the art of living a soulful life
Music is the sonic pathway to spirituality and soulfulness. Soul music originates down in your roots and reverberates outward with a feeling of intensity, earthiness and authenticity. Any music can be soul music if it expresses your true essence and comes from the core of your being. This Ruumet (1997) describes as “finding your own voice” and explains it when we “create our personal soul expression in the world as a conscious act of the divine (p.17).” It’s the song from your heart that touches the heavens. If we listen to and follow our soul’s music, it will lead the way to a spiritual life.
Integration of Lyrics and Melody
Sound contains vibratory frequencies that help our bodies, hearts, and souls become in tune with our higher nature. Lyrics could be like the head and melody the heart of a song. Some people are more drawn to certain types of lyric, being heavy, literal or storytelling music such as country or rap. Other people like the sound of certain instruments, poetic imagery, rhythms and vibes so they may prefer classical, ambient indie or rock music. Some people might prefer earthier sounds of folk or global music.
There are some songs that hit the right note on every cell of your being. These notes connect you to the singer and to all people who hear the song. It happens when every element is perfectly integrated with our hearts, bodies and minds. These are moments of perfect flow.
We can ask ourselves “What does the type of music we like say about us beyond our cultural conditioning or memories? Or, what is it about certain songs that move us emotionally and physically move our bodies and touch us deep within ourselves?” and we might find some answers to what our soul wants or is calling for.
Music is interpretive. We can see and hear what is relevant to us. Songs can be like an oracle of discernment. You can read what you want into the lyrics the messages that have heart and meaning in your life at that specific time. Someone else could hear something else totally different in the lyrics than what the artist was feeling. What we hear and how we hear it gives us clues into our true selves or perspectives.
Fever to the Form
In Nick Mulvey’s song Fever to the Form, he sings,
“So whether music or madness
We live by one of the two
By one of the two
So go on, fill your heart up with gladness
Not a moment too soon
But should we ration the reasons
To the child to ignore
Of this I’ve never been sure
So I will follow the feeling
And sing fever to the form
Oh my fever to the form
Cause the very thing you’re afraid of
It keeps you clean but unclear
It’s the dirt that you’re made of
And that’s nothing to fear
No, it’s nothing my dear
But how do I know what you’re thinking
Maybe I thought it before
Maybe that’s why I’m at your window
Hear me at your door
Singing, give me some more
Oh fever to the form
Won’t you hear me at your door
Singing, give me some more
Cause you were never empty
And we’ve been here before
Yes, we’ve been here before
But now there’s always plenty
Yet still we ask for more
Singing fever to the form
I love the concept of bringing fever to the form. The form can be anything we do such as cooking a meal, practicing yoga, painting a house, playing a sport, dancing, giving a presentation, making love, or writing a paper. The fever is the heart and soul and personal expression you bring to it. By infusing what you do with authenticity, love, or fierce grace leads to spiritually fulfilled life.
As Mulvey sings, “we can live by music or madness”. An artist takes the raw material of pain, ecstasy, heartbreak, love, longing, the whole range of human emotion and dives right into it. It is metabolized and released into a form that can be heard, felt and shared. Music is a result of processing, releasing and transforming emotions and experiences into art. Left unexpressed, these feelings and could possibly turn into madness.
Soul Music through the Lifespan
“Those who are not busy being born, are busy dying.”
Each stage of life, each day of life, is an opportunity for awakening and growth. I abide by the Buddhist teaching of in Lewis Richmond’s video (2013) "every breath, new chances." Every moment is imbued with a fresh beginning and a new opportunity to grow even in the smallest ways. When your mind wanders away in meditation, you have a chance to bring it back. When you fall out of a yoga pose, you can choose to get back in. Every day is a new day to say you’re sorry or to say I love you. To begin again. And again.
“Growing whole, not growing old”
To be spiritually healthy, we uncover lost parts of ourselves, confront our fears and own our light and dark aspects. Integration, self-acceptance, and compassion are what we need to become whole.
In the different stages of our development, we have an opportunity to choose the soulful path. Important turning points and dark nights, the ones that profoundly changed me, were times when I listened to what my soul wanted and followed its direction and became a better person for it.
Now, in my 50’s I can totally relate to the “The transition/crisis/transformation process that occurs most dramatically in midlife due to the evolutionary imperative to actualize our full potential, authenticity, and creativity, and bring it full force into the world” (Strazar, n.d). In other words, writing my own music and sharing it with the world is how spirituality operates in my life.
My purpose in gaining this wisdom is to harvest my experience and extend it beyond myself. Sinetar (2007) describes this as “providing strengths from our deepest psyche or becoming a source of inspiration and support to others” (p. 61). In my parenting and professional life, I teach by example, share freely, and continually learn from my children and co-workers. I want my kids to see who I really am and to feel my love, now and always.
As I approach death, I am confronted with my fears and avoidance. I understand it is my attachment to the impermanent that causes my suffering. To do this soulfully, I try to sink into the moment to appreciate its beauty and not turn away from pain or what scares me.
How do we die soulfully? Arriens (2005) shows how it can all culminate together:
The essence of our spiritual history emerges at the Golden Gate in the beliefs, fears, dreams, and struggles that surface uniquely to each of us during the process of dying. Dying is an ultimate spiritual process where we awaken to courage and faith unrealized before (p.9).
This is the ultimate growing point and new beginning.
Creative Expression
My creative expression is a playlist called Soulful Life. It contains songs that deeply resonated with me in different passages when I felt lost of found through my lifespan. These songs reflect my soul’s desires and speak for me through lyrics and melody.
