Music – love by the drop

Today’s Gem of Insight #145

May 19, 2015May 25, 2015Leave a comment

Today’s insight journey led me to the idea that everyone should have a fight song. Yes, that may sound strange, but when you think about it, it really isn’t all that odd. Think about it. I mean really think about it.

Have you ever noticed how certain songs fill your body with excitement, energy, and dare i say it, adrenaline? And no matter how your day is going or what is happening in your life, the sound of certain songs somehow finds a way to pick you up, wake up the passion for whatever cause that has been sleeping inside of you, or at least remind you that you are alive and that you still have the ability to do something, anything?

Those songs may be light-hearted-happy-go-lucky-any-day-of-the-week tunes, down-in-the-dumps-tuging-on-the-heartstrings love songs, or inspirational endurance-inducing reminders of why it is important to hold on. Or, they may be the songs that cause our blood to pump and fill us with whatever we need in order to help us to seize the next moment and commit to taking the next step. Fight songs. Songs that help us to fight. Songs that help us to keep going. Songs that help us. Songs. That. Help. And who does not need a little help once in a while? #lovebythedrop

Today’s Gem of Gratitude #285

March 25, 2014Leave a comment

Today I am thankful for my shower. The shower is one of the places where I find myself being the most honest with myself. In actuality, it is probably the single place where I am the most honest with myself. When I am in the shower I tend to refrain from censoring my feelings and thoughts – if I need to cry, I cry; if I need to pray, I pray; if I need to sing at the top of my lungs while choreographing my own routine to my personalized soundtrack, then that’s what I do. The shower is reserved for God and me, and as the water comes down in sheets so do the walls that I have built around my heart, my dreams, my hopes, and my fears. In the shower I am the “me” whom I am learning to be outside of the shower; but as is the case with most things, I am a work in progress.

In the shower I am reminded of the beautiful qualities that comprise the people whom I love and care for – I am reminded of their humanness, their vulnerabilities, our differences and our similarities. It is there that I remember that they, too, need, want, desire, hope, dream, expect, long for, and seek while navigating their own paths of change. And it is in that place, in those solitary moments, that I draw closer to my understanding, compassion, consideration, and forgiveness. I see them for who they are, see myself for who I am, and I am renewed.

Now, I would be skirting the truth if I said that I experience this every single time that I shower. But, it certainly does happen more often than not. And one of the great aspects associated with “encountering” your true self while in the shower is that any attempt to run away is futile – figuratively, there is no way that you can get away from yourself, and literally, well, that would likely involve some major slippage, and who wants that? So, I have found that it is better to just linger in my own presence so that I can learn what I have yet to learn and see what I have yet to see. #lovebythedrop

Today’s Gem of Gratitude #209

January 8, 2014Leave a comment

Today I am thankful for noise-cancelling headphones. If there has ever been a somewhat expensive material item that I have purchased that I truly thought was worth every penny, it would have to be noise-cancelling headphones. As a person who has been known to study and complete work-related projects while listening to music, or, if at home, watching television, I can usually tune out unwanted noise and still accomplish whatever it is that I need to accomplish.

However, there are times when either the volume or the quantity of noises and sounds is so high or abundant that it is an extreme challenge to focus on whatever task is at hand, especially when that task is trying to get some sleep.

So, needless to say, when I encountered the wonder of noise-cancelling headphones I practically did not know what to do with myself. And the funny thing is that I had no idea that the headphones that I had purchased had that feature. I thought that that particular feature was only included in other models made by that same company. So, you can imagine my surprise when, in a moment of frustration caused by an abundance of noise penetrating my home – birds conversing at the top of their lungs, people having loud conversations and other people running blowers and all manner of other types of machinery outside – I put my headphones on my head with the intent to listen to some music, and before I even turned the music on all of the noise from the world outside immediately stopped. I can remember it as though it were yesterday. I was so caught off guard by the fact that my headphones had that feature that I just sat there with my mouth open with my lips forming an “o” as I was overcome with awe.

This probably sounds like a rather simple thing, and in fact, it is. But when you are frustrated by something and you find unexpected relief from that situation, that simple thing can seem bigger than Mount Fuji. I guess that is one of the cool things about life, you never know when, from where, and how relief is going to come, but come it will. #lovebythedrop