Of Soul-Songs

"The earth has music for those who listen." ― William Shakespeare

We talk of soul-songs often and about the Earth Song, but what do we mean? These are not mundane sounds, tunes, and melodies that we hear with our ears. These are a combination of the intricate collection of sensations that combine to fire our holistic perceptions and the innate spiritual energy that encompasses everything.

Imagine the sound of crashing waves, the raw smell of the sea, the taste of salt, and the wind on your face. When we add a sunny sky and a calm ocean, we feel a sense of well being and comfort; add a darkened sky and white-tipped waves, then we experience the power and, possibly the threat, of the untamed sea. With a few words, what you read changes in mood immediately. These are soul-songs.

It is the same with the people that we meet. On the surface, a playful smile or a thin-lipped grimace set the scene, and yet we have other senses that re-write the moment and our expectations completely.

Unwittingly, we are sensing our soul-song, adding our symphony of feelings to any situation. Our mood, energy, and thought adding another layer to an already complex song.

Understanding and altering the soul-songs can add so much more color and beauty to our lives, but how do we do it?

We must begin by accepting there is a sliding scale of change that we can apply to our life. At one end, there is little or no possibility of change. Water is wet, after all. The other extreme holds a multitude of things we can change simply by how we perceive them.

We carry with us a vast collection of drives and passion that guide our thoughts and actions. The ego that allowed us to survive as a hunter is now almost wholly redundant, yet we cannot help but feed and nurture it even though we know it often does more harm than good.

When we claim to know our mind, is this strictly true, or are we merely responding to our ego, impulses, and the external forces that designed to sway our thoughts?

A simple exercise, try and engage a friend or colleague in every-day chatter without referring to yourself or anything about you. The more ego-driven you are, the harder it becomes, after all, you are that interesting? When did you last ask someone's opinion without some ulterior motive, or be asked your own?

When we act on selfish motivation, our own or others, we deafen ourselves to the sound of the soul-songs that surround us. Give thanks and praise for a day carelessly and without a personal need or want, and you may begin to hear.

Start looking for the beauty in things and the hand of the Divine, and you will begin to open your ears to music in your life that has remained hidden.

We speak of altering the soul-song, and yet we also ask to be unselfish but isn't this a paradox. Why should we change the music if not for our own gain?

We are inbuilt with an intrinsic understanding of what is right and wrong; a crying child needs comfort, a hazard needs making safe. When we do what is right simply because it should be, putting aside our own need or desire for glory, the act takes on a new dimension. Praise unsought or thanks unasked, are more valuable to our spirit than words that polish our ego for the world to see.

While your physical needs are essential to your well-being and existence, it is not an easy task to be committed to setting aside your emotional wants. When you do, giving the emotions of others your thoughts, you will see the simple steps that are available to change their soul-song from sadness to joy.

As we mentioned before, the rewards received unexpectedly exceed anything we could expect from our selfish machinations. Although many people claim that peace and serenity might be found in hobbies or drugs, more can be found in love and restoring harmony in your world.

Curiously, while we cannot live on peace and serenity alone, life has a way of supplying our physical needs in ways we cannot imagine.