re in part adding to it and creating that vision. HOLLA! That’s a good reason to slip back into that warm fuzzy feeling space and redirect your attention to your yummy vision, no matter how awkward it feels at first.
And pretty soon, you’re going to find that more magic is happening around you. Because you’re creating the magic with your song.
