When you can’t find the light
That guides you through a cloudy day
When the stars ain’t shinin’ bright
And you feel like you’ve lost your way
When the candle lights of home
Burn so very far away
Well you got to let your soul shine
Just like my daddy used to say.
. . .
Christmas 2020 was the first big holiday where I had to share custody of my kids since the divorce.
It was wretched.
But I’m a stellar mom, so I did what I do best and made the best of it.
December 25th also happened to be the day of Pixar’s new movie release, Soul. As my family gathered around the television and watched it in surround sound, I held my babes close, inhaled the tops of their heads, and exhaled how much everything else hurt.
That’s how I made the best of it.
Truthfully, Pixar’s movie Inside Out spoke to me (and my kids) on a much deeper level, but I couldn’t turn down a movie plot based entirely on the pursuit of playing music and the pure joy it brings into our lives.
The movie Soul shone a light on one of my darkest days of 2020 because nothing makes my soul shine brighter than music.
When I was drafting up ideas for this article, I began by listing all the things that, admittedly, sparked joy in me. Altruism (e.g., working my gluteus maximus off in school to be a part of the Healthcare team), my kids (and kids in general), writing, fitness, and my guitar, to name a few. Then I asked myself three questions to which every answer was the same; music.
- What sparks my spirit and simultaneously soothes my soul?
- When do I feel the most alive and serene at the same time?
- What do all the things I love have in common?
Music — anything and everything to do with it. Something as simple as finding my cadence as I write (or study) to its rhythm in the background or getting an intense workout in while the bass booms and guitars shred to help me keep count of my reps. Even when I’m hiking with my kids while listening to Classic Rock (or beat-box battles, depending on what kind of day it is), and last but certainly not least, when nothing in my world is right, finding soothing solace in jamming with my dad for the last twenty-five years.
“He used to say soul shine
It’s better than sunshine
It’s better than moonshine
Damn sure better than rain.”
Music makes me feel alive and serene simultaneously in all areas of my life, just as studying for complex medical classes does. For any fellow medical geeks out there, music is like my body’s natural vasodilator in the form of nylon guitar strings.
Music brings love and light to my loneliest days.
Music is my breath of fresh air at that tippy-top of a gravelly hillside I courageously trekked.
Music invigorates and centers me in equal measure.
My heart is forever grateful for the spark music brings to all areas of my life.
. . .
“And when your world seems cold
You got to let your spirit take control
Let your soul shine
It’s better than sunshine
It’s better than moonshine
Damn sure better than rain.” — Allman Brothers, Soulshine lyrics
I welcome anyone reading this to open up their hearts and minds and ask themselves, what brings light to my darkest days? What makes my life a little sweeter?
I am all ears.
. . .
Thank you for your love and support. You Are Loved.❤
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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Photo credit: ANNI GUPTA on Unsplash